E-learning platform for mature adults: zero to one build
where
Peppermint,
2022-23
2022-23
what
UX Design
how
Figma
Miro
Miro
Retirees and older adults want to keep socializing, learning and pursuing their passions, but there's a lack of products designed for this growing demographic. They need an easy and accessible way to find a sense of community and connection through shared interests.
To create an online clubhouse that helps this demographic connect and stay active through community clubs and cohort-based learning. I was brought in to join a small design team and create an MLP (minimal loveable product) in time for soft launch in 2023, which contributed to the company raising $8M in seed funding.
"The global population over 60 is projected to double by 2050 [...] but there is a major lack of solutions and products designed with this population in mind [...]. The Peppermint team has designed a solution to fill that void while fighting the loneliness epidemic and encouraging adults to engage in their interests and have fun in the next chapter of their lives.
- Alan Patricof, Chairperson and Co-Founder of Primetime Partners
Since we were building an MLP, there was a lot of ambiguity and parallel collaborative work in an already lean team. I closely collaborated with the other functions - with content to align on the information architecture and content matrix, with product to align on strategy and overall vision, with developers to discuss feasibility and interactive behaviours.
I joined 2 others designers a month into the project and was asked to remain longer as a solo designer to oversee the iterative design process and act as the point of contact between various internal stakeholders, ensuring seamless knowledge transfer and fostering strong cross-functional collaboration.
There were a number of exciting UX challenges to solve as part of this project - async learning, video-based communications, mature adults accessibility to name a few.
A key challenge was around fostering a sense of community online. We wanted the experience to mirror the feeling you get when entering a house party: you see some familiar faces and some new people, you get friendly nods and smiles, you feel at ease but also excited to make new friends. I explored the concept of community in depth - what it really means and how to successfully foster online communities - and tried to apply the learnings in the UX.
Once I established some design mandates for how the community would be represented on the platform, I was able to translate the broad concepts into more tangible interactions in the product. For instance, how do users actually make friends on the site? Unlike many social media sites, where the more friends the better, I felt it was important to focus on encouraging fewer but deeper connections.
As we got closer to defining the wireframes for the full user journey, I mapped out the social interactions across the story arcs for each of the key personas. This helped ensure the sense of community was present throughout and grew as the users progressed through the product.
We worked through a number of iterative cycles, especially on some of the more complex parts of the tool, such as onboarding and course interfact pages. We had to get creative in testing our assumptions, as we were building a brand new product and didn't have any existing users. Feedback came from a variety of sources:
Towards the end of the project, the team brought in a UI designer to bring the medium fidelity designs to high fidelity. I worked directly with him to:
As it was a truly agile lean build, we kept iterating as the UI was applied and the engineers were building to form a valuable yet feasible first slice for launch.
Once the end user experience designs were complete, I stayed on to design the admin side for course, content and user management. Feel free to reach out if you want to hear more about that project.
Peppermint launched the MVP in Summer 2023.
"I had the pleasure of working with Maria on multiple zero to one projects. Maria’s contributions were invaluable to the success of the the MVP. Her passion, professionalism, and commitment to delivering high quality user experience were truly commendable, and she exceeded all expectations throughout each project.
She joined the team of 2 others designers, CPO, PM and Engineering team leads. I was so impressed during the initial projects, I extended her agreement to include a broader set of projects that required her to work autonomously, all of which she excelled.
Maria proved to be an outstanding collaborator who seamlessly integrated with the Product team. Her fresh ideas and strategic insights significantly influenced the direction of the MVP, enriching its overall vision.
- Scott Hublou, Chief Product Officer
I had to move on to a new project before the MLP launch, however these are the next steps I would tackle post launch:
I really enjoyed working on this project and am keeping in touch with the CPO to get insights about how Peppermint performs. This case study will be updated as I learn new information.
