Where we designed a LinkedIn spinoff platform that connects people who want to practice skills and those who want to build their passion projects. Retrospective: https://medium.com/@AdrianMhLin/a-project-on-a-platform-for-projects-447be3d0827e#.8ic16ur52

1. inAdrian Lin | Eric Wagner | Daniel Kim
Linkedin Projects

2. Deliver
Company Background
inDefine Develop NextDiscover
Brand/Company Background
•Linkedin is the professional social network
•Linked provides a digital space for people to professionally connect with people they want to
connect with for reference, advice, job searching, recruiting, or building connections.
•LinkedIn launched in 2003 and has since grown to a network of over 400 million members.
•The brand has a friendly, yet professional personality that encourages connections.
KPIs
◦User engagement through number of connections
◦Number of Premium subscribers
◦User statistics (profile views, InMail messages)
in

3. Deliver
Style Guide
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HEX #000000
HEX #86888A
HEX #FFFFFF
HEX #CACCCE
HEX #0077B5
HEX #313335
in
HEX #8673AA HEX #CD5E4F HEX #D9883AHEX #40A1D9
HEX #896CAE
HEX #52ACB4
HEX #88B800
HEX #CA583E
HEX #E1B400
HEX #86888A
HEX #4E9DE0
HEX #D78900
HEX #CA528B
Corporate Color Palette
Color Palette for Data Viz
Accent Color Palette
Primary Text Family Avenir Next
Primary Text Family Avenir Next
Primary Text Family Avenir Next
Primary Text Family Avenir Next
Primary Text Family Avenir Next
Primary Text Family Avenir Next
Secondary Text Family Helvetica
Secondary Text Family Helvetica
Secondary Text Family Arial
Secondary Text Family Arial
Secondary Text Family Georgia
Key brand messages in headlines and display
copy. Avenir Next must be used for headline and
display text in all offline marketing materials, and
select digital materials where the fonts can be
embedded or served online
Helvetica and Arial are used for all body copy.
Alternate fonts when Avenir is not available.
Georgia Italic is the “voice” font for customer
testimonials and member quotes

4. Deliverables
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
• Research Report
• Style Guide
• Personas
• User Stories
• App Map
• Journey Map
• Annotated Wireframes
• High Fidelity Prototype
in

5. Project Proposal
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Initial Problem Statement
People create connections via LinkedIn to build and expand their professional
network. It’s difficult for people to gain professional experience working on real
projects in their desired field, especially if they haven’t had a great amount of
experience. Additionally, it’s difficult for people who have passion projects outside
of work to recruit qualified talent to help make their projects come to life.
Opportunity
LinkedIn recently unrolled separate apps like LinkedIn Jobs for job seeking. The
connections made through LinkedIn are underutilized, allowing for an opportunity
for people to use their connections for more than just applying for jobs. LinkedIn
can provide a space for both professionals and those with less experience to
collaborate on projects. This presents an opportunity for professionals to give
back to their community, practice teaching and recruit talent to help their passion
projects come to life. People with less experience can work on real projects under
professionals in their desired field and gain practical work experience.

