MentorElas: encouraging female leadership in technology companies in Brazil
MentorElas app. A study case developed for the Cubos Academy UX/UI Design course.
The starting point
Our team, named as Ártemis, made by myself, Karine Lima, Anna Beatriz Barão, Karine Brito and Pauline Nobre, was challenged to propose a solution to the following problem: how to encourage female leadership in companies? After the desk research phase, we were able to define a framework to work with, since the topic is quite broad.
Our initial surveys brought us data that caught our attention: only 19% of those people hired in the technology areas are women; only 3 out of 10 people in science and technology are female, and only 26% of women occupy top leadership positions in the technology market. Based on these facts, we outlined our approach: how to encourage female leadership in companies in the technology area?
Methodology
For the development of the challenge we used the design process known as Double Diamond, divided into four stages: discovery, definition, conception and validation. These phases are respectively equivalent to research (desk research, questionnaires and interviews), persona and product definition, prototype delivery and usability testing. During the article all these steps will be detailed.
Discovery
Knowing the problem
“Women represent only 37% of technology professionals within companies in Brazil.”
“The insertion of women in the labor market can increase the Brazilian economy by R$382 billion over eight years.”
“Women earn on average 30% less than men in the IT field”
We started the task with an extensive desk research, through which we were able to learn more about the topic, obtain data from reliable sources, make a cut of our problem and start to assemble the CSD Matrix (matrix of certainties, assumptions and doubts).
CSD Matrix
We organized the data obtained from desk research in the column of certainties and proceeded to raise assumptions and doubts about the subject to later prove them (or not), through questionnaires and interviews.
Our hypotheses led us to understand why the technology area is mostly composed of men, what kind of incentives women need to assume leadership positions and what is the role of companies in this process.
Questionnaires
We conducted an online questionnaire through Google Forms, aimed only at women and men in the technology area. We obtained a total of 72 responses, of which 47 were female. Below is some data that we collected that guided our next phases:
63.5% of the questionnaire responses were from women;
72.3% of these women do not have a leadership position;
58.8% of them work for more than 3 years in the company and do not have a leadership position;
84.6% of them suffer from anxiety and depression;
84.6% of women in leadership positions have already suffered from prejudice or harassment in the workplace.
Interviews
We interviewed a total of 4 women in the technology area, only one of them had a leadership position. We were able to map some similarities and difficulties they face in their careers:
- They dream of finding happiness in the IT field;
- They would like to reduce female rivalry within their companies;
- They want to encourage younger women;
- Feel isolated;
- They claim that there is structural machismo at work;
- They feel that having technical knowledge is not enough to grow in the area;
- They feel that they are not heard when they express their opinions.
How Might We
Based on the problems we identified above, we decided to use the How Might We method, to bring us some insights into how we could meet the needs of these women.
Definition
Empathy Map
To facilitate the construction of our personas, we use the empathy map as a tool, where through the data obtained we can imagine how our audience thinks and feels, what they see, what they say and do and what they hear. We also insert your pains and needs to get as close to reality as possible.
Value Proposition Canvas
To then explore our users even more deeply, we set up the Value Proposition Canvas, where we were able to relate them to our product and arrive at the definition that we would adopt two personas for the project.
Personas
After all the analysis, we arrived at the common denominator of two personas: the first a non-leader woman (Julia Martins) and the second a leader woman (Bruna Silva).
Conception
Problem Statement
After creating the personas, our challenge became clearer and we were able to define it more objectively:
Julia is a young woman who loves working in the technology field, but sometimes feels unmotivated, due to the lack of contact with other women in the field and the difficulty in seeing opportunities to assume leadership positions.
Solution
We used Crazy 8’s dynamics to serve as brainstorming and help us to define our solution:
Mentoring application aimed only at women in the technology area, with the objective of generating a “match” between women who hold higher positions and those who aim to reach this level. In addition to encouraging networking and a support network for career development.
Benchmark
We conducted market research to understand how other match and mentoring apps are organized. We analyze how the search for mentors is done, whether mentorships are paid or free, how people connect… and through that we seek to achieve something that differentiates our solution from those already on the market.
