EducoLab
An app designed to empower young people from underprivileged communities to generate income as freelancers while preparing for the formal job market.
ENTERPRISE
Personal project (Tera – final project)
YEAR
2021
PAPER
Product Designer
PRODUCT
EducoLab (Prototype)
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OVERVIEW
EducoLab was created as a group project for the Tera bootcamp (2021), with the goal of connecting young people from underprivileged communities to the job market. I worked as a product designer, overseeing and executing the stages of the double diamond (discovery → research → ideation → prototyping → testing).
Based on the research, we understood that the barrier wasn't just "finding jobs": there were pain points such as lack of experience before the age of 18, hidden costs in "free" courses, and anxiety during selection processes, in addition to the need to generate income in the short term.
After several years of professional experience, I revisited the project and completely redesigned the UI, updating the visual identity, information architecture, and writing to make it more attractive and intuitive for a younger audience.
THEN...
We needed to create a solution that would help young people like our target audience to:
Develop the skills and autonomy to work as a freelancer in the short term.
Prepare for the formal job market with less uncertainty.
Access relevant content without cost "hidden fees" and with language close to your context.
INVESTIGATION
STAGE 1
Discovery (scenario and problem)
Desk research to understand the context: e.g., 36% of young people who neither study nor work and 31% unemployment among 18-24 year olds (data collected in the project).
STAGE 2
Audience research (quantitative + qualitative)
Questionnaire (Google Forms) with 40 valid responses and recruitment for interviews;
4 in-depth interviews to understand behavior, barriers, and expectations;
Key signs: 77% seeking employment; 58% have already participated in a selection process; 38% are 16-18 years old and report strong anxiety about tests/stages and frustration with "free" courses that charge for materials/certificates.
TRADE-OFFS
We refined the problem to make it more actionable: instead of broadly focusing on "connecting to first jobs," we focused on empowering individuals to become entrepreneurs as freelancers while preparing for the formal job market.
In the redesign, the priority was clarity and appeal to young people, balancing a strong brand identity with simple navigation (reducing the learning curve).
SOLUTION
The proposed solution was an app that combines professional training with content on entrepreneurship (freelance work) and anxiety management, delivered in a meaningful way to young people seeking opportunities.
Target persona: “Vanessa, 16 years old, freelancer, East Zone of São Paulo”, with pain points related to lack of opportunities, being a minor, and anxiety in selection processes.
Ideation with sketches and evolution to a navigable prototype (Figma);
Testing and iterations based on research findings;
Complete redesign: new UI, new identity (inspired by Bauhaus/Vignelli), palette adjustments, architecture and lettering, plus a design style for standardization.
REDESIGN
After several years of experience as a product designer, I considered it important to redesign all pages of the prototype. During the first version of the project, my team and I focused heavily on the design thinking process, discovery, user research, benchmarking, and other tools of the double diamond.
New user research was conducted to understand perceptions regarding color palette choices, information architecture, and writing. Inspired by the Bauhaus school and designers like Massimo Vignelli, the app gained a new interface, more connected to its purpose, following design trends to become more attractive to a young audience, improving the experience and also aiming for intuitiveness and a shorter learning curve.
STYLE GUIDE
NAVIGABLE PROTOTYPE
Since this is a project for educational purposes only, feel free to access the prototype below :)