6. Project Plan
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover

7. inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Executive Summary
LinkedIn is the professional social network. People use LinkedIn to
build, expand and utilize their professional network. LinkedIn started
as a website and now it is associated with a full suite of apps spanning
from companion apps like LinkedIn Jobs to sister apps like Lynda.com.
LinkedIn Projects is an app that fills a void in the collaboration and
learning community, specifically in the design community. It is often
difficult to gain real-world experience without already having a
portfolio of work samples and an impressive resume, yet these are the
attributes recruiters seek in order to hire top talent. LinkedIn Projects
provides a platform for you to gain experience and learn from
someone else in the same expertise while adding to your resume.
Additionally, established professionals in the field can realize their
dreams by recruiting free talent to work on their passion projects and
side projects while learning by teaching others.
For this reason we focused on comparing websites and apps in these
the fields of professional networking, mentoring, and portfolio
hosting/job boards to see what works, what does not, and what we can
borrow from other services in order to define our app in this space.
Our planning process consisted of user research techniques such as affinity
mapping coupled with user interviews in order to develop personas. These
personas helped us define our archetypal users who we would design for. From
these personas we developed user stories and a journey map to show various
scenario in which someone would use this app as well as the end-to-end
experience from discovery to in-person collaboration.
In order to decide on the functionality we would design, we prioritized certain
features according to our personas’ needs. Through multiple design charrettes,
sketches and ideation cycles, we came up our first draft of medium fidelity
wireframes. Utilizing the iterative design process we tested these preliminary
wires with users, synthesized feedback, and reiterated on these designs.
Lastly, we created high fidelity wireframes of the flow from the perspectives of our
two personas. From these wireframes we created an interactive mobile prototype
of our LinkedIn Projects app.
In sum, LinkedIn Projects addresses a niche audience in a way that no other app
has done before. With this idea, people can connect, learn, and collaborate with
others both professionally and personally all within the confines of LinkedIn--the
professional social network.

8. Attributes
APPLICANT
Discover Projects
and People
Search Projects, Work in
Progress, People, Teams (studios
like Adobe). Can also search
Creatives To Follow, Galleries and
Collections
Search people, projects
Post a portfolio Yes Yes
Discover Jobs Search by keyword, location,
creative field, or company
Search with location, keyword,
specialty, company search
Application Process Click Apply button, apply with
your profile, Click Submit
Hit apply and it redirects you to
the companies application
POSTER
Post a job
Click Post a Job, pay either $399
per month or $1500 per month for
unlimited posts
Click post job, pay $275 for
single, $725 for three jobs,
$1,100 for five jobs, $1,850 for
ten jobs
Verify Talent View Applicant's Behance profile Resume and portfolio
Comparative Analysis
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Attributes
MENTOR
Onboarding Application form/ E-mail/Local mentoring
programs
User Sign up
Find a Menthe Program coordinator assigns mentee after
interview process
Apply to be mentor or volunteer(community
council, college mentors, raise funds, special
projects, committees)
Find the right program Interview with program coordinator
Apply at college mentor for kids chapter at
your college
Types of mentorship Career, education, social Youth
Retrospective Reviews Relationship with mentee/s Testimonials
Location Finder Google maps powered search with 25 mile
radius cap
Local college campus
Background Check Yes Yes
MENTEE
Onboarding Local mentoring programs/Application form N/A
Find a mentor Program coordinator assigns mentee to mentor Through program
Types of mentorship Career, education, social
Career, financial literacy, health and wellness,
science. technology
Location Finder Project coordinator N/A
Attributes
Onboarding
Sign in with LinkedIn or
email
Sign in with Facebook
and LinkedIn
Interest Categories
Add interests using
keywords, anything from
Photography to Private
Equity
Join communities for
Seed Investment, Mobile
Developers,
Copenhagen Startups,
etc.
Introduction Method
Receive daily batch of
people according to
preference and can swipe
left or right to dismiss or
meet this person
Swipe left or right
through people within a
community
Skills Validation
Pulls LinkedIn overview,
past jobs, URL, schooling,
interests
Pulls LinkedIn overview,
job titles, "grip strength"
www.collegementors.org
Messaging In-app In-app
Grip App
Mentor.org
Shapr App

9. User Research Interviews
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Initial User Research:
In our exploratory user research, 5/7 participants mentioned
learning best while applying their skills, especially on projects,
and 4/7 users mentioned enjoying working on such projects.
4/7 also mentioned that a sense of community or connection is
important to learning. These insights pointed us toward using
in-person collaboration on group projects as the primary way
our project idea would help people hone their skills.
In addition, 4/7 users mentioned talked about needing or using
structure as part of their learning process. This validated our
idea of requiring project creators submit project plan details as
part of creating a project listing on our site. This requirement
should filter out incomplete ideas and increase the likelihood
of submitted projects being finished.

