Moonshot Pirates
Mentorship program app for a real client
About the project
Moonshot Pirates is an organization whose aim is to encourage young people from 14-19 years (Generation Z, born 1995-2005) to think big.
To achieve this goal, they organize bootcamps where participants learn how to transform their world-changing ideas into real projects. After each bootcamp they had no tool to maintain the "pirate" attitude of the participants and support their entrepreneurial being.
On the other hand they wanted to connect young likeminded people from all over the world: so the idea of a mentorship app was born. According to them, this app should cover all the requirements mentioned before. The use of gamification techniques was also a main requirement from the beginning.
The Goal
To create a mentorship App that empowers young people from 14-19 years old (Generation Z) from all over the world to connect, learn and contribute to global challenges by having a mentor in the field of their interest.
This app should not transfer the feeling of learning, but the feeling of having fun by doing something meaningful.
Research
We applied several research methods. In the beginning our focus was on diving into this topic to understand the Moonshot Pirates' attitude and the target group as good as possible. Therefore we started with a competitor, market and a target group analysis. Afterwards we interviewed potential Mentees and people who are already enrolled in a mentorship program, both as mentor and mentee.
It was important to find out which behavior and motivation the mentees would have, to understand their pain points and to test our assumptions.
Research Highlights
Competitors
We found out that our main competitors are the established ventures Female Factor, MicroMentor and Growth Mentor. They all were web-based mentorship programs, but had the largest reach. Mentorship apps such as MentorcliQ, Mentornity and Mentor City already exist, but are not very popular so far. Therefore we did a more accurate research for the ones with a larger reach.
To illustrate this we put our findings into a comparative chart and also made a prospect estimation for the Moonshot Pirates app's development in 1 year.
Blue ocean strategy graph mapping our closest competitors
Market
Generation Z, born 1995-2005:
– worldwide buying power of $44 Bill
– expands to $600 Bill when considering the influence they have on their parents’ spending
– about 22 % of the population are in the age segment of Genration Z
– 22,5 Mio in Europe
– 450.000 reside in Austria
Target group interviews: Mentees
– Gamification should be included from the very beginning
– Communication occurs mainly online
– Used to be protected & spoiled, resulting in a high need for security
– Set of values: realizing one's own interests, having fun and a profession that fulfills them
Target group interviews: Mentors
– they want to have networking events with other mentors, so they can learn from each other
– a short guidance is also important for them, especially if they are mentoring for the first time
– don't want to have more than 4 mentees at the same time​​​
3 one-one interviews
38 surveys
4 different countries
Age group 13-21
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- 85% were open to talk about their future with an expert that they personally don't know
- They want to hear how mentors became successful and how they found out what they wanted to do in their life
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Quotes
"Good mentor/mentee match is crucial for the successful mentoring."
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"Application process needs to be efficient, easy and fun."
Understanding the user
After following up with the research highlights we did some rounds of brainstorming. To understand the users even better we created two personas, one for the Mentee and one for the Mentor.
We also created a value proposition canvas and a customer journey map for the Mentee persona to illustrate all the steps a mentee is expected to go through: the rough concept then was born.
We decided to focus on the application process, as this is the foundation and first step for a successful mentorship program.
Mentee and mentor pesonas
Building the Customer Journey Map
Our Customer Journey Map at the end of the co-creation session
Lean Customer Journey Mapping for onboarding the mentee
First concept
Bearing in mind the importance of including as much gamification as possible on the Mentee's side, we decided to develop these features:
1) a funny personality test to understand the personal traits and attitudes of the mentee
2) swiping through a selection of mentors who best fit the mentee
3) speed meting via time limited video calls where mentors and mentees get to know each other.
Application form for basic data: name, email, age, language, areas of interest
Personality test: e.g. "What's your superpower?"
Choose mentors by “swiping”
First suggestions
from Algorithm
& filtering results
Online "speed meeting"
Notification informing about assigned mentor
Prototyping & Testing
Before we started prototyping, we created a mood board on Miro to collect some ideas. We then proceeded to draw our first low-fi prototypes with pen & paper.
