Overview
QuickTern is a professional networking platform that connects students seeking short-term work with small
businesses who need help on a project. The QuickTern development team worked on this project nearly a year,
preparing it for the final stages of launch. QuickTern was designed with both students and businesses in mind.
My role on the QuickTern Development Team
I was the Creative and UX Developer. My responsibilties were focused on the QuickTern interface. I facilitated
usbaility tests on the interface. I analyzed that data and assisted our Project Manager, Bri Eberly, with
designing the interface using that data. I was also responsible for the KickStarter promotional video. I edited
together all the video clips and I recorded the voice over.
Skills
Interaction Design
User Experience
Prototyping
Videography
Process
During the Fall of 2021, we assembled our team and started lying the groundwork for this project. We knew there
was a market for small businesses needing short-term work, but either did not need them long-term, or did not
want to hire a person long-term due to the economy. We gathered some information about the need and desirability
for a networking platform focusing on students and recent graduates. We also researched the feasbility of partnering
with colleges & highschools, or if focusing on small businesses was more beneficial for all parties. At the end
of the semester, we presented our proposal for QuickTern.
Our team returned to campus in early Feburary 2022, and we got to work. We made an initial prototype on Adobe XD.
We used that prototype to test it on potential small business users. We got some great feedback through usbaility
tests. Our biggest issue was that we were attempting to branch into a project management and team communication
platform like Monday or Slack. Many companies already have products that they like, and many users were resistant
to change the way they do business if the platform was "forcing" a business owner to use QuickTern's project
management tools. Our scope was too big, so we focused on making a pure job-searching platform. We were interested
in adding ways to show connections to other people. However, we decided the best thing to do was to design a great
job-searching platform for students and businesses, and worry about expanding in the future.
We continued to work on the interface, while also planning our promotions. This includes a press kit, a social media
campaign, a KickStarter webpage and a promotional video. We performed another usbaility test on some potential
college-aged users. We used the results to refine the QuickTern interface again. We presented a poster about QuickTern
and the promotional video to our classmates and our LVC community at an event. Our whole team was extremely pleased
with our end result. QuickTern is prepared to be built and launched if so desired.