10. Screener
We identified the characteristics of the users we wanted to
interview and distributed a screener survey to reach a vast
amount of people from which we could funnel into qualified
participants. We looked for people interested in
professional development and who used apps to learn new
skills.
Interviews
After screening, we had a more manageable amount of
responses from people we wanted to interview. Before
interviewing, we listed out topics to touch upon and from
there, we created questions to guide us in our interview
process.
Findings
From our user interviews we identified several patterns.
Five out of seven users mentioned learning best while
applying skills, particularly in group projects. Four out of
seven also mentioned that a sense of community was
helpful to learning.
User Research & Takeaways
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover

11. Rachelle
Rachelle has been toying with an idea for a low-budget
modular home design to house victims of natural disasters in
Mexico. She needs help pushing this idea forward and is
looking to collaborate with individuals who share the same
passions for social good through design. She works during the
day, and in her free time teaches inner-city kids about
industrial design. Although she’s always on-the-go, she values
the personal relationships she makes with others. For this
reason, she wants to work with people she sees herself
becoming friends with.
Bio
Motivations
- Expanding network both professionally and personally
- Working with others keeps her on track
- Learning new skills
Behavior
- Learns by teaching others
- Is structured in her approach to learning and projects
Pleasures
- Bouncing ideas off others
- Forms personal relationships with teammates
- Wants to work with people she gets along well with
- Wants to work with people with shared interests
How we can serve
- Require application process for project listings so she knows she is working with talented people
- Integrate with LinkedIn to prepopulate profile details so she can verify their talent
- Require applicants to list contact details so she has the option of screening applicants
- Allow project creators to structure and head the project
Team lead at Dyson for Product Development, 35 y/o, single
“I want to enjoy spending time with the people I work with”
Deliver
Personas
inDefine Develop NextDiscover
Miguel is a Jr. CAD designer from Mexico working at Target in
the Housewares department. He’s been working at his first job
for two years, but he doesn’t get the opportunity to express
himself through his design work. He’s learned much of his
design skills in college and has taken online courses via
Coursera and Codecademy. He wants to further his learning by
working on projects he cares about.
Bio
Motivations
- Career development
- Sees value in collaboration because it furthers his skills, despite it being less comfortable
Behavior
- Skeptical
- Prefers to work alone. If he must work with others, he prefers people he knows
- Is structured in his approach to learning and projects
Pains
- Apprehensive of strangers
- Doesn’t want people to steal his ideas
How we can serve
- Require project listings to detail group sizes and whether work is remote
- Allow saving projects to a list so he can consider which to join
- Require project listings to have sufficient description of desired skills and project timeline
CAD Designer at Target, 25 y/o, single
“I want to work on projects I like but with people I can trust”
Miguel

12. We placed insights onto a four quadrant chart of behaviors, motivations, pleasures, and pains in order to identify features
of our user groups and create personas to better understand and communicate their needs.
• Project posting, including duration,
group size, category
• Be able to apply to a project
• Integration with LinkedIn profile
• Search for candidates/projects
Must
• File sharing system
• Advanced faceted search
• Chatrooms
• Video chatrooms
• Connect projects to job boards
Could
• Won’t teach skills like classroom
setting
• Won’t sell courses
• Won’t require membership fees
Won’t
• Message system (within project)
• Scheduling
• Can close project listing
• Resume and portfolio
Should
MoSCoW
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover

