Kanksha Dixit's Portfolio

kanksha

How might we create a unified platform for early-stage tech entrepreneurs to help them find the right collaborators?

My Role

UX Designer and Research

My Team

Kanksha Dixit and Shivani Bhosle

Timeline

September 2024 - December 2024

Project Type

Web App Design - Thesis Project

How it all began...

While working on a project, our progress was slowing down due to scattered tools for ideation, collaboration, and project management. That's when we began to research
How would these early startups work their way out while being on a deadline?

To validate how scattered tools affected the startups

We built a survey using Qualtrics and interviewed three innovation labs at Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern University.

We did affinity mapping to analyze and categorize the responses into challenges, user needs, tools they are familiar with, and suggestions

What are we trying to do?

Problem

Many early-stage startups struggle to find the right people based on their project needs and stage. Scattered tools delay the progress of the work.

Key Problems :

- Find the right collaborators efficiently

- Structure and manage their projects effectively

- Access expert guidance when making critical decisions

Proposed Solution

A comprehensive platform that simplifies collaboration for digital product enthusiasts while supporting emerging talent to connect with experienced professionals.

Key Features

- AI assistance

- Profile Matching

- Project Flow Management.

- Third-party tool integration

A comprehensive platform that simplifies collaboration for digital product enthusiasts while supporting emerging talent to connect with experienced professionals.

Key Features

- AI assistance

- Profile Matching

- Project Flow Management.

- Third-party tool integration

A comprehensive platform that simplifies collaboration for digital product enthusiasts while supporting emerging talent to connect with experienced professionals.

Key Features

- AI assistance

- Profile Matching

- Project Flow Management.

- Third-party tool integration

Who We’re Designing For?

Defining Users

We needed to deeply understand who we were designing for — their goals, frustrations, and everyday contexts.
To understand and validate how our users would naturally interact with a system we supported our personas with user stories, before jumping to wireframes or flows.

How the journey unfolds

Identifying Market Gaps

Through Feature Analysis, We compared our product with some of the existing leading tools. While the tools are great, "Alianza" stood out to be a unified feature platform.

Ideation

We began sketching small elements of the platform and how the initial flow would look like.
Idea was match making concept with the help of AI on-boarding and a profile card that highlights skills which would act as a SEO to match it for the right people.
We wanted the user to have a dashboard experience for a holistic view of unified platform

Feature Implementation

The goal was a platform that adapts to their roles. We had a vision of AI understanding user roles by having a conversation and further tailoring the experience.

First Draft Wireframes
Initial Wireframes : We began by having an idea in mind regarding the interface with four major interactions, i.e., Onboarding, Dashboard, Community, and Project Management

First Draft Wireframes
Initial Wireframes : We began by having an idea in mind regarding the interface with four major interactions, i.e., Onboarding, Dashboard, Community, and Project Management

Final Wireframes
Initial Wireframes : We began by having an idea in mind regarding the interface with four major interactions, i.e., Onboarding, Dashboard, Community, and Project Management

Final Wireframes
Initial Wireframes : We began by having an idea in mind regarding the interface with four major interactions, i.e., Onboarding, Dashboard, Community, and Project Management

User Testing

Our goal was to understand user behavior in the initial stage for an intuitive platform

Initial Look of the flows

Founder Flow

Collaborator Flow

Introducing Alianza!

AI Profile Building
AI onboarding to build the right team faster.
- Connects founders with the people who can bring them to life.  
- Recommends projects tailored to the collaborator’s skills.
Dashboard Experience
Personalized dashboards to create a unified tailored experience.
- Guided project flow for founders, to manage and grow their projects
- Growth-focused profiles for collaborators to enhance visibility and connect with the right opportunities
Community
AI-driven community experience where individuals can connect
- AI helps each profile to spotlight relevant skills and interests, making it easier to discover the right people and opportunities
Workflow Management
Seamlessly organize, track, and prioritize your project tasks.
- With AI-recommended templates and task suggestions, planning becomes easy.
- Kanban-style boards support intuitive, accessible task management, helping ideas move efficiently from concept to execution.

AI Profile Building
AI onboarding to build the right team faster.
- Connects founders with the people who can bring them to life.  
- Recommends projects tailored to the collaborator’s skills.
Dashboard Experience
Personalized dashboards to create a unified tailored experience.
- Guided project flow for founders, to manage and grow their projects
- Growth-focused profiles for collaborators to enhance visibility and connect with the right opportunities
Community
AI-driven community experience where individuals can connect
- AI helps each profile to spotlight relevant skills and interests, making it easier to discover the right people and opportunities
Workflow Management
Seamlessly organize, track, and prioritize your project tasks.
- With AI-recommended templates and task suggestions, planning becomes easy.
- Kanban-style boards support intuitive, accessible task management, helping ideas move efficiently from concept to execution.

AI Profile Building
AI onboarding to build the right team faster.
- Connects founders with the people who can bring them to life.  
- Recommends projects tailored to the collaborator’s skills.
Dashboard Experience
Personalized dashboards to create a unified tailored experience.
- Guided project flow for founders, to manage and grow their projects
- Growth-focused profiles for collaborators to enhance visibility and connect with the right opportunities
Community
AI-driven community experience where individuals can connect
- AI helps each profile to spotlight relevant skills and interests, making it easier to discover the right people and opportunities
Workflow Management
Seamlessly organize, track, and prioritize your project tasks.
- With AI-recommended templates and task suggestions, planning becomes easy.
- Kanban-style boards support intuitive, accessible task management, helping ideas move efficiently from concept to execution.

AI Profile Building
AI onboarding to build the right team faster.
- Connects founders with the people who can bring them to life.  
- Recommends projects tailored to the collaborator’s skills.
Dashboard Experience
Personalized dashboards to create a unified tailored experience.
- Guided project flow for founders, to manage and grow their projects
- Growth-focused profiles for collaborators to enhance visibility and connect with the right opportunities
Community
AI-driven community experience where individuals can connect
- AI helps each profile to spotlight relevant skills and interests, making it easier to discover the right people and opportunities
Workflow Management
Seamlessly organize, track, and prioritize your project tasks.
- With AI-recommended templates and task suggestions, planning becomes easy.
- Kanban-style boards support intuitive, accessible task management, helping ideas move efficiently from concept to execution.

Interact with the Final UI

Founder Flow

Collaborator Flow

My learnings and future of this project..

Impact, Scalability and Business

We see opportunities to support more users by enabling multi-project management and adding mentoring workshops to connect them with industry experts. This will help us increase user engagement by 20%

These steps will improve collaboration, offer guidance, and make the platform a go-to tool for innovators.

My Learnings

How narrowing the problem statement helped us define a clear solution

How familiar designs help users transition seamlessly into a new experience

How prioritizing the right user feedback leads to meaningful improvements

I also mastered working under tight deadlines while ensuring high-quality outcomes.