Smash.technology provides aspiring tech talent with exclusive learning opportunities, practical work experiences, and valuable connections to kickstart their careers.
The final product
My Role
Product Manager
Tech used
HTML/CSS/JS, Git, Open edX
Adobe Creative Cloud, XD
Illustrator, Photoshop
Figma, Figjam, Miro
Young, talented individuals often struggle to secure their first job due to their limited work experience. Smash connects users with real work projects at top companies to help them secure their first jobs and offers university-level courses for individuals outside higher educational institutions.
Meeting with users at University of Washington campus
As the Founding Designer at Smash.technology, I led the design and buildout of a SaaS learning management system (LMS), resulting in a scalable MVP, first revenues, and a path to profitability.
Example of the original Smash layout. Notice the cards motif, Groups-only search bar, and navigation elements at top AND at left
Smash's web app was in mid-development when I joined. The offshore engineering team needed more oversight, and their contract favored waterfall development over agile methodologies. I worked with the CEO to reconfigure production for an efficient, scalable, and iterative build that optimized ROI.
Project Goals
• Design a consistent, user-friendly UI
• Create data visualizations for tracking progress
• Prioritize features based on user and market data
• Optimize design for smart resource allocation & quick shipping
The original Job Opportunities panel. The search bar is restricted to this page, but browsing Jobs is available
The original Events panel. Again, siloed search. Notice that browsing events is NOT available
From user research, users want to focus on career preparation and showcasing their qualifications. They badly wanted Smash's help, but too often our web app was unhelpful or confusing, which only added to their workload. Before I could help, I'd need to learn more.
First Questions
• What features do our users expect? Which are most helpful?
• How might we feasibly engineer industry-standard features?
• Can we ship on time and in budget?
Below are the common features that have become LMS industry standards. Notice the similarities between Canvas and Docebo’s features and presentation.
Docebo's layout
Canvas's layout and feature set
Contrast the above with our original landing page. How much space should be dedicated to information that users already know about themselves?
The Smash Score is one of Smash’s key differentiating features. It's a personalized metric comparing a user’s skills to hiring requirements at our partnering companies, like Alaskan Airlines and Microsoft.
The OG visualization of the Smash Score
User research revealed our star feature was frustrating because it didn't show how users' actions and data influenced their scores. Continue on for the solution.
A Fast Design System
We needed a design system–STAT! I put ours together by modifying Bold Design System for two reasons: its extensive visualization components and its MIT license.
This system helped me communicate key information to the engineering team, present progress and product direction to leadership, and help interns make meaningful contributions sooner.
A sample of Smash's design system
An Iterative Process
Smash's design changed a lot over many iterations and through several business models. Let's examine the Events page.
The original Groups page became the inspiration for the new Events page
The Events page needed to be completely rethought. The middle image below was from a component library I had created based on Ant Design's design system, but it was later replaced by a better alternative (image on the right) inspired by the Bold Design System.
Our key partnership is with Microsoft, so I included a subtle hint of O365 nostalgia in our design as requested by leadership.
Wireframe
Early iteration
Final product
My main objective was to create a straightforward user experience that made it easy for users to navigate to their goals and to understand their information.
Streamlined information architecture
A Simplified User Journey
I reorganized the primary user flows into their respective sections, accessible through a single navigation pane on the left. This improved the user experience by reducing cognitive load.
Before: navigation elements without a discernible pattern
After: simplified navigational architecture
Reimagined Home Page
The new main page, the Smashboard, provides quick access to Smash's most commonly used features and information through interactive cards, following a common paradigm that users are already comfortable with.
The Smashboard
Finding Important Stuff
I added a global search function allowing users to easily find Events, Projects, and Groups from a single search bar atop every page. Before, only categorical search bars existed, which required navigating to the appropriate page.
Global search on every page
A New Administrative View
Administrators like Smash staff, lecturers, and business partners can use this platform to create events, projects, and monitor learners' progress. Previously, administrators were an overlooked user demographic.
Administrator Portal
I saved $200,000 by changing product strategies and hiring a specialist engineering team
My redesign increased customer satisfaction, with NPS growing 73%
We shipped a successful MVP in 5 months, on time and in budget, which led to our first revenues
The successful launch of our MVP has generated our first revenues and expanded our user base. We significantly improved our staff-to-user ratio, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs. With our growing user base and web app, we're ready to explore lucrative corporate hiring opportunities. This will cut hiring costs to zero for our users while helping companies save tens of thousands per qualified hire.
Best of all, I have a product to glean data, learn, perfect, and grow.
🌺
Being a founding designer can be tough, but it's made me comfortable pitching/demoing to stakeholders at different levels.
🪷
Good product design is crucial for digital-first businesses. If I don't champion it, who will?
🪻
Reworking my designs to new business models has made me a better, less precious designer.
Thanks for reading!