Bridge Us
Role
UX Researcher
Team Size
4 Members
Tools
Figma
Writing Skills
Google Forms
Annota
We developed a potential design for a platform that would facilitate healthy career conversations between parents and their children, hypothesizing that it would result in students feeling more supported and comfortable while developing a career identity.
Overview
A Platform that Encourages Supportive Career Conversations
Summary
"Bridge Us" enables students and parents to connect anonymously through online forums, allowing them to find other like-minded individuals who share similar struggles and discuss their career goals. The "Bridge Us" forum space enables students to freely express their thoughts on the career decisions they wish to make, how their parents perceive them, and the reasons behind their hesitation to move forward with their choices. On the other hand, parents will be able to understand their children's career motivations better and learn how to support them more effectively.
Figure 3.1: New Main Menu (Left) and Old Main Menu (Right)
The Lack of Parental Support Can Directly Affect a Student's Confidence to Make Career Decisions
Problem Statement
As adolescents become more autonomous, their desire to be independent and make their own decisions grows. During this period, parents play a vital role in a student’s career development, and their lack of support can result in detrimental career conversations that will negatively impact their career trajectories and create communication breakdowns. Parents need to ensure they can effectively communicate with their children without imposing their career values on them.
Figure 3.2: Prompts Response Page (Left), Prompts Main Page (Middle), Community Response Submission Page (Right)
Creating a Safe Space to Facilitate Career Conversations Between Parents and Students
Goal
While students tend to push back using their independence and autonomy during these tensions, the ultimate goal is to facilitate an environment where adolescents and their parents can have meaningful and insightful discussions about their current projected career paths.
Figure 3.3: Community Response Main Page
Research
Questioning our Target Audience to Identify a Solution Through Qualitative Research
Our Approach
We surveyed students using Google Forms to inquire about their current career development journey and how outside factors have affected their development. Parents were also asked to complete a separate survey stating their current influence on their child's developmental process and any current worries they may have about their child's projected path. A consent form was attached to each survey to confirm they were willing to be interviewed and participate in our research. Once we received both responses, the students and parents were interviewed separately via Zoom. These interviews were then recorded, transcribed, and then uploaded to our in-house analysis platform called Annota.
Identifying Different Factors Influencing Career Development
Figure 3.4: Student and Parent Quotes Collected From Interviews
Examples
Based on the data that we gathered, we were able to identify various factors that would potentially influence career development, including financial impact, cultural values, familial exposure, and level of parental support. After collecting our data, we handed the information onto the design team so they could translate it into a design draft.
Conclusion
Figure 3.5: Discussion Guide Submission Page (Left) and Discussion Guide Main Page
Discussing Our Findings and Identifying a Growing Issue with Our Original Hypothesis
Results
As we continued to analyze the results of our study, it became abundantly clear that a growing issue within our research was that most students we interviewed did not have trouble communicating with their parents, or their parents felt they did not need to interfere with children's career decisions. This issue proved to be more cumbersome as time went on, as we struggled to find additional students to interview who supported our initial hypothesis. Without our target users, we were unable to reach a solid conclusion and collect more data. We ultimately decided that the group of users we initially targeted was too niche and needed to expand our research to an idea that could be tested more feasibly.
Identify a Less Niche Problem Statement and Changing Our Focus
What to Do Differently Next Time
The biggest issue for this study was that our problem statement was too focused on one specific group of students and trying to solve their exact problem. I think that one way to work around this issue would be to either compare the success of students with and without parental support or to shift the focus of our study to research that encompasses the idea of helping all students improve their career knowledge. We ultimately decided on the ladder, and that new set of research became my most significant research endeavor, resulting in a platform called ExploreCareers. Despite the setbacks, I believe that I learned a great deal through this experience, from becoming more professionally familiar with the research process to learning how to communicate effectively with my team to solve various obstacles. I will continue to apply these skills in my future endeavors, as they remain the foundation for my growth as a designer.