Margadarshi: find your mentor: Zomato Assignment

9 min readJul 11, 2024

Problem Statement

Mentoring can be a great way to share knowledge and help someone be successful in their personal or professional life. How might we create a platform that facilitates meaningful mentorship relationships, even for those who have busy schedules or struggle to find a suitable mentor/mentee match? Design an experience where prospective mentors and mentees can be matched, based on similar interests, location, and availability.

Research

Who are the potential mentees?

Early Career Professionals: An article from VOA News highlights a 13.4% unemployment rate for college graduates in 2022–23, significantly higher than the national average.
Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners: Only 25% of small and medium business owners currently have a mentor.
Women in Tech: Without female leaders to look up to, women may feel like they don’t belong in tech or that their aspirations are unrealistic. Moreover, female mentors can provide valuable insights and advice to help women navigate the challenges of working in tech.
Laid-Off Workers: Over 4.25 lakh tech employees lose jobs in 2023 in India.
Specific Skill Seekers: According to the India Skills Report (ISR), only 45.9% of Indian graduates are employable due to a lack of professional skills

Despite these evident needs, most mentorship websites and apps fail to gain significant traction, with the majority not even reaching 1 million downloads. This underscores the urgent need for innovative solutions to bridge the gap between mentees and mentors across diverse sectors and demographics.

The potential challenges in addressing this problem statement include:

Access to Mentorship Opportunities:

Urban-Rural Divide: While mentorship programs are more accessible in urban areas, individuals in rural regions may struggle to find suitable mentors.
Underprivileged Communities: There’s a gap in mentorship opportunities for marginalized groups. Efforts should be made to bridge this divide and provide mentorship to all.

Matching Challenges:

Mismatched Pairs: Sometimes, mentors and mentees don’t align well due to differences in personalities, goals, or communication styles.
Diverse Goals: Finding a relevant match based on the mentee’s specific goals can be challenging.

Time Constraints:

Busy Schedules: Both mentors and mentees often juggle multiple responsibilities — work, family, and personal commitments.
Finding Common Time Slots: Coordinating schedules for meaningful interactions can be difficult.

Gender Bias

Gender Stereotypes: Gender bias can affect mentorship opportunities. For instance, female mentees may face challenges finding female mentors in male-dominated fields.

Quality of Mentors

Quantity vs. Quality: Ensuring a sufficient number of mentors is essential, but the quality of mentors matters equally.
Motivation and Engagement: Low-quality mentors may lack motivation to help their mentees succeed, affecting the overall effectiveness of the relationship.

To gain deeper insights into the scenario, a survey was conducted, observations of which are shown below:

The survey results suggest the following conclusions:

A majority of respondents encounter difficulties when initiating or transitioning their careers.
Approximately 70% of participants struggle to secure a mentor, while others rely on resources such as YouTube and field-specific communities for guidance.
An almost equal number of individuals express interest in both one-on-one and group mentorship sessions. Thus, incorporating an option for participation in group mentorship calls would be a valuable addition.
Busy schedules make it difficult for many people to secure mentorship, even though it’s valuable for their growth.

To understand the challenges faced by potential users, I conducted user interviews, actively listening to their experiences and frustrations. Here is a persona to represent a potential mentee.

Competitive Analysis:

To gain insights into the gaps between existing mentor platforms and user expectations, a thorough competitive analysis was conducted. The key findings are summarized below:

Personalization Limitations: Many platforms rely on basic profiles or questionnaires, potentially overlooking the nuanced needs and preferences of users.
Insufficient Filtering Options: Basic filtering criteria may lead to irrelevant matches, highlighting the need for more advanced filtering mechanisms.
Limited Session Booking Flexibility: Not all platforms offer both one-on-one mentoring sessions and group options, limiting user choices.
Lack of Gamification: Some competitor platforms lack gamification elements, which could enhance user engagement and motivation.
Niche Focus: Most competitors tailor their experiences to specific industries or professions, catering to niche audiences rather than a broader user base.
Community Development: Establishing a robust and engaged mentorship community is essential. However, many competitors struggle to maintain lasting relationships with their mentees.

The Solution

This app aims to connect mentors and mentees based on shared interests, location, and availability while accommodating busy schedules. Here’s how we can prioritize the features:

Must-Have (M):

These are critical features that form the core functionality of the app. Without them, the app won’t fulfill its primary purpose.

For the Margadarshi app, the following must-have features are essential:

User Profiles: Allow mentors and mentees to create detailed profiles with information about their expertise, experience, goals, and availability.
Matching Algorithm: Develop a robust algorithm that considers shared interests, location, and availability to suggest suitable mentor-mentee pairs.
Communication Tools: Provide in-app messaging functionality for seamless communication between mentors and mentees.
Scheduling the Session: Incorporating platforms like Calendly/Google meet for smoother scheduling of the sessions.
Customizable Preferences: Enable users to set preferences for communication frequency, time zones, and other relevant parameters.

