LinkedIn CampusConnect
Fostering and encouraging connection for university students and alumni
The Context
LinkedIn is a place where people can connect to people they know, to share professional experience and opportunities. Especially now, many students are using LinkedIn to better understand their career goals, and explore many professional paths.
As part of an interview process, I was asked to conceptualize the following prompt and respond with a thought-out solution:
Design an experience that helps college students discover and connect with their classmates.
Research
Understanding the User
In order to identify a solution, I first needed to figure out what the actual problem was. I conducted two user interviews with university students in different grade-levels and fields of study.
Here's what I asked them:
- How have you met most of the classmates that you are connected with on LinkedIn?
- How well do you need to know a classmate before accepting a connection request on LinkedIn?
- Which platform do you mainly communicate with your classmates on?
- What do you mainly use LinkedIn for?
Arjun
2nd Year Symbolic Systems Student, Stanford University
- Feels overwhelmed by LinkedIn
- Unsure of his career path; wants to meet people with similar interests to discover different post-grad careers
- Made a group chat for students in his major, but they didn't have everyone's phone numbers
- Too many channels in which his professors and classmates communicate, formally & informally
Serene
3rd Year Human Bio. & Society Student, UCLA
- Uses LinkedIn to reach out to alumni from her school; some alumni don’t want to be contacted
- Wants to meet alumni in her field who are excited to mentor her
- Too many connection requests from classmates she doesn’t know and that aren’t in her field of study
- How can she connect with more relevant students from UCLA?
Arjun
2nd Year Symbolic Systems Student, Stanford University
- Feels overwhelmed by LinkedIn
- Unsure of his career path; wants to meet people with similar interests to discover different post-grad careers
- Made a group chat for students in his major, but they didn't have everyone's phone numbers
- Too many channels in which his professors and classmates communicate, formally & informally
Serene
3rd Year Human Bio. & Society Student, UCLA
- Uses LinkedIn to reach out to alumni from her school; some alumni don’t want to be contacted
- Wants to meet alumni in her field who are excited to mentor her
- Too many connection requests from classmates she doesn’t know and that aren’t in her field of study
- How can she connect with more relevant students from UCLA?
Arjun
2nd Year Symbolic Systems Student, Stanford University
- Feels overwhelmed by LinkedIn
- Unsure of his career path; wants to meet people with similar interests to discover different post-grad careers
- Made a group chat for students in his major, but they didn't have everyone's phone numbers
- Too many channels in which his professors and classmates communicate, formally & informally
Serene
3rd Year Human Bio. & Society Student, UCLA
- Uses LinkedIn to reach out to alumni from her school; some alumni don’t want to be contacted
- Wants to meet alumni in her field who are excited to mentor her
- Too many connection requests from classmates she doesn’t know and that aren’t in her field of study
- How can she connect with more relevant students from UCLA?
What does "Experience for Connection" even mean?
Pain Points
Unable to Make Meaningful Connections
- Currently no easy way to find current students at a given school on LinkedIn
- No centralized hub for students at a university or within a college or major to communicate
- Connections should hold a level of importance, and are best when they are mutually beneficial
Ideating a Solution
Concept #1
Automatic class group messages on LinkedIn
- Like an ID number, students share their LI profile with their school
- A professor uploads a class roster
- a group messaging board is automatically created within LI, including everyone in the class
- students can quickly connect to each other and create a class community
- Streamlined space for: connection, interaction, shared info
Why did I choose NOT to pursue this idea?
- For big classes, students usually do not know/interact with everyone in the class → ruins the integrity of a connection
- Many students don’t want to connect with everyone → those who opt out of the LinkedIn group would be excluded
- Already too many channels of communication for students
Concept #2
A LinkedIn extension that acts as a private university hub
- When filling out Education on LinkedIn, students & alumni are offered the opportunity to join
- People can join specific groups (like Facebook groups) targeted towards their professional goals
- Alumni can opt in if they are interested in mentoring or connecting
- Home page is curated to suggest jobs that other people in your groups are applying to
Why did I choose TO pursue this idea?
- Students can connect with people that they wouldn’t meet in class
- Offer community for marginalized groups → first-gen students, women in tech, black students in medicine
- Only connecting with people who share common goals
- Alumni feeling connected → more likely to donate to school
- University purchase the extension → monetized for LinkedIn
Conceptualizing
So I decided to move forward with this solution - and I was excited about it! I did some quick brainstorming to start thinking about how to actualize this concept.
Details
Understanding the Design System
I am a firm believer that the story is in the details. CampusConnect needed to look similar to LinkedIn, but just different enough to spark excitement & elicit a response. I decided on a few features that would set CampusConnect apart from the rest of LinkedIn.
- Different background color for CampusConnect pages
- Gradient overlay on the header image of each school
- A "CampusConnect" banner overlayed on the profile photo
I chose a light blue from the LinkedIn branding package as a background
Home Page
Here's why this page works:
- Nod to comfortable design systems
- Clear tags to classify alumni
- Focus on important events
Account Page
Here's why this page works:
- Saved content easily accessible
- Page for personal organization
- Quick links to other pages
Final Thoughts
This week-long design sprint was definitely a mental challenge. I had to learn how to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and keep moving forward. I was also in school full-time during this design challenge, so time was extremely limited.
The main concept of CampusConnect is to foster community. I truly do believe that something like this would help students, alumni, and their professors lift each other up & help each other grow - and isn't that what education should be about?
Embedded Prototype
