ROLE Product Strategy · Research · ideation · UX · UI (I'm half the UX team)
TEAM 2 Engineers · 2 Designers · 1 Content creator · CEO
METHODOLOGY. Hybrid, Scrum+Kanban (full-time remote team)
TOOLS Figma · Hotjar · Slack · Notion
TIMELINE Q4 2021 - Q1 · Q2 2022
BACKGROUND
Turingo started in 2018 as a platform to help entrepreneurs start their digital transformation and succeed with their businesses through online courses. In 2021, I was part of a big goal of pivoting the product core by first redesigning the website with a new architecture to integrate the community alongside online classes into the platform.
In this case study, I continued working on the second phase by integrating interaction and collaboration with new features to allow users to network in an entrepreneur community.
THE CHALLENGE
INTEGRATE THE COMMUNITY
We acknowledged the power of our community and its impact on users. But because we built it organically in another platform, we were missing it in ours, compromising retention, engagement, and other potential opportunities.
It also affected the users. Few of them knew about its existence, leaving +33,000 users out of it, depriving them of building social networks and business connections. They needed to leave the site to participate in the community on another platform.
INTEGRATE THE COMMUNITY
We acknowledged the power of our community and its impact on users. But because we built it organically in another platform, we were missing it in ours, compromising retention, engagement, and other potential opportunities.
It also affected the users. Few of them knew about its existence, leaving +33,000 users out of it, depriving them of building social networks and business connections. They needed to leave the site to participate in the community on another platform.
GOAL
ADD INTERACTION TO OUR WEBSITE
After pivoting the core product and redesigning the website with a new architecture (see case study), we now can implement interaction and collaboration features and integrate the community.
ADD INTERACTION TO OUR WEBSITE
After pivoting the core product and redesigning the website with a new architecture (see case study), we now can implement interaction and collaboration features and integrate the community.
This will benefit the users by being part of an entrepreneur network to grow professionally and their businesses. Also, as a hybrid platform with online courses and communities., it will enhance and open B2B and B2C business opportunities.
RESEARCH
USERS & THE COMMUNITY
I helped to set up and lead the Research team in the company. I did 8 interview sessions and a survey of +150 participants to know who our users are and their experiences with the platform and the community. Some of the outcomes are:
1 • Turingo has 3 main groups of users. Small business owners who want to start or grow their businesses. Freelancers who act as mentors, advisers, and contractors. And Investors and large companies who look to sponsor and create content for their clients.
2 • When building the community, we first created a WhatsApp group in 2019, and after reaching the top of users, We looked for other options. We tried Discourse, but our users had poor interaction. We migrated to the Telegram App having +600 members.
3 • On the Telegram App, members say they get lost in a big chat group, making it hard to follow up on all the conversations. They feel overwhelmed but don't want to miss networking with other entrepreneurs.
4 • In this community, users create an ecosystem where they solve their needs through collaboration and interaction. They agree to migrate to a new platform, have everything in one place and be part of a Turingo network.
5 • I did secondary research to find how other platforms organize their information, and I took as referents educational websites related to online courses and how they display the info. And community platforms related to how they design interactions.
USERS & THE COMMUNITY
I helped to set up and lead the Research team in the company. I did 8 interview sessions and a survey of +150 participants to know who our users are and their experiences with the platform and the community. Some of the outcomes are:
1 • Turingo has 3 main groups of users. Small business owners who want to start or grow their businesses. Freelancers who act as mentors, advisers, and contractors. And Investors and large companies who look to sponsor and create content for their clients.
2 • When building the community, we first created a WhatsApp group in 2019, and after reaching the top of users, We looked for other options. We tried Discourse, but our users had poor interaction. We migrated to the Telegram App having +600 members.
3 • On the Telegram App, members say they get lost in a big chat group, making it hard to follow up on all the conversations. They feel overwhelmed but don't want to miss networking with other entrepreneurs.
4 • In this community, users create an ecosystem where they solve their needs through collaboration and interaction. They agree to migrate to a new platform, have everything in one place and be part of a Turingo network.
5 • I did secondary research to find how other platforms organize their information, and I took as referents educational websites related to online courses and how they display the info. And community platforms related to how they design interactions.