Should-Have (S):

These features enhance the user experience significantly but are not critical for basic functionality.

For the app, the following should-have features are important:

Notifications: Implement real-time notifications to inform users about potential matches, messages, and upcoming sessions.
Feedback System: Create a mechanism for users to rate and provide feedback on their mentorship experiences.
Group Sessions: Allow mentors to host group mentoring sessions on specific topics. This encourages community learning and interaction.
Gamification: Introduce gamified elements to keep users engaged and motivated. For example, badges for completing milestones or participating actively.

Could-Have © :

These features add value and improve the overall experience but are not essential.

Icebreaker Prompts: Provide conversation starters for initial interactions between mentors and mentees. Breaking the ice can lead to more meaningful connections.
Advanced AI Chatbots: While not critical, AI-driven chatbots can assist users by answering common queries or guiding them through the app.

Won’t-Have (W):

These features are intentionally excluded from the initial scope. They may be considered in future updates.

Advanced Machine Learning for Match Refinement: While it’s an exciting possibility, it won’t be part of the initial release.
Resource Library: Curate relevant articles, videos, or resources related to mentorship and personal/professional growth. Users can access these at their convenience.

User flow

Here, is a primary user flow for both the mentor and the mentee for their first-time interaction of the app.

The Solution for each potential challenge

Time Constraint: Busy schedule and Common time slot

2. Access to mentorship opportunities: Urban-Rural Divide & Underprivileged community

Adding the choice between online and offline sessions broadens the app’s accessibility. Offering group sessions at a significantly reduced price further extends accessibility, making the platform available to an increasingly larger users, making financial scarcity or rural background no bar.

3. Matching Challenges: Mismatched Pairs and Diverse Goals

Highly experienced mentors, holding prominent positions in companies and maintaining busy schedules, may find it challenging to guide complete beginners. A clear indication of the expected guidance level and the languages they teach will facilitate better alignment between mentors and mentees based on specific requirements of language and understanding.

Quality of Mentors: Motivation and engagement

The below screen provides a glimpse of how the badge and gamification features will appear to the mentor.

Home Screen

Refine your search: Users can use filters to narrow down their options based on ratings, prices, location, and mentor availability.

Find your perfect mentor with ease: Homepage is designed for intuitive navigation, allowing users to search for a mentor who aligns perfectly with their preferences.

Location-based matching: “Top Mentors in Bandra” highlights mentors in users’ areas, saving them time and effort.

Beginners welcome: We make it easy for first-time users to find mentors with beginner-friendly options.

Building trust: Testimonials at the bottom showcase the positive experiences of users, giving users peace of mind when choosing a mentor.

Mentor’s Profile Page

Profile Overview:

Name, Profile Picture: Personalizes the page for easy recognition.
Star Rating, Reviews: Demonstrates expertise and reliability.
Title: Highlights experience and focus.

Location and Experience:

Location: Indicates base location.
Years of Experience: Assures expertise.

About Mentor:

Bio: Summarizes design experience and approach.

Expertise Areas:

List of Expertise: Communicates specific skills.

Session Details:

Session Types, Fees: Describes formats and costs.
Languages: Specifies session languages.
Free Session Duration: Indicates initial session duration.

Ratings & Reviews:

Reviews: Showcases detailed feedback from satisfied mentees.

Ambassador Badge:

Badge: Signifies exceptional service and maintains transparency with users about the expertise of the mentor.

Recommendations:

Endorsements: Quotes endorsing the mentor, from fellow mentors on the platform.

Tailored Suggestions:

List of related mentors for further exploration.

Overall, the mentor’s page offers a comprehensive view of her mentoring services, emphasizing expertise, reliability, and a user-friendly approach.

Final Screens:

Home Page

Margadarshi stands out by offering a customized, feature-packed platform that meets various user needs. By refining features, engaging with the community, and considering specific factors like budget, location, time availability, and gender preferences, Margadarshi ensures an outstanding user experience. It adapts to changing user requirements, effectively addressing pain points and contributing to meaningful connections.

Profile Screen:

Note: According to colour psychology the colour scheme for a mentor-finding app should evoke feelings of trust, reliability, and professionalism. Additionally, it should promote a sense of growth and guidance. The primary color used in this interface is associated with wisdom, ambition, and spirituality. It also conveys a sense of authority and expertise, which is desirable for a mentorship platform.

To grasp the difficulties potential users face, I spoke with stakeholders, including mentors and mentees, who shared their experiences and frustrations. This allowed me to understand their needs better and empathize with them.