hello@rafaelmedina.me
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In August 2018, I worked with Google, building a Teacher to Teacher booking platform. Google Edu Directory is a platform for schools to find certified experts and training in different areas.
Google Edu Directory is a platform for schools to find certified experts and training in different areas. Working with a team from Joystick, an Agency I’ve been working on an off as a consultant since 2015.
I had the role of a Contractor Product Designer covering 4 design sprints with a PM and a creative director to redesign, test, and optimize the product with Google for Education certified experts.
After constant issues and complaints, the Education Team at google decided to improve on the search directory. Teachers often relied only on personal networks to look for resources. We needed to do a better job of proving our value to new and old users.
· Overhauled the search engine
· Reworked the home screen
· Removed barriers for users
We interviewed 6 Google SME’s that are responsible for the core certified groups that the site provides a directory to.
We asked everyone about their needs from the site, what their pain points were and what their goals for the site are from the perspective of their program. This presentation provides our discovery findings and key takeaways along with preliminary user personas and competitive reference for site features based on those discussions.
- There was a challenge to establish the key users of the Directory and what their collective needs are.
- We needed to expand the filtering requirements to consolidate all program’s needs.
- We needed to update the profiles to account for additional details related to each program and what educators are looking for Geographical and specialty filtering is the key deciding factor.
We gathered information and condensed the pain points from a poll of 35 active users.
A platform to book Sign Language Interpreters. The founders themselves consume the product daily to communicate around.
Trainers
Innovators
Partners
We interviewed 6 Google SME’s that are responsible for the core certified groups that the site provides a directory to.
Trainers
The Certified Trainer individuals play a role in training teachers on the use of Google tech in the classroom.
“It’s a tedious process to update the site”
“I’d be curious to know how many contact multiple trainers at once.”
Certified Innovators
Google for Education Certified Innovators are educational influencers who use technology to solve meaningful challenges in education and inspire other educators to do the same.
“Would be great to see innovators geographically on a map by city”
“Maybe we can show their past projects too.”
Partners
The Certified Trainer individuals play a role in training teachers on the use of Google tech in the classroom.
“Filtering should have by grade other than K-12. Undergrad, grad.”
“We have so many marketing sites that has messaging and beautiful pictures, I feel that the directory should be more function over design and aesthetic.”
“I often get lost in the site, or the keys to colors and:”
Expand search/filtering
“Sometimes I forget the platform belongs to google”
Improve brand awareness and trust
I get lost with the many programs out there, I don't know what to do
Distinct two groups, between groups and individual experts
We interviewed 6 Google SME’s that are responsible for the core certified groups that the site provides a directory to.
Competitive analysis is a key component of your marketing, sales and product strategy. If you don’t know where your company fits into the competitive landscape, you won’t know how to position your offering, what alternatives your prospects might consider, or what improvements are most critical in order to compete.
Crazy 8’s is a core sprint method. It’s a fast sketching exercise that challenges people to sketch 8 ideas in 8 minutes. The goal is to push beyond your first idea, which is frequently not the most innovative, and generate a wide variety of solutions to your challenge.
For the first exercise, we focused on the Search & Filtering functionality.
The key features focused on:
Improve search functionality and expand filtering of content to accommodate the needs of the different Expert groups detailed
Can we detect where the user is located and serve local referrals (prior to a search).
Should we offer different approaches to finding Experts? (e.g. Guided, exploration, RFP)
Update questions in contact form (either open ended or leading)