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Student Freelancing Guide

Created a user-friendly interface that simplified freelancing to college students. Redesigned onboarding flow to drive growth and direct new platform users to apply to freelance projects.

Headquarters

Headquarters

San Francisco, CA

Founded

Founded

2022

Industry

Industry

Internet Marketplace Platform

Team

Team

Cathy Huang (Co-Founder), Sukhita Karthi (Co-Founder), Kayln Kwan (Product Intern)

Company size

Company size

30+

Context

Gudwork (now Folio) is a freelance marketplace that connects college students with freelance opportunities from startups and small businesses. The platform also allows employers to access an emerging talent pool of students, so they can find talent to help their business's needs for a more affordable price.


I joined Gudwork as a product and growth intern to help increase new student users on the platform and empower them with tools to apply for their first freelance project.


Our team's solution was to design a user-friendly onboarding process that illuminated user's skills and career goals while creating a toolkit to build freelancer confidence and community. The project has since been implemented on

Gudwork (now Folio) is a freelance marketplace that connects college students with freelance opportunities from startups and small businesses. The platform also allows employers to access an emerging talent pool of students, so they can find talent to help their business's needs for a more affordable price.


I joined Gudwork as a product and growth intern to help increase new student users on the platform and empower them with tools to apply for their first freelance project.


Our team's solution was to design a user-friendly onboarding process that illuminated user's skills and career goals while creating a toolkit to build freelancer confidence and community. The project has since been implemented on

Gudwork (now Folio) is a freelance marketplace that connects college students with freelance opportunities from startups and small businesses. The platform also allows employers to access an emerging talent pool of students, so they can find talent to help their business's needs for a more affordable price.


I joined Gudwork as a product and growth intern to help increase new student users on the platform and empower them with tools to apply for their first freelance project.


Our team's solution was to design a user-friendly onboarding process that illuminated user's skills and career goals while creating a toolkit to build freelancer confidence and community. The project has since been implemented on

Problem

High churn rate from platform and incompletion of onboarding process by new freelancers.


Gudwork was successful in bringing in a higher volume of employers and startup founders onto the platform, however, there were not enough freelancers applying to the multitude of freelance opportunities available. Kayln and I were tasked with determining why freelancers were not applying for projects.


This made us question: How can we empower users with the right tools to start freelancing?

We conducted 36 student interviews and analyzed seven competitors to find the answer.

High churn rate from platform and incompletion of onboarding process by new freelancers.


Gudwork was successful in bringing in a higher volume of employers and startup founders onto the platform, however, there were not enough freelancers applying to the multitude of freelance opportunities available. Kayln and I were tasked with determining why freelancers were not applying for projects.


This made us question: How can we empower users with the right tools to start freelancing?

We conducted 36 student interviews and analyzed seven competitors to find the answer.

High churn rate from platform and incompletion of onboarding process by new freelancers.


Gudwork was successful in bringing in a higher volume of employers and startup founders onto the platform, however, there were not enough freelancers applying to the multitude of freelance opportunities available. Kayln and I were tasked with determining why freelancers were not applying for projects.


This made us question: How can we empower users with the right tools to start freelancing?

We conducted 36 student interviews and analyzed seven competitors to find the answer.

Process

Research & Analysis: We conducted user interviews and surveys to understand the pain points of starting as a student freelancer. We also studied competitor tools that were meant to help freelancers get started.


Information Architecture: Based on the research findings, we restructured the website's onboarding navigation and content, prioritizing features and information according to user needs and freelance skillsets.


Wireframing & Prototyping: We designed wireframes to visualize the user navigation through onboarding, refining them based on user feedback. Then, we built an interactive prototype in Figma to test the design.

Students feel overwhelmed by the number of freelance projects on the site and where there skills best be applied.

Solution

Onboarding


We redesigned the onboarding flow to a short, personalized quiz asking users what freelancing skills they have and how Gudwork can help them grow. Once the quiz is completed, a user profile is generated with additional setps to complete the onboarding process. The progress bar that appears once the profile is generated shows users how far they are in the onborading porcess, motivating them to take the steps to reach 100% completion.

Student Freelancing Guide

Toolkit


Users are prompted to answer what skills they are proficient in and what skills they want to improve in so that Gudwork can autopopulate a personalized toolkit in their account to help them acheive their freelance goals. This toolkit included apps and resources that will help the user on their freelance projects and skill development.

Student Freelancing Guide

Toolkit


Users are prompted to answer what skills they are proficient in and what skills they want to improve in so that Gudwork can autopopulate a personalized toolkit in their account to help them acheive their freelance goals. This toolkit included apps and resources that will help the user on their freelance projects and skill development.

Student Freelancing Guide

Toolkit


Users are prompted to answer what skills they are proficient in and what skills they want to improve in so that Gudwork can autopopulate a personalized toolkit in their account to help them acheive their freelance goals. This toolkit included apps and resources that will help the user on their freelance projects and skill development.

Modules


We found that first-time users feel isolated in the beginner process and a lack of community. We empowered new freelancers through a series of modules that teach users the basics of freelancing. Users can track their progress through a module progress bar that places them on a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level, which they can make public to employers to show the skills they have developed. Freelancers can also join communities based on difference skillsets to learn from one another.

Modules


We found that first-time users feel isolated in the beginner process and a lack of community. We empowered new freelancers through a series of modules that teach users the basics of freelancing. Users can track their progress through a module progress bar that places them on a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level, which they can make public to employers to show the skills they have developed. Freelancers can also join communities based on difference skillsets to learn from one another.

Modules


We found that first-time users feel isolated in the beginner process and a lack of community. We empowered new freelancers through a series of modules that teach users the basics of freelancing. Users can track their progress through a module progress bar that places them on a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level, which they can make public to employers to show the skills they have developed. Freelancers can also join communities based on difference skillsets to learn from one another.

Conclusion

Students lack formal guidance and belonging when starting freelancing, and oftentimes don't even know that it is an option to build new skills and work towards goals of financial freedom. The unknown might drive them away from freelance opportunities and make me feel inadequate to compete against others potentially more experienced.


We discovered that students seek more guidance before applying for projects, in order to feel confident in their skillset, and that students lack the proper tools to navigate their first project.

Students lack formal guidance and belonging when starting freelancing, and oftentimes don't even know that it is an option to build new skills and work towards goals of financial freedom. The unknown might drive them away from freelance opportunities and make me feel inadequate to compete against others potentially more experienced.


We discovered that students seek more guidance before applying for projects, in order to feel confident in their skillset, and that students lack the proper tools to navigate their first project.

Students lack formal guidance and belonging when starting freelancing, and oftentimes don't even know that it is an option to build new skills and work towards goals of financial freedom. The unknown might drive them away from freelance opportunities and make me feel inadequate to compete against others potentially more experienced.


We discovered that students seek more guidance before applying for projects, in order to feel confident in their skillset, and that students lack the proper tools to navigate their first project.

Wanna grab a cup of coffee?

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Email me at rayna.shah@stern.nyu.edu

Rayna Shah

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