Founderway Curriculum Platform
Redesigning the Online Education Guidance Page to enhance visual appeal and improve user experience, making it easier for users to navigate and follow the steps of the startup journey
DURATION
6 weeks
TEAM
Individual
ROLE
UX Research
Product Design
UI Design
Fall 2024 Founderway.ai
Product Design
I joined the FounderWay design team as a Product Designer, where I worked on redesigning the Education Guidance Page to improve the user experience as the users progress through the startup journey.
I had an amazing experience working on various projects throughout the fall and spent six weeks on my keystone project. The focus was on improving how users track and navigate their entrepreneurial journey. I researched existing progress tracking tools, analyzed competitor solutions, and worked closely with cross-functional teams to apply systems design thinking. This approach allowed me to translate complex concepts and process into a more intuitive and accessible experience for users as they progress through their educational path.
Context
Overview
Founderway.ai is the AI co-founder platform, providing founders with guidance from concept to first customer and empowering them with smart tools and personalized AI tools. My keystone project was to design a progress tracker and enhance the content layout on the Journey page, simplifying navigation and helping users stay on track with their journey.
For this project, I had to continuously communicate with my design team to update them on my progress as well as be proactive in seeking out feedback. I checked in with graphic designer to ensure we maintained a consistent visual language and style guide across all digital assets, while also making sure the updated Journey page incorporated the new brand kit.
Design Process
Research
The Education Guidance provides a structured roadmap for startup founders, helping them navigate the essential stages of building their business. It breaks down the startup journey into clear, actionable levels, each focused on specific tasks and milestones.
My first step was to understand the challenges users face when navigating the Guidance page and progressing through the steps of their journey. After gathering feedback and researching the current design of our educational course, I found that users often struggle to stay on track without a progress tracking tool and face difficulties as they move through the content.
"I had no idea where I was in this journey when I first got back to the page"
"I get frustrated after getting each AI feedback because I have to scroll a long way to get the next one"
"I have difficulty recognizing the table of contents"
The challenge: How can we help founders easily navigate and track their progress?
Current design of the guidance page
Layout Sketches
During the initial phase of designing the user interface, I created multiple layout iterations to identify the most effective components and assets, ensuring the design addressed both user needs and business requirements.
Progress tracker
DESIGN
Progress Tracker
I was asked to design a prominent progress tracker for the front page, inspired by game-style progress paths. User research showed that users need a quick, clear understanding of their current progress, an overview of completed and active steps, and easy navigation to review past sections.
I designed the tracker to visually display progress with percentages, outline the steps needed to complete the course, and include a prominent call-to-action to keep users engaged and on track. After gathering feedback and discussing with the team, I chose a blue theme for the entire Education page, using different shades to show which steps are completed and which are still in progress. A gradient pin with purple and blue makes the tracker stand out, catching the user’s eye immediately and helping them understand their current progress.
DESIGN
Table of Contents
The problem was that the table of contents was hidden under an icon, making navigation challenging for users. I had to think about how and where this table of contents would appear to enhance accessibility and meet user expectations. My solution was a collapsible table of contents integrated next to the sidebar. This approach provides a familiar and formal location for quick reference while allowing users to hide it when they want a cleaner workspace.
DESIGN
AI Feedback
The problem was that users had to scroll up to view more AI feedback, disrupting the flow. I redesigned the layout to make it more accessible, allowing users to continuously receive feedback without interruption. I moved the feedback section up and made it scrollable within a box, creating a cleaner, space-efficient, and user-friendly design.
DESIGN
AI Feedback Button
The goal was to redesign the UI, as the original design blended with the surrounding content and didn’t stand out. I decided to keep a stroke around the button to differentiate it from the 'Next' filled button below it. I also applied a gradient to align with the new platform-wide design direction. I carefully considered the wording and icon to ensure they clearly conveyed its purpose while fitting seamlessly with the new brand kit. The result is a more visually prominent and intuitive button that maintains consistency with the updated brand aesthetics.
Explorations
Final design
DESIGN
Content layout
The goal was to improve the course layout to help users easily navigate through the steps of starting a startup. I added breadcrumb navigation and previous/next buttons at the top for easy page-to-page navigation. I also updated the design to be cleaner, more user-friendly, and aligned with the overall theme of the education page.