Effort x Impact Matrix
Among so many ideas, we felt the need to refine and define what would be the priorities and what would be feasible to do in our application. For this we use the Effort x Impact matrix, with it we arrive at the definition of what we would do:
- Mentor profile;
- Profile of mentees;
Match between mentors and mentees; - Search by name; price range filters, areas of activity and location;
- Video calls;
- Chat for exchanging text messages;
- Mentoring with payment via the app;
- Session evaluation.
Userflow
Once we decided which features we really wanted within our solution, we started to create the user flow that, in addition to guiding the path within the application, was also used as a guide in the development of our product.
Wireframes
From Userflow, it was time to organize the information architecture where the low-fidelity wireframes were created, bringing a resource to help women in the tech area to connect with each other. Initially, 18 screens were designed to represent our solution.
Name and Logo
The name of our solution was created to convey a message to women that when we create connections with each other, we can achieve goals and go much further.
Mentor: mentoring
Elas: mention of the female support network
Styleguide
Colors
After a study on the psychology of colors, we decided to use the palette presented below to represent everything our solution wants to convey to women: strength, power, modernity and technology.
Icons and Typography
Components
Prototype
Click here, to try out the navigable prototype.
The MENTORELAS app gives women a safe way to connect and provides simple ways to share their experiences and stories. Our goal is to create a support network between them as a form of incentive for everyone who is or wants to start in the technology area.
Application Features
Create a profile
Both women who are already in the area and in leadership positions, as well as women who still want to start or who have not yet reached their dreamed position, can enter the app and create their own profile, choosing whether they want to be a MENTOR or MENTEES, so basically you choose if you want to help someone or be helped by someone. Profiles have relevant information about people and their respective areas.
Specialists
We create a place where these women can meet, making sure that there are people there who can really help. On the find mentors page, you can access a brief description, as well as the mentorship value and the times available for scheduling.
Messages
It is possible to exchange information, knowledge and clarify doubts through the message tab.
Video call
After the mentorship has been scheduled and payment has been made, it’s time to meet with your mentor and have your moment of learning and exchange of experiences through a video call that can be evaluated right after the end of the session.
Validation
Usability Test
After finalizing the screens, we used Maze to perform usability tests and evaluate the three main flows of the prototype to identify possible errors. The test was carried out with women between 25 and 40 years of age in the technology field.
Description of tasks
- Registration in the application to create the mentor profile;
- Registration in the application to create the mentor profile;
- Login to the application with the mentor profile, in order to find a mentor to schedule a session and carry out a mentorship.
Key findings and errors
- On the login screen, about 38% of the tested users left the correct flow, which would be the “Register” button, and tried to log in before creating an account;
- 18% of the tested users considered the level of effort to create an application in the application very difficult;
- When viewing the mentor’s profile, where the appointment is made, we obtained a 100% success rate. However, through the heat map we noticed an error in our flow: some users did not select a date and time before clicking the button to schedule mentorship.
Necessary corrections
We were able to identify an essential point to be corrected in the scheduling flow before the final delivery of our prototype: we changed the necessary steps to “schedule mentorship” in the mentor profile. We left the button disabled before the user selects the day and time for the session, thus avoiding possible errors. In addition, this data also brought us important insights about the initial registration screens of our application, which will be re-evaluated (both in the text and in the flows) in a possible new version with improvements.
Thanks
It was four months of a lot of learning and dedication, we would like to thank Cubos Academy for the excellent course and for the excellent professionals involved in this process. Many thanks to our teachers, Isabela Caserta and João Rodrigues, for sharing so much knowledge with us. Thank you, Ana Luíza Gabatelli, for the enriching monitoring that made our project much more complete. And thanks to the entire Cubos Academy team for their care and support!
Contact us
Meet the UX/UI Designers who built this solution:
Anna Beatriz Barão (LinkedIn)
Karine Brito (LinkedIn)
Karine Lima (LinkedIn)
Pauline Nobre (LinkedIn)
