MentorMe: A Career Guide Chatbot

UNIVERSITY PROJECT

CHALLENGE

  • There is competition in the market of a mentor-mentee program in the University

  • The modes of interaction that can be taken by the mentor and mentee

  • Unfamiliar territory in how Voiceflow works as well as working with an API

OPPORTUNITY

  • To design a service that would provide students with the opportunity to connect with industry professionals in their respective fields for mentoring.

  • To design a chatbot prototype that would assist and accompany the Mentoring program service

TIMELINE

February 2024 - June 2024

MY ROLE

Conversation UX Designer, Service Designer, Chatbot Developer

RESPONSIBILITIES

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UI Design

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Conversation Design

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Service Design

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Wireframes

TECH STACK

Figma

Voiceflow

Airtable

View Chatbot Video

View Chatbot Video

MentorMe use case video

Target Audience

Students of the University of Melbourne who want to:

  • Get their foot in the door in the industry or field

  • Meet peers in the same profession

  • Connect with academics within their respective fields

  • Learn from industry experts

Industry professionals who want to:

  • Give back to the community

  • Mentor students in their career progression

  • Provide assistance in the academic progression in University

Problem

The pairing of mentor and mentee in the current system isn’t relevant
Currently the mentor/mentee pairing don’t line up with their respective course and specialisations. Students are getting mentored and guided by a faculty member from a different specialization hence there’s not much guidance that the mentor can give.

University students and faculty members find the program unsatisfactory
Due to the problem above, both advisors, mentors and mentees don’t attend the program or show up to the meetings. Therefore participation drops making the program ineffective.

There is currently too many platforms for similar services
The University of Melbourne currently has three programs that do the same thing, Peer Mentor Program, Academic Advising and Faculty Industry Mentoring. Each program has their own website or portal but MentorMe is a service that combines all three programs into one platform.

Goal

Integrate the 3 programs together
By creating a single platform and single account for a student/staff that allows the user to connect and communicate with their mentors/mentee.

Improve and ease the connecting process between Mentor and Mentee
Providing participants with options and preferences for their mentor/mentee allows the best chance for a successful relationship between the two participants.

Provide a physical space that facilitates this program
Create an environment that promotes meeting people, chatting and upskill. This includes having the relevant resources readily available at the physical space of the program.

Make the Mentoring program and any accompanying technology accessible to as many people
This involves looking into different target audiences that have various disabilities and catering for their disability so they can enjoy the experience of the program and website.

Problem

The pairing of mentor and mentee in the current system isn’t relevant
Currently the mentor/mentee pairing don’t line up with their respective course and specialisations. Students are getting mentored and guided by a faculty member from a different specialization hence there’s not much guidance that the mentor can give.

University students and faculty members find the program unsatisfactory
Due to the problem above, both advisors, mentors and mentees don’t attend the program or show up to the meetings. Therefore participation drops making the program ineffective.

There is currently too many platforms for similar services
The University of Melbourne currently has three programs that do the same thing, Peer Mentor Program, Academic Advising and Faculty Industry Mentoring. Each program has their own website or portal but MentorMe is a service that combines all three programs into one platform.

Goal

Integrate the 3 programs together
By creating a single platform and single account for a student/staff that allows the user to connect and communicate with their mentors/mentee.

Improve and ease the connecting process between Mentor and Mentee
Providing participants with options and preferences for their mentor/mentee allows the best chance for a successful relationship between the two participants.

Provide a physical space that facilitates this program
Create an environment that promotes meeting people, chatting and upskill. This includes having the relevant resources readily available at the physical space of the program.

Make the Mentoring program and any accompanying technology accessible to as many people
This involves looking into different target audiences that have various disabilities and catering for their disability so they can enjoy the experience of the program and website.

Problem

The pairing of mentor and mentee in the current system isn’t relevant
Currently the mentor/mentee pairing don’t line up with their respective course and specialisations. Students are getting mentored and guided by a faculty member from a different specialization hence there’s not much guidance that the mentor can give.

University students and faculty members find the program unsatisfactory
Due to the problem above, both advisors, mentors and mentees don’t attend the program or show up to the meetings. Therefore participation drops making the program ineffective.

There is currently too many platforms for similar services
The University of Melbourne currently has three programs that do the same thing, Peer Mentor Program, Academic Advising and Faculty Industry Mentoring. Each program has their own website or portal but MentorMe is a service that combines all three programs into one platform.

Goal

Integrate the 3 programs together
By creating a single platform and single account for a student/staff that allows the user to connect and communicate with their mentors/mentee.

Improve and ease the connecting process between Mentor and Mentee
Providing participants with options and preferences for their mentor/mentee allows the best chance for a successful relationship between the two participants.

Provide a physical space that facilitates this program
Create an environment that promotes meeting people, chatting and upskill. This includes having the relevant resources readily available at the physical space of the program.

Make the Mentoring program and any accompanying technology accessible to as many people
This involves looking into different target audiences that have various disabilities and catering for their disability so they can enjoy the experience of the program and website.

