Prototype 1: Final Presentation
This is the latest form of my first prototype. This is the first part of what will become a larger prototype for a digital platform for connecting students with mentors to navigate student loan debt.
Student loan debt in the U.S. has reached an all-time high of 1.4 trillion dollars this year. That’s about $37,000 per student.
54% of millennials are concerned about their ability to repay their student loan debt. This is a significant financial burden for a lot of people coming out of higher education.
I believe connecting current students in debt with mentors who have navigated repayment can reduce the mental burden of debt for current students.
I have designed a mentor match experience where current students and mentors connect based on criteria that would create a successful relationship. A mentee connects with their mentor to set goals and work through their biggest challenges. Here’s how it works:
Mentor
The mentor will start by answering a few questions about their location and education.
And they’ll decide what level of financial challenge they feel comfortable helping someone navigate so they can be appropriately matched with a mentee who has a level of debt they can relate to.
They’ll also have the opportunity to share what motivates them to help people through this challenge.
Mentee (Current Student)
Someone seeking out a mentor will similarly answer a set of questions about themselves, like their education and location. They’ll choose to share information about their loans like total amount owed, how much they foresee their monthly payments being and when they’d like to pay off their loans. Providing this information would help with a more successful mentor match.
And they’ll be matched with three mentors who are the best fit (left). They can explore more about their mentors by looking at their profile detail page (right).
They’ll be asked to rank their 3 mentors, 1 being the mentor they’re most interested in connecting with — and at that point the top choice will be notified.
Now it’s time for the mentee to join her first call with her mentor, Alison. She has chosen video chat for the first meeting.
During their chat, the mentee and mentor will be provided with tools to guide the conversation. Here you’re seeing what the mentee would see from their end. They’ll have a guide with suggested questions they might ask and prompts for sharing their biggest challenges, and they can also record insights from their mentor.
Both participants see a toolbar where they’re able to schedule their next meeting, set a goal together, annotate the recording of their conversation.
Connecting current students in debt with mentors who have navigated repayment can help:
- Improve their overall confidence in paying back loans
- Be less stressed and anxious about loans
- Feel more emotionally supported in dealing with student loan debt
Prototype Plan:
So far, I have prototyped Phase 1: the match process through the first mentor meeting. The next part of my process will focus on how the mentorship develops and continues to be a valuable resource for the mentee approaching and beginning repayment.
Next steps:
- What does the rest of this mentorship look like? (How long will it last, how frequent are meetings, etc)
- How can I continue to improve the mentee’s overall confidence and feeling of support in paying back loans? How can I make sure this is valuable over time and both stay engaged with this platform?
Final Presentation feedback:
- Screen where they mentee enters amount of loans owed: a range would be better / less intimidating than entering exact $ amount
- Interview video chat screen — question needs work. Needs to be more clear on how this is happening, who is on screen — are questions advancing automatically?
- Add other participant in the corner to make this context clearer
- Missing big details of mentorship lifespan
- On screen where mentor chooses low — high risk, define those terms more clearly
