Talent Audit
for Skilltype
Unlocking value by crafting magic moments that guide library leaders toward meaningful action
Role
Founding Product Designer
collaborators
Founder
•
1 SW Engineer
Duration
July 2021 – October 2021
Contributions
Research
•
Strategy
•
Product Design
•
Product Management
•
Handoff & QA
Overview
Initial Problem
Skilltype has been struggling to sign B2B customers to the platform, spending enormous amount time and effort, yet frequently failing to win them over. Naturally, Skilltype wanted to find a way to bring in more library organizations to the platform, and also have an easier time doing so.
Process Outline
As the only designer –while also filling in as a product manager– I uncovered underlying issues causing the problem and devised a strategy to address these issues. I then worked closely with the engineering team to implement and ship the solution from the initial prompt, to launch within three months.
What we came up with
Impact
Within 3 months of launch, we observed massive improvements in these target areas. Despite its simplicity, Talent Audit was a turning point for Skilltype, marking the beginning of a clear upward trajectory at a faster pace. This turning point led us to a successful seed funding round.
Process
Discovery
While we were aware of our difficulty bringing organizations in, we weren't sure why it was happening in the first place. Acknowledging this gap in our understanding, I started by conducting research to get to the root of the problem and understand why it is happening.
Insights
What's stopping library leaders from becoming paying customers?
Stakeholder Interviews, Customer Feedback Review, User Journey Mapping, Experience Review
🚧
They experience too much friction in the process, overshadowing the main value proposition
🤷
Skilltype lacked easily accessible insights that drive library leaders toward meaningful actions
😵💫
There are no easy ways to keep track of metrics. Tracking their progress is a cycle of repeatedly going through the same pain-points.
Defining the real challenge
The lack of insight –and/or the tools to extract them– paralyze Library Leaders rather than help them figure out their next steps. The friction during this process is enough to completely push them away from the platform, preventing them from ever reaching an "aha!" moment where the product's value proposition is clear and tangible.
HMW Statement
Scope
After identifying our main design challenge, I outlined the scope of the solution; defining the target users, project and solution constraints, goals, and key metrics.
Target User
Library Organization Leaders
Library leaders are in-charge of big-picture operations. They care deeply about the long-term movement and trajectory of their organization, the wellbeing of their employees, and their ability to serve their community. They are usually the ones that make the final decision whether to sign up for Skilltype or not.
Constraints
Solo designer wearing multiple hats
Resource Limitations
Tight Deadline
Codebase limitations
Key Metrics
New B2B Customers per month
Demo requests per month
Strategy
Grounding the design process into principles and a solution framework.
Design Principles
Lightweight
Actionable
Delightful
Swiftly Informative
Defining the MVP
Insights and guidelines that help establish the foundation of our MVP concept.
Goals
Help Library Leaders create an efficient employee training plan through actionable insights
Provide clear and lasting value to current and potential customers
Insights
What do library leaders need to create an effective and meaningful employee training plan?
Stakeholder Interviews, Jobs-to-be-done
01
An audit of skills and product knowledge within the organization
What talent is available in their org? This information helps ground their training plan and prevent wasting resources on redundant training efforts.
02
Knowing where their gaps in talent exist
Comparing their audited talent and assessed needs (Key Skills & Key Products) will uncover where their talent gaps exist. This knowledge gives them an idea where to direct their training efforts.
03
Which skill or product to prioritize training
Library leaders want to allocate their resources more effectively and reach their goals efficiently.
product Requirements
A view in their dashboard that helps them visualize the work needed to address their talent needs
Use their Key Skills and Products as the base for creating new insights
Concept Explorations
Showcase of concepts we explored, describing pros and cons.
User Testing
Using the 4th concept, we conducted a quick user test with library leaders already on Skilltype. This helped me uncover missed opportunities and gave me ideas on how to push the designs further. Overall, the concept received exceptionally positive response, giving us enough validation to move forward with high-fidelity designs.
Learnings from user testing
Provide a quick sense of scale and progress
Pay attention to deeper nuance of the data
Show the people behind the data
Decrease cognitive overload by making the view easier to scan
Final Outcome Highlights
Each highlight captures an aspect of the final solution. It calls out which design goal it adheres to, what user scenario or problem its solving and what the solution is.
Uncover talent gaps in an instant
Talent Audit visualizes an organization's talent data into segments, identifying which of their assessed talent needs already exist in their organization, which ones are missing, and which of the missing talent have people interested in learning them.
Rationale
Through this view, Library leaders immediately get a starting point to ground their strategy into. It gives them an idea where they are, which talent they lack, and which areas to prioritize.
Design Goal
Actionable Insights to decrease friction
Provide clear and lasting value
Mapping talent needs as progress
A view that automatically maps the key talent needs of an organization in real-time into kanban sections. Users can return anytime and track progress with ease.
Rationale
By laying out talent gaps similar to a to-do list, it nudges users to progress. In addition, it automatically tracks and displays any progress in real-time –removing the need for external spreadsheets to manually track progress.
Design Goal
Actionable Insights to decrease friction
Provide clear and lasting value
Get to know people's talent and learning interests
Clicking on an item in Talent Audit shows the people behind the details. Surface people who already have Skill/Product Knowledge you need, or are interested in learning them.
Rationale
This functionality helps surface hidden expertise within the organization – helping fill talent gaps easier. Leaders now have the ability to leverage employees' existing skills and learning interests to meet the organization's goals.
Design Goal
Actionable insights to decrease friction
Providing clear and lasting value
Reflection
Talent Audit was my first full growth design experiment. Being bound to tight constraints pushed me to dig deeper and find a simple yet impactful solution. It taught me the skill of finding the right opportunity to create value from what already exists.
Future Improvements
Improving information heirarchy
Enabling Library Leaders to capture a snapshot for specific time period
Extending to lower levels of an organization