The document describes a selection process for ideas to address the problem of new university graduates needing better practical skills preparation for their first job. The most practical idea selected was to provide standardized practical skills training modules across all major industries through universities. A prototype of a practical skills app and a practical skills development portal were created and feedback was gathered. Feedback noted positives like gamification elements but also issues like confusing layouts. Next steps would involve reworking the prototypes based on the feedback and doing additional testing.

1. Selection Criteria Idea Selected 1 Paragraph Description
Most practical idea Standardised
University
modules for
practical skills
The idea here is to provide a standardised set of
practical skills training courses for all major
industries (Business consulting, healthcare,
engineering, legal, agriculture etc.) All
universities would provide a standardised set of
practical skills training course so that all students
are equipped to a reasonable level.
Prototype & Test
Original problem statement: New university & college graduates need
to better understand, prepare and develop practical skills for their first job.
The original idea that my prototypes seek to address can be seen in the table
below.
Feedback is captured in quote marks and put alongside the prototypes to
promote ease of contextual understanding

2. Prototype 1 – Practical Skills App & Feedback
+“I love it, I think
this could work
really well”
+“I could see myself
getting quite a lot of
value from this”
⌂ “I don’t like
adverts they might
be distracting”
+Gamification was
popular in terms of
showing progress and
creating ‘badges’ ‘of
achievement
? If this was a
mobile app would
there be enough
space on a single
screen for all the
content and
functionality
! NEW IDEA: “This
could be replaced
with job adverts to
make it relevant

3. Prototype 2 – Practical Skills Development Portal & Feedback
+ “It’s good that search
is a prominent feature
as finding content is
always challenging”
⌂“I don’t really like
the layout it is a bit
confusing”
! NEW IDEAS:
“syndicate existing
materials or allow
people to rate and
share content
+ “Helping connect
people is a great feature
which I find challenging –
especially knowing where
to start”
+ “It’s good that +
search is a prominent
feature as finding
content is always
challenging”

4. • I have learnt a great deal during the prototyping and testing process. One of
the main things that I have realised is that real users immediately enable
you to empathise more and pick up obvious issues that go unnoticed when
you are too close to creating the solution to see them.
• Next steps would require a re draw of the ideas to incorporate feedback,
remove issues and introduce elements of the new ideas followed with a
second round of testing and feedback.
• I am confident that either the app or the online portal could become a viable
companion to students emerging from university and transitioning into the
working world with a broader set of practical skills.
Reflection