13. Platform Choice:
Our platform choice is a native iOS app because this is the
mode with which users primarily browse sources of
inspiration of activities. AccordingApps that fit this category
of browsing include Meetup or Pinterest which, like LinkedIn,
both have a desktop and mobile website version, as well as
a native mobile app. Users identified a similarity between
these apps and our idea for LinkedIn Projects in the modes
of interface they interact with these brands. In addition,
creating a native app will make the comprehensive Projects
experience streamlined and faster than accessing it via
LinkedIn.com.
From a marketing standpoint, LinkedIn Projects will be
branded as slightly less professional-focused and more
casual. It will have an air of excitement and passion that
comes from working on skills outside of work but which can
also be used professionally. Because of this, it should be a
separate app rather than part of the LinkedIn website, which
would necessitate it sharing the same branding and style.
Project Platform
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover

14. As someone looking for experience, I want to learn
from someone in the field so I can gain real world
experience.”“
“
As someone looking for experience, I want to work
on a real project so I can add it to my portfolio.
“
As someone looking for experience, I want to work
with someone who shares my same interests, so
I know we’re both equally invested in the work.
Looking for experience Project Creator
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
User Story
“
As a person with a project idea, I want to find
qualified people, so that I can complete these
projects on time.
“
As a person with a project idea, I want to find
someone talented so that I can learn from
them too.
“
As a person with a project idea, I want to find
someone passionate about the same things,
so that we can work better together as a
team.

15. I want to work with
talented people who
are also friendly
Applies for projects
Got accepted!
Browses Discover
feed and reads project
descriptions
PositiveAffect+
Time
-
Using LinkedIn ProjectsBefore LinkedIn Projects
Uses faceted search to find
qualified candidates
Search Projects by
preferences and
project categoryI want to protect my
brand and my
intellectual property
Creates project,
fills in description
and adds tags
Accept candidates
who fit the criteria
Collaborates and
learn from each other
Sky’s the limit
Closes listing
Key
Ideas and motivation wane and projects aren’t actualized
User journey using LinkedIn Projects
User Journey
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Open app
I want to pursue
my passion
I want to create work
I care about
Miguel
Rachelle

16. App Map
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover

17. inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
First Iteration
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Results
Search Discover Projects Me
Results display here
Search
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Discover
Search Discover Projects Me
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Discover
Miguel Santos liked this project
Miguel Santos
Project Completed
1/3/16
Water for humanity
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
interestsof user here asdf blah blahSearch Discover Projects Me
Rachelle Tran
Product Developer
Dyson
Greater New York City Area
Biography of user here asdf blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
Profile Projects
Past
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Project
Picture
Project Title
Project Description
Search Discover Projects Me
Current Saved

18. inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Annotations of App Version 1
These events
seemed to be on
equal hierarchy
levels and was
unclear to users
which item
belonged to
which.
The visual
hierarchy was
improved in the
next iteration.
Fixed information visual hierarchy

19. 1. View past, current and
saved projects
2. Press floating action
button to create a new
project
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Annotations of App Version 2
2
1
1
1. Project details at a glance
2. Relevant information stands out
1. View the activity of your
connections at a glance
1 2
1
1
1
1
1
1. Profile information can
be populated from
LinkedIn’sAPI
1
2
1.As a project creator, you can view
all pending and approved applicants
for a project, as well as the project
details.
2.Applicant information displays in
list so creators can read their contact
details to coordinate collaboration or
to inquire further.

20. inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Final Design

21. Prototype walkthrough
inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Interactive prototype

22. inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Next Steps
Granular
Add a ‘Save’ button beside each edit field when editing fields
Conceptual
Create a task management system to delegate and assign tasks and track their completion
Short-Term
Create a chatroom or group messaging system to facilitate coordination between collaborators
Add advanced filtering and sorting for Discover feed and faceted Search by categories and group size.
Allow project creators to send invites to other people to collaborate on projects
Long-Term
Design for file sharing and storage system for project creators to share task lists, timelines, etc.
Create a responsive web version of this app to integrate into the current LinkedIn.com

23. inDeliverDefine Develop NextDiscover
Sources
Icons
thenounproject.com
flaticons.com
Written Material
dezeen.com
linkedin.com
Pictures
gettyimages.com