High-Risk Workplace Issue Mobile Training Platform
Masters Degree Capstone Project
NewPoint Strategies offers clients “expertise in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility; Implicit Bias; LGBTQIA+; DEI-Police Reform; Pay Equity Assessment; Social and Racial Justice; Suicide Prevention; and Sexual Harassment/Assault Prevention” and provides many options to “do training right.” By way of adding an additional method of training to their portfolio, I created a prototype for an app that can assist with training in an efficient and easy to use platform.
What's the Problem?
Everyone has sat through long training sessions on high-risk issues in the workplace. Whether in person in your office conference room or in hours long modules on your computer at your desk. The nature of these sessions may distract from the information and cause employees to aimlessly click through, unable to absorb, understand, and fully process the information. Furthermore, your workplace may only provide in-person training sessions once a year. Additionally, some careers in sales, constructions, etc., may require workers to be on the road and miss these trainings all together.
How might we give clients and employees a training option that removes the time consuming aspect of training on high-risk issues in the workplace while still educating and delivering important information?
How might we give clients and employees a training option for those employees who are always on the road?
How might we give clients and employees a training option to fill in the gaps between new hires when an in-person training session may not be scheduled for months down the road?
How might we give clients and employees a training option to assist human resources in training when an HR issue arises?
Research
Competitive Analysis
I started this project by completing a competitive analysis. The main goal of the competitive analysis was to gather qualitative information in the following areas:
Evaluating whether NewPoint competitors offer similar training platforms and if so, what platform specifically
Evaluating high-risk topics covered in similar training platforms
Evaluating key features of similar training platforms
Evaluating the user experience and user interface design of similar training platforms
Key Findings
Competition
I found NewPoint competitors are offering similar platforms. Of their three top competitors, all three offer a mobile-compatible platform while only one has a true app.
Training Topics
While all three of NewPoint's top competitors offer training in DEIAB, few other high-risk issues are covered across the platforms. Furthermore, many high-risk issues of focus for NewPoint, such as pay equity, are not covered in any other platform.
Key Features
The competitor platforms each offered interactive quizzes and most notabley, an analysis inegrated with HR of the users company. Additional notable features included self-paced learning, insights to reinforce growth, progress tracking, additional resources, and the opportunity to take learning offline.
UX/UI
Unfortunately, full access to most of the platforms were blocked by paywalls. However, through available samples, the designs were simple to allow the user to focus on the important information which was given in small segments. The user was guided through the user flow by the use of one or two colors. Most of the color came from pictures or videos.
Strategy
Securing Buy-In from Founders and Stakeholders
While my project was pre-approved by my supervisor and a founder at NewPoint, after conducting the competitive analysis I presented the findings to both founders and the executive team. Providing the qualitative research and showing that their competitors were successful in the mobile-training platform area was one step towards securing buy-in. Eager to know more, we moved forward and began to brainstorm how this product could work within NewPoint's current training model.
Brainstorming
In two sessions, I guided the founders and executive team through discussions focused on their must-have features for the platform, past feedback from clients to translate into features for the platform, and their "dream" features for the platform. The features are outlined below.
Features
Digital Animations
NewPoints main training tool is animated video series and they wanted to ensure their integration into this platform.
Quizzes
In addition to their competitors offering quizzes, NewPoint also had been asked by previous potential clients if their animation series were accompanied by quizzes.
Initial Assessments
NewPoint often hears from current and potential clients that they do not know where to start with their employee training. Offering initial assessments through the platform would allow clients to define the most high-risk issues in their workplaces. NewPoint also wanted to keep these assessments simple, allowing room to continue conducting deeper in-person assessments.
HR Tracking and Integration
A feature of competitor platforms, NewPoint chose to include this feature because their contact points at client companies are often in HR. This is a great way to keep HR in the know about their office climate, as well as call NewPoint in for in-person trainings and workshops when they see problem areas that are not improving or declines in certain areas of training.
Feedback
Providing feedback is imperative for NewPoint so their clients can understand when answers are wrong and learn from them.
Live Consultant
While some competitors set users up with a consultant upon registration, NewPoint wanted users to have a place to ask questions and receive answers in real-time if they needed further clarification about an animation or an incorrect answer, or ask questions about their own workplace problems/situations. NewPoint also wanted to ensure this platform would integrate their consults, and this feature would do just that.
Design Implementation
User Flow
After pinpointing the main features of the platform, I drafted a user flow.
Sketches
I then began to sketch portions of the prototype.
_JPG.jpg)
_JPG.jpg)
Mockups
After presenting and discussing the sketches with the founders and executive team, I proceeded to create wireframes and a mockup of the platform. The mockups of the different use cases can be found below.
