Mentorship Platform for High-School Students

This case study details the product design of Polygence, a mentorship platform primarily for high school students. Polygence connects students to mentors using their interests and a proprietary algorithm. In the platform, students can message their mentor, share resources, and schedule new sessions. Students typically conduct a research project that helps them with college admissions.

MY ROLE
  • UX Research
  • UX Design
  • UI Design
  • Product Design
  • Prototyping (Figma + HTML/CSS/JS)
COLLABORATORS
  • Emma Leyden
  • Claire Jung
  • Angie Vadas
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
  • Led UX and product design at the startup.
  • Facilitated a rebranding and visual refresh of website, web app, and native app leading to a more consistent and cohesive brand identity and design system.
  • Conducted interviews and usability testing with dozens of mentors and students providing a strong foundation for continued design work.
  • Designed and facilitated numerous shipped features to create a world-class passion project experience for mentors and students, including tools for sharing resources, scheduling sessions, and a brand new native app (4.7 Rating on App Store).
  • Mentored 2 mid-level designers on design best practices, more consistent design, responsive design, etc.
  • Top-of-funnel improvements led to over $1 million in monthly revenue from student projects
  • Company has helped more than 2400 students from 44+ countries do passion projects and get in to top-tier universities.

PROBLEM

How can we empower students to explore their interests and find their passion while empowering mentors to best serve those students?

RESEARCH

This particular study with 7 mentors and 5 students was geared towards understanding needs with respect to a new product we were designing called Pathfinders. Pathfinders is a product for students who are less certain of their interests, and want to explore options with mentors from different fields. The data and insights helped us make product decisions and influenced the overall requirements of the product.

BRAND AND DESIGN SYSTEM

When I joined Polygence I led a rebrand. We went for a more simple monochromatic emblem, simple shapes, playful and readable typography, and glassmorphism. Rounded corners emphasize a fun and friendly product for students.

WEB APP DESIGNS

NATIVE APP DESIGNS

LOADER ANIMATION