PROCESS
DEFINING DESIGN PRIORITIES
To gradually start implementing interaction on our website, we first decided to optimize one of our existing features. We started adding course reviews and lesson comments as initial steps, followed by implementing the Feed, mentions, and notifications as a community MVP definition.
DEFINING DESIGN PRIORITIES
To gradually start implementing interaction on our website, we first decided to optimize one of our existing features. We started adding course reviews and lesson comments as initial steps, followed by implementing the Feed, mentions, and notifications as a community MVP definition.
To gradually start implementing interaction on our website, we first decided to optimize one of our existing features. Start with the course review and lesson comments as initial steps, followed by the Feed, mentions, and notifications as a community MVP definition.
FEATURES IMPLEMENTATION
1 • Course review
2 • Lessons comments
3 • Community feed
4 • Notifications and mentions
1 • Course review
2 • Lessons comments
3 • Community feed
4 • Notifications and mentions
OPTIMIZING AN EXISTENT FEATURE
COURSE REVIEW & LESSON COMMENTS
To allow users to interact on the platform and with other people, we first optimized and implemented the course reviews and lesson comments to potentiate those features and check if people were willing to use them.
COURSE REVIEW
Online reviews can help users shortcut their research and make better and faster decisions when looking for a course. Users can express their opinion and allow potential users to learn more about Turingo and the course. Reviews also help us build trust and reliability and improve our content and know-how to create better courses according to users' needs.
COURSE REVIEW & LESSON COMMENTS
To allow users to interact on the platform and with other people, we first optimized and implemented the course reviews and lesson comments to potentiate those features and check if people were willing to use them.
COURSE REVIEW
Online reviews can help users shortcut their research and make better and faster decisions when looking for a course. Users can express their opinion and allow potential users to learn more about Turingo and the course. Reviews also help us build trust and reliability and improve our content and know-how to create better courses according to users' needs.
I designed a modal asking for their feedback just right after users finish a course and before they can get their certificate. The certificate is important to them, and the chance to have their feedback before delivering it was bigger than addressing them on another page. Users can rate from 1 to 5 stars, adding an explanation optionally, and if they want to make the review later, they can do it from the landing course page.
COMMENT LESSONS
Similar to reviews, we implemented comments into the lessons. Users can access them once they subscribe to a specific course and while they are watching the lessons. They can start the interaction by commenting about the lesson or liking others' opinions.
Similar to reviews, we implemented comments into the lessons. Users can access them once they subscribe to a specific course and while they are watching the lessons. They can start the interaction by commenting about the lesson or liking others' opinions.
Next to the text box is a link where users can contact us directly from the contact form if they need help.
REPORTING SYSTEM
Aiming for a safe environment as a community, a reporting system was necessary to report reviews and comments if they were inappropriate. They can choose from default options like "false information," "unauthorized sales," "inappropriate language," "breaks the community rules," "spam," and "other," allowing the user to explain the reason and report it.
Aiming for a safe environment as a community, a reporting system was necessary to report reviews and comments if they were inappropriate. They can choose from default options like "false information," "unauthorized sales," "inappropriate language," "breaks the community rules," "spam," and "other," allowing the user to explain the reason and report it.
Results:
• +1.500 reviews for our different courses and +350 comments on lessons
• ★★★★★ Review average of 5/5 points, 80% of them with additional comments
• They helped report bugs in their reviews and comments, allowing us to fix them faster
• 0 reports received, and we haven't seen any comment harming other users or Turingo
• +1.500 reviews for our different courses and +350 comments on lessons
• ★★★★★ Review average of 5/5 points, 80% of them with additional comments
• They helped report bugs in their reviews and comments, allowing us to fix them faster
• 0 reports received, and we haven't seen any comment harming other users or Turingo
GETTING INTO OUR BIG GOAL
COMMUNITY FEED
The activity feed is fundamental to integrating the community into the platform. Users can build connections, empower their business, and not feel alone in the entrepreneur journey.
COMMUNITY FEED
The activity feed is fundamental to integrating the community into the platform. Users can build connections, empower their business, and not feel alone in the entrepreneur journey.
