Role
UI/UX Designer
Team
3 Designers +
2 Engineers
Skills
User Research & Testing,
UI/UX Design, Rapid Prototyping, Interaction Design
Outcome
35% increase in engagement,
86% booking sessions,
9 in 10 students reaching out to mentors.
Thoughtcloud is a mobile app that connects university students through clubs, events, chat, & mentorship. It’s designed to help students stay engaged, build communities, & find academic or career support, all in one place
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Redesigning Thoughtcloud’s mentorship feature to help students find the right guidance with confidence.
As part of a 5-member cross-functional team, I led the redesign of Thoughtcloud’s mentorship experience. Using Replit-AI for rapid prototyping and Figma for UI design, I improved discoverability and added support features to help students connect with mentors more confidently, backed by user research and testing.
The mentorship experience just wasn’t clicking for students They didn’t know what kind of support to expect, who was a mentor, or how to begin a session !
Challenge
" So most did not engage at all "
Make the mentorship experience more intuitive, approachable,
& useful by improving navigation & simplifying user actions.
Solution
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A unified space with search, quick actions, and personal mentor tracking, clearly distinguishing mentors from students using role badges.
A streamlined directory with filters, expertise tags, and easy browsing.
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Full mentor details with bios, skills, availability, and chat options.
My Role
Designed and refined the mentorship feature with a focus on clarity, accessibility, and user-driven improvements.
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Conducted user testing to identify pain points in the Mentorship feature.
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Proposed and implemented UI enhancements to improve clarity and usability.
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Used AI-powered prototyping in Replit to explore and test layout ideas rapidly.
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Iterated on feedback to refine search results, profile layouts, and user flow.
Kick-off meeting
Process
Empathy Research
Ideation
Testing & Iteration
Kick-off
meeting
The journey began with a collaborative session where the core product team aligned on the app’s vision, reviewed existing features, defined roles, and set the foundation for a student-centered design process.
To ensure the mentorship feature addressed student needs, we conducted user research consisting of two key phases:
Research
1. Interviews
The interviews were semi-structured, allowing open conversations guided by mentorship-related questions.
“I don’t know how to find mentors who really understand my field.”
Due to limited access and timelines, we conducted informal interviews with college students within our personal and extended networks. These participants closely represented our target audience, university students navigating academics, campus life, and mentorship.
We asked them about their experiences, needs, and challenges related to seeking guidance and connecting with mentors. Here’s what we learned:
“Sometimes I’m not sure if the person I’m messaging is actually a mentor or just another student.”
“I’d like to see what expertise a mentor has & what other students say about them before reaching out.”
“Group mentoring could be helpful, but I also want the option for private, one-on-one help.”
“It would help if the app reminded me about mentorship meetings.”
Insights gained
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There is confusion and uncertainty about identifying and selecting appropriate mentors.
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Lack of clear role indicators (mentor vs. student) reduces user confidence.
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Detailed mentor profiles with areas of expertise and peer reviews are essential.
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Visual cues like badges and prompts can improve trust and increase engagement.
2. Synthesis & Analysis
Following the interviews, we organized feedback using affinity mapping and clustered student responses to identify patterns and usability gaps.
Unclear Roles
Students couldn’t distinguish between mentors and fellow students, causing hesitation.
Added mentor/student badges to all profiles.
Lack of Mentor Info
Students wanted to see detailed profiles (expertise, experience, student reviews).
Enhanced mentor profiles with academic focus
& background.
Preference for 1:1 Mentorship
While some mentioned group options, most preferred personalized help.
App currently supports 1:1 mentorship.
Drop-Off in Engagement
Students wanted reminders for upcoming mentorship calls or follow-ups.
Added reminder notifications.
Ideation
Translating research insights into focused design decisions
With a clear understanding of students' challenges around mentorship, I focused on designing a user experience that was intuitive, supportive, and trustworthy .
The ideation phase began with paper wireframe sketches.
Once the structure was mapped out, I moved to Figma to create high-fidelity wireframes and interactive prototypes. This phase focused on usability and clarity, especially around the core issues revealed in research.
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Testing &
Iteration
I conducted usability testing sessions with students to evaluate how well the new design addressed key pain points uncovered during research.
What we tested?
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Mentor discovery flow
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Mentor profile clarity
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Mentor/student role identification
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Overall ease of communication
Testing activities
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5 student users participated in remote sessions
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Each was given tasks to complete (e.g., "Find a mentor in your field," "View their profile," "Book a session")