After a first round of testing we improved some elements and then made a low-fi prototype in Figma. After conducting a second round of usability testing and several iterations, we created a high-fi interactive prototype in Figma.
Creating lo-fi paper prototypes of the mentors selection process for having them tested by users
Several iterations of the mentor profile card were made after usability testing rounds with users
As you know, usability testing is a repetitive process: we conducted the main rounds of testing on our hi-fi clickable prototype only after several iterations our paper and lo-fi prototypes. In between we conducted several small tests where we asked the user to complete some tasks in order to improve specific features. The tests were in person or, when not possible, via video call (3 teenagers, average age 17).
Testing: takeaways
– Mentees like the idea of reading personal information about mentors in the BIO, since they want to have a personal connection with him/her
– They really enjoyed the swiping process: it reminded them of other apps they are using everyday
– The order on which the mentors are shown has no relevant impact on the decision they make
– 66% asked about doing the personality test as they were eager to know something they didn't know about themselves (it was not part of the usability test)
"I like the little sentences that tells me a little bit more about them, it just makes them more human”
Girl, 16 years old
“Swiping the mentor, that sounds quite fun, because one of the apps I use, it is called Quzzled...”
Girl, 19 years old
“A nice smile is really important for me, on first sight you can decide if you have a connection with someone or not”
Boy, 17 years old
Design solution
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Our final design solution for the application process that is easy, fun and efficient contains five steps:
1. Personal information entry
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The mentors and mentees enter their name, spoken languages, fields of interest, their gender and location. In addition to this, the mentors need to upload their criminal records and the mentees need to upload a consent form signed by their parents.
2. Personality quiz
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A personality quiz for mentees contains playful personality questions & pictorial answers. Usability tests confirmed that this type of personality quiz is fun for the mentees. They also expressed the wish to see the results of the quiz to maybe discover something new about themselves. This functionality can be added at a later stage.
In addition mentors must also undergo a psychological test. This was one of the requirements of the Moonshot Pirates to guarantee security for the mentees. A personality quiz and a psychological test should be developed in cooperation with a psychologist.
3. First selection with swiping feature
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Mentees swipe left or right to show if they like or dislike the mentor from the list of pre-selected mentors. Pre-selection is done based on spoken languages, fields of interest, way of working etc. This makes the selection process shorter and easier as they don't have to check all available mentors or set filter. The algorithm should be created in cooperation with the developers to create a pre-selected list of mentors from a big pool of mentors and mentees with similar interest. Usability tests confirmed that swiping is fun as it reminds them of other apps that they are using.
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The profile of the mentor includes a photo, matching score, a short description or job position, spoken languages, location, fun fact, a list of top 5 skills, a short bio and a "tip to my younger self". Based on the usability tests this information is needed for the mentees to make a decision. The fun fact and the photo create a first personal connection with the mentor. Usability tests rejected our assumption that the order of the mentors and matching score could have a big impact on the mentees decision.
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After the mentees finish their selection of mentors, a list is sent to the mentors which includes the mentees that would like to work with them. In case they don't want to work with certain mentees due to some specific reason they can turn them down.
4. Speed meeting & second selection
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Each mentee can schedule a call with a maximum of 4 pre-selected mentors. After the calls, the mentee ranges the mentors from 1 to 4 based on their preferences.
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With speed meetings mentees and mentors get the opportunity to create a first personal connection. That allows them to make better decisions with whom they would like to work with.
5. Final match
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The algorithm will make best possible matches based on the preferences from speed meetings.
The bottom line
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📈 We were able to develop a process for the efficient matching of Mentees and Mentors
📈 We included gamification from the very beginning
📈 We designed an application process which is very detailed but still easy and fun to complete from the beginning
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💡 Having enough time for conducting usability tests is crucial for a successful product
💡 Constant communication/workshops with stakeholders saves time and improves the success rate of the final product
💡 Working in a group increases the quality of the output significantly