It is also important because it can improve retention and engagement, opening the opportunity to have the turingo Community and offer subscriptions to large companies to have their own communities as part of the new business model in the future.
I followed the same patterns as other social media platforms for the design to not break users' mental models. From the website redesign, Community can have its own space in the sidebar and let users efficiently navigate all the different features.
I created a Community MVP with 3 main screens: Feed, About the Community, and Members. The Feed is where everything happens. The central column is where users can post and interact with each other, and the second column is for secondary info, such as About, Details, Members, and Group rules as linkable cards.
To read more about the secondary items, I grouped the info-related like About, Details, and Group rules on one page. I left Members on another, showing participants' details such as profile pic, name, and job position as individual cards.
Also, users can publish different types of posts: text with or without links, upload images, videos, documents, and create surveys. We are considering the chance to add default tags to the post to optimize users' search when filtering the content from the Feed.
Posts have 3-level comments/replies, enabling users to have an organized flow of conversation. Also, users can like or comment on a post. The post owner can edit or delete it, and other users can report it if it's inappropriate according to the Group rules, and the reporting system is the same as reviews and comments.
To consider:
• ⚑ This feature is still in the process of iterating and isn't released yet. Planned to be live in Q3 · Q4 2022.
• We've tested the interactions and design in a couple of Quality Assurance events and a few users. Their interaction was very intuitive, with a +90% task success rate.
• We've received positive feedback from the sessions. Users are motivated and have asked to be posted on its release to participate in the Turingo network.
To consider:
• ⚑ This feature is still in the process of iterating and isn't released yet. Planned to be live in Q3 · Q4 2022.
• We've tested the interactions and design in a couple of Quality Assurance events and a few users. Their interaction was very intuitive, with a +90% task success rate.
• We've received positive feedback from the sessions. Users are motivated and have asked to be posted on its release to participate in the Turingo network.
COMPLEMENTING THE FEED
NOTIFICATIONS AND MENTIONS
People need to know when someone has commented or liked one of their posts or comments to keep interacting. I designed a notification center to notify users about their activity.
NOTIFICATIONS AND MENTIONS
People need to know when someone has commented or liked one of their posts or comments to keep interacting. I designed a notification center to notify users about their activity.
The notification skeleton has the post-activity, an indicator if it has been read or not, the time was sent, an options menu, and the subject's profile pic or an icon depending if it's Community or Marketing-related.
Users can see their notifications from the navigation bar in 3 views:
• The notification icon with a badge and number
• When they click on it, it opens a dropdown with the latest notifications
• From there, they can click "see all notifications" and will redirect to the notification center.
Users can see their notifications from the navigation bar in 3 views:
• The notification icon with a badge and number
• When they click on it, it opens a dropdown with the latest notifications
• From there, they can click "see all notifications" and will redirect to the notification center.
To consider:
• ⚑ This feature is still in the process of iterating and isn't released yet. Planned to be live in Q3 · Q4 2022 along with the Community feed.
• We've tested the notifications and mentions in internal QA events and with users. They could perform some tasks well, but we couldn't continue testing them because of system problems in sessions. We are working on it.
• ⚑ This feature is still in the process of iterating and isn't released yet. Planned to be live in Q3 · Q4 2022 along with the Community feed.
• We've tested the notifications and mentions in internal QA events and with users. They could perform some tasks well, but we couldn't continue testing them because of system problems in sessions. We are working on it.
CONCLUSION
• ✔︎ Community estimated to release is for Q3 • Q4 2022
• ✔︎ +1.500 reviews for our different courses and +350 comments on lessons
• ★★★★★ Review average of 5/5 points for our courses
• ✔︎ The platform is designed in light and dark modes to meet user's needs and preferences
• ✔︎ First time as a team building a hybrid platform, but the journey has been rewarding. Communication and collaboration are key
• ✔︎ Community estimated to release is for Q3 • Q4 2022
• ✔︎ +1.500 reviews for our different courses and +350 comments on lessons
• ★★★★★ Review average of 5/5 points for our courses
• ✔︎ The platform is designed in light and dark modes to meet user's needs and preferences
• ✔︎ First time as a team building a hybrid platform, but the journey has been rewarding. Communication and collaboration are key