LinkedIn ProFinder
What is ProFinder
ProFinder is a marketplace platform of LinkedIn that connects consumers with providers to get projects done. The video above shows how we can integrate ProFinder as an end-to-end experience within the Flagship LinkedIn product.
My Role
Project Spec, Research, Ideation, Design, Prototyping
Project date: 2017-18
Project Spec
Project objectives
The primary objective is to increase engagement and discoverability of the product feature that ProFinder provides to consumers, not needing to build on the current platform experience.
Design milestones
- Research distillation
- Design end-to-end experience
- Socialization and product alignment
- Execution on key product features
Target audience / Member Value
Current members that are using ProFinder, or members that are trying to get projects done but are unaware of what the platform provides. The value should be the ability to improve project completion and help connect consumers and providers as seamlessly as possible.
Project scope
- The first objective is to get product alignment in the overarching direction
- Once that is done, we will select key features within the consumer journey and scope out each of the initiatives to work on.
Experience goal
The successful experience would help increase engagement as we integrate ProFinder into the Flagship product
Partners
ProFinder PM and engineering · Design teams on Profile, Messaging, Pages
Research
Research distillation
Current product pain points from customers · Research we have done on member experience
3 Key experience goals
- Seamless end-to-end experience (Communication)
- Integrate into Flagship (Discovery)
- Create a trusted Provider Network (Quality)
Product touch points
End-to-end LinkedIn product touch points
Identify 5 areas in which the product would touch on, and lay over how the product would influence each of the 5 areas. We also used this as a structure for conversation with the product team so that they were able to clearly understand and formulate the direction the product was headed.
Derived initiatives
- Search & Content post integration*
- Freelance & SMB profiles within LinkedIn
- Assisted Messaging for consumers*
- Payment / Video calling / tracking on Platform
- Ratings & Review Collection & Surfacing* (* In development)
User Flow
User flow of the consumer journey through either the ‘Search’-Directory model or ‘Content Creation’ -Matching and Social network’
Discovery
Project request from feed creation
This was one of the key features to build based on the research and along with the product touch points that were mapped out, I narrowed it down to 2 entry points for discovery, one through integration with search, and the other through the feed content creation.
Search entry point → Search provider type → Key Features
- Ability to capture intent during search
- Surfacing provider profiles based on keywords
- Directory model approach to finding a provider
Content post entry point → Consumer feed → Key Features
- Captures intent when consumers start an ‘ask for service post’
- Narrow the scope by entering industry and location
- Ability to share content type to providers only
Provider feed → Key Features
- Increase engagement of providers on the feed
- Option to respond as a private message to the provider
- Or as a public comment to increase awareness as a provider
Communication
Assisted Messaging for consumers
One key pain point from the research was that many of the customers did not start a conversation with the provider even when the provider has responded to the request. This assisted response type is to encourage customers to start a conversation by removing the barrier and hopefully help to improve the in-conversation rate.
Key Features
- Provide assisted response for the provider
- Encourage customers to start a conversation
- Improve in-conversation rate
Ratings & Review
Collection / Surfacing customers feedback
Post-project completion, ratings, and reviews are collected and surfaced on the provider’s profile. The intent is to build trust for the provider and serve as reference points for future potential customers.
Key Features
- Gather ratings and detailed review
- Surface ratings & reviews on provider profile
- Build trust in the platform
Current Status and Future steps
Currently, we are building out the key features and once that is done, we will start on the open initiatives to complete the full integration of ProFinder onto the LinkedIn flagship