A sketch of how the MentorMe physical space will look like

Service Design

The service aims to provide a physical space to facilitate the mentoring program, hence it would be a fixed location where mentors and mentees can meet in a safe space.

Below are the following features within the physical space:

  • One-on-one type tables where attendees can speak to each other while having a drink

  • Computers that are available for mentees to use for online meetings with their mentors

  • Assistance from the admin on getting resources for the mentor program

  • An event space that would facilitate workshops and general meetings of the program

Desktop Walkthrough

The images below describe the desktop walkthrough of how participants use the physical space during the MentorMe program. Students will enter the space and have the knowledge of other students that share common goals on their app. This allows them to mingle and connect with participants they want to be mentored by.

Mentee entering the MentorMe Program room

Mentee registers at the counter and orders a drink

Mentee meets with their respective Mentor that they connected with on the website.

Mentee having conversation with fellow participants of the program

User Journey

User Journey of a student participating in the MentorMe Program and getting a mentor.

User Journey of a mentor wanting to participate in the MentorMe program from signing up to finding her mentee.

Chatbot Design

Joe the Mentor Chatbot was built on scripts and nodes from Voiceflow.
The overall functionality of the chatbot consists of:

  • Searching and filtering the best possible mentors/mentees

  • Information that optimises the MentorMe program experience

  • Updating information in the API

The key functions are:

  • Retrieving profile data from the Airtable API

  • Generating tips and information based on Generative AI

  • Overwriting data on the API

Chatbot Prototype

Example of the Joe the Mentor Chatbot assisting a student

Example of a script of the Joe the Mentor Chatbot

Wireframes

The following wireframes describes the key functions of the website, while taking into account the accessibility consideration via annotations.

The key functions are:

  • Searching and connecting with Mentors/Mentees

  • Providing the upcoming schedule within the MentorMe program

  • Booking a room/space for the meeting

  • Advanced filtering and connecting system


The user dashboard with the Chatbot prompt at the bottom

An annotated version of the mentor preference page

Challenges

Time constraints:
With a longer timeline, we would be able to increase the versatility of the chatbot and even create an API for the available room booking

Knowledge on Voiceflow capabilities:
It was the first time we’ve been working with Voiceflow so there was a large learning curve before the implementation. Further understanding would allow for more complex or efficient building with the chatbot.

The lack of responsiveness:
With the current time allocation, the chatbot isn’t responsive and flexible enough to handle new participants in the program, hence it is built for the current personas.

Solutions

Time constraints:
Reduce complex functionality and focus on keeping the chatbot and design simple and executing it well.

Knowledge on Voiceflow capabilities:
Doubled down on researching Voiceflow before starting. Through the design process, iterating and testing was a common practice to ensure our chatbot’s functionality.

The lack of responsiveness: 

This would be implemented in the future, but the current functionality would allow for a new batch of participants to join the program rather than the planned “running addition to participants”.

Challenges

Time constraints:
With a longer timeline, we would be able to increase the versatility of the chatbot and even create an API for the available room booking

Knowledge on Voiceflow capabilities:
It was the first time we’ve been working with Voiceflow so there was a large learning curve before the implementation. Further understanding would allow for more complex or efficient building with the chatbot.

The lack of responsiveness:
With the current time allocation, the chatbot isn’t responsive and flexible enough to handle new participants in the program, hence it is built for the current personas.

Solutions

Time constraints:
Reduce complex functionality and focus on keeping the chatbot and design simple and executing it well.

Knowledge on Voiceflow capabilities:
Doubled down on researching Voiceflow before starting. Through the design process, iterating and testing was a common practice to ensure our chatbot’s functionality.

The lack of responsiveness: 

This would be implemented in the future, but the current functionality would allow for a new batch of participants to join the program rather than the planned “running addition to participants”.

Challenges

Time constraints:
With a longer timeline, we would be able to increase the versatility of the chatbot and even create an API for the available room booking

Knowledge on Voiceflow capabilities:
It was the first time we’ve been working with Voiceflow so there was a large learning curve before the implementation. Further understanding would allow for more complex or efficient building with the chatbot.

The lack of responsiveness:
With the current time allocation, the chatbot isn’t responsive and flexible enough to handle new participants in the program, hence it is built for the current personas.

Solutions

Time constraints:
Reduce complex functionality and focus on keeping the chatbot and design simple and executing it well.

Knowledge on Voiceflow capabilities:
Doubled down on researching Voiceflow before starting. Through the design process, iterating and testing was a common practice to ensure our chatbot’s functionality.

The lack of responsiveness: 

This would be implemented in the future, but the current functionality would allow for a new batch of participants to join the program rather than the planned “running addition to participants”.

Future Steps

  • Making the website functionality more responsive and versatile to create and manage new participants in the program.

  • Implementing the timed chatbot prompt when a scheduled meeting is over for the feedback intent.

  • Fully design the website past the wireframing phase.

  • Implement more accessibility features within the website.

Credits

MentorMe

Wei Kai Khoo

ChengZhi Duan

Liza Orlovskaya

Phoebe Li

Reo Sato

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Sean Khoo

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Copyright © 2024 Sean Khoo

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