GenAI Career Counseling: Personalized Skill-based recommendation Platform

Equip career changers to confidently leverage their skills and experiences for fulfilling careers and prepare for job hunting.
Scope
PoC Stage
Team
1 Product Designer (me)
1 PM
2 Engineers
3 Data Engineers
1 Customer Relations
1 Researcher
DURATION
3 Months
Mt Responsibilities
• Led the design from 0 to 1, driving the product from concept to launch.
• Collaborated with PMs and the researcher shape product strategy and navigate ambiguity.
• Explored new product opportunities with cross-functional teams.

Background

User goal

Transitioning soldiers have unique skills, but translating them to civilian life is often unclear, making future careers challenging.

Our goal is to empower career changers to confidently leverage their skills and experiences into fulfilling careers. For now, we focus on transitioning service members as our target users.

AstrumU's Business Goal

AstrumU aims to validate, showcase, and promote its GenAI Skill-based Unified Profile technology by launching an MVP and leverage this use case to explore the Unified Profile product strategy.

Approach

I collaborate with cross-functional teams, quickly build and test ideas, and iteration based on feedbacks.

As the product designer, I continuously synchronize goals with product team throughout the design process, collaborated with the researcher on understanding the user and worked with engineers for implementation. We iterated based on user feedback and continued design and test new ideas to add value.
Talk to people
Track Analytics
Assess the competition
Synthesize Data
Identify Patterns
Create JTBD
Generate Ideas Hypothesize
Generate Assumptions
Go Build Stuff
Implement Success Metrics
Evaluate Findings Integrate into Strategy
Throw Stuff Away

Kick Off & Research

Discover The Pain Points & Opportunities

In the beginning, we lacked a clear mission or specific goals for supporting transitioning soldiers. We interviewed 2 internal experts and 5 participants with military backgrounds, having them use ChatGPT for career-related questions. Our goal was to understand their transition challenges and openness to using GenAI technology.

User Insights

Early insights from soldiers and veterans.

1. Positive Reactions to ChatGPT utilization in Transition Support

Participants found that integrating AI tools like ChatGPT could greatly enhance current transition programs, helping service members save time and effort. Overall, ChatGPT was recognized as a valuable resource for improving preparation and confidence during the transition to civilian careers.

2. Resume Building, Interview Prep, and Skill Identification

Participants acknowledged that, while too much information can be overwhelming, using AI for preparation can lead to better outcomes. AI tools could help bridge gaps in current programs, enabling more effective resume building, interview preparation, and skill identification for civilian careers.

3. Lack of Confidence During the Transition to Civilian Careers

Many participants expressed uncertainty and a lack of confidence when transitioning to civilian careers. They noted that unfamiliarity with civilian job markets and processes often leads to self-doubt.

4. Personalized Support is Key to Trust in Transition Tools

Participants emphasized the importance of personalized support, considering individual factors such as experience, career goals, interests, family situations, and preferences for more relevant guidance.

synchronize

Define the Pain Points to
Focus On

Analyzing Career Transition Pain Points Throughout the Program Timeline

Transitioning soldiers use the TAP Program timeline to track tasks like career exploration and mentoring. We created a user journey map to understand the context, actions at each stage, and potential pain points to address.

Lack of Confidence During Transition

We used affinity mapping to organize our research findings and were surprised to uncover the emotional aspect. Boosting confidence during the transition is a key opportunity.

A Confident Transitioning Soldier Will...

We used Job To Be Done and What A Confident Person Looks Like frameworks with the PM and researcher to align on the problems we are solving and how success might look for their career transition.

Reframe the problem

When a service member transitions from the military to the civilian workforce,

How might we create a solution that allows individuals to personalize results based on their preferences and experiences, fostering greater confidence and understanding throughout the transition process?

Explore solutions

Align with The Team To prioritize Opportunities

I aligned with the product manager and researcher to connect the solutions to the decision tree. We clarified the goals, identified the pain points and opportunities we were addressing, and planned how to test each solution.

Brainstorming Solutions

I began brainstorming solutions to help transitioning soldiers feel more confident in their careers.

Validation & Iteration

Prototyping Solutions to Gather Feedback

I quickly built prototypes to visualize the solutions and outline the questions and assumptions I wanted to validate. I worked closely with the researcher to gather user feedback and discussed technical feasibility with engineers.

4

Internal Testing

3-5

User Testing / week

Iteration based on User Feedbacks

I worked closely with the researcher to test the design and iterate based on feedback.
User testing showed that editing profiles and interacting with the GenAI prompt felt like two separate experiences. It’s not clear how their actions directly impact the AI's ability. How might we make the experience more seamless between creating and editing the profile versus interacting with the prompts?

Before

The 'user profile' button in the top-right corner wasn't clear, as most testers ignored it while using the prompts.

After

To address this, I moved the profile to the side panel and added UX copy explaining how it impacts prompt results.

Before

The user profile editing on a separate full page confused some testers, who saw it as a different function.

After

To address this, I updated the profile to a side pop-up, indicating it's a temporary task while keeping users on the GenAI prompt page.

Final Design

A GenAI Counselor to Guide Your Transition

The user navigates the app through a straightforward process: they click on a topic to receive results and continue building their profile to get more relevant and personalized outcomes.

01

Assisting with Your Transition Tasks

Users can easily click on any topic related to their career transition tasks from military to civilian workforce to receive results that provide inspiration and assistance.

02

Build Your Profile for More Personalized Results

By uploading additional information in profile, the results will become more relevant and tailored, offering greater value.

Impact

100%

SATISFACTION RATE

95%

Task success rate

Design Timeline

Learn, Build, Measure.

The MVP version has been implemented, and we plan to conduct a live version testing before launch. Currently, I am multitasking by iterating on the design and prototyping new ideas to add value.

reflections

Seamless development through constant communication.

As the product designer on this project, I regularly updated the PM, researcher, and engineers, addressing design roadblocks and fostering a collaborative environment.

Use the methodical data informed approach to continuously add value.

We started with a broad vision, built to learn, and gained confidence to refine our product direction based on a deeper understanding of user pain points.

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