Background

In a lot of ways, COVID-19 hit like an earthquake.

Within the span of a few weeks, we experienced collectively the kind of mass chaos I had only ever thought I’d read about in textbooks. We had (have) no answers: next haircut? Next dinner out? Next vacation? Next day in the office? …Will there be an office to go back to?

We were catapulted from lives contrived of comfort and familiarity to suddenly struggling with the loss of control. And that struggle became our collective experience. Regardless of where you live, what you look like, your socioeconomic status, this pandemic has taught you, in some way, what it means to lose control. 

When tasked with a LinkedIn redesign, my (quarantined) team and I thought about LinkedIn’s 500 million users. We thought about that loss, that one ongoing human experience every single LinkedIn user could probably relate to.

And we wondered: How can we improve LinkedIn in a way that restores a sense of control to its users?

Preliminary Research

The first question we had when preparing for the research process was “How do current LinkedIn users feel about their overall experience?”

Our team of four went through 12 User Interviews with both job seekers and non-job seekers, and then used Affinity Mapping to gather insights on what LinkedIn users are thinking while on the platform— what they use LinkedIn for, how useful is LinkedIn to them, how satisfied they are with LinkedIn?

Our insights revealed a few patterns: 

• Users were being told to make LinkedIn profiles by mentors, colleagues or previous employers to network or for their job search.

• Users made LinkedIn profiles but struggled to know exactly how to ‘network.’ This led to disillusionment, confusion, or dissatisfaction with LinkedIn.

• Users thought the LinkedIn interface was dated.

Secondary Research

Conducting a Competitive and Comparative Analysis, Heuristic Evaluation, and developing a User Persona helped us narrow our findings down even further. 

Key insights included the following:

• Users were looking for more efficient ways to use LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn had potential, but lacked a flexible, memorable and efficient user experience which could help streamline users’ needs and activity.

• Users were overwhelmed with content, offerings, and suggestions.

• Users like feeling in control through options for customization and personalization that speak directly to their needs. They felt that LinkedIn could do more.

• Users were using LinkedIn for multiple things: networking with contacts, searching for new opportunities, researching companies and industries, and learning from the experiences of their peers.

Our User Persona became an amalgamation of the many insights and user needs we had come across through research. Meet Kevin:

• Kevin is a job seeker looking for an entry-level software development job in the world of tech.

  • He’s new to the Bay Area, having moved to be in more proximity with the tech companies he wants to work for.

  • He wants clarity from LinkedIn as he looks for entry-level developer jobs, hopes to network and meet more contacts in his field, and wants to be more intentional about his networking, preferring to get face-to-face meetings with contacts, recruiters, and potential employers about his strengths as a candidate.

The research phase prepared us to create an insightful problem statement which we could begin designing for.

 Problem Statement

An entry-level job seeker needs to initiate and cultivate relationships with potential contacts, companies, and professional opportunities, so that they can set themselves apart from other candidates as a well-connected and attractive, potential hire.

Sketching

We moved into a design studio, keeping the problem statement and Kevin, the User Persona, in mind and brainstorming themes and ideas that would be immediately useful to a job seeker looking to network and show his best self on LinkedIn. We realized quickly that the two LinkedIn pages most in need of an update were:

• Networking: The Networking page was the primary tool for image building. Who a job seeker networks with could potentially introduce new opportunities for work, and start creating awareness about the user as an attractive candidate.

• Messaging: The next step from networking in cultivating relationships is to actually reach out and contact people. The Networking and Messaging pages depend on each other to satisfy the user’s needs.

  We decided to prioritize LinkedIn’s desktop functionality while creating a responsive design that worked for mobile as well.

Wireframing

We created lo-fi wireframes that accomplished the following two goals:

• Our solution for the Messaging page needed to allow the user to organize their message inbox in a way that makes them feel in control and aware of their LinkedIn interactions at all times.

• Our solution for the Networking page needed to allow the user to specify their functionality of LinkedIn Networking so that they would be able to engage with other users more meaningfully and intentionally.

We kept in mind that our designs must reflect deep intuition, resulting in solutions that help the user stand out, feel confident, and come off as his very best, most attractive self as a potential candidate for a position. Above you can see the wireframes we created, aimed to incorporate these goals.

A Note on Design Thinking

We identified areas within the pages that could be more clear with updates and changes, including:

• Recommended Contacts: Based on an algorithm, the recommended contacts would factor in Kevin’s recent LinkedIn activity and factors including past work and educational institutions to find suitable contacts that would be of most use to him.

  • If Kevin has been recently searching for contacts at Google, the algorithm would suggest potential contacts, like Google recruiters, factoring in contacts with the most in common to him, like alumni of his university. The idea here is for Kevin’s networking to feel more purposeful and intentional, tying together his past and his future.

• Organizational Tools for the User: Tagging messages and contacts could allow the user to categorize their networking and messaging according to nature of activity (Is the new contact a fellow alum? A recruiter at an aspirational place of work? A contact met at a networking event? A lead for a recently applied job?)

  • Using tags to organize the new contacts would make it easier for Kevin, the user, to compartmentalize and follow through on networking and leads, rather than letting old messages get lost in his inbox or forgetting to follow through with contacts.

  • Tags could also help as Kevin searched for new contacts. Searching by tag felt like a more intuitive way to network with intention, zeroing in on those key contacts who could make a difference in Kevin’s job search.

• Aesthetic Updates: Research told us users felt that LinkedIn seemed dated. We wanted to match the fast-moving energy of users looking to hone in on leads, meet new people, and present their best selves.

Visual Design

With the wireframes in place, it was time to begin incorporating updated UI that would preserve LinkedIn’s professional look while giving the visual design a more modern and engaging feel.

• We researched LinkedIn’s current brand style guide.

• We updated LinkedIn’s signature color, a calming deep cerulean, to a slightly brighter version.

• We redesigned boxes with sharp corners to rounded corners.

We also wanted users to feel a sense of control over their personal pages and the way their profiles reflect on potential networking contacts.

• We added the option for users to add company logos in their profile snapshots.

• We updated the messaging interface to a recognizable “chat” aesthetic.

These changes were all made carefully as we considered ways the user could present their most comfortable, confident self online, as they meet more people and work to set themselves apart as an attractive potential hire.

 Prototyping and Usability Testing

Check out our Prototype link here.

If you’d like to try out the user flow we used in Usability Testing, here is your task:

• Scenario: You are Kevin, an entry-level software developer who is currently seeking opportunities and new relevant connections. You have just graduated from New York University and are looking to potentially establish your career at a big tech company, like Google.

  • Task 1a: The first task you will complete is trying out some newly added networking features. As a result of your frequent engagement, the system has now recommended more relevant content. 

    Go to LinkedIn’s website (where you are logged in) and show me where you’d click to begin finding 2 new relevant connections and requesting them to be part of your network. 

  • Task 1b: You have now requested to connect with Jennifer - a recruiter at Google. For time’s sake, we are going to assume she has accepted your request and sent a response to your nice message. Now, show me where you’d click to view her message and then organize her message within your inbox.

Next Steps and Takeaways

Usability Testing taught us to make some elements of the prototype more intuitive, including filter placement and font size. We also received a lot of positive feedback that told us our changes were potentially useful and would be of help to our users.

Here’s what I would do next:

• It’s easy to say something like “strengthen the algorithm,” but I would be interested in working directly with LinkedIn’s engineering team to understand what implementing this algorithm designed to achieve the above results and more personalized tagging and search functionality would look like.

• Building a non-job seeking proto-persona and conducting more user interviews can help gauge how our solution can impact users with different needs.

• Iterate on usability suggestions from testers:

  • Adding a profile preview function can give the user a better idea of potential clients suggested to them without having to click through their page.

  • Nomenclature: Update some language, particularly tagging, to be more specific.

  • Apply a filtering option directly to messages received, rather than interrupting the user’s eye flow to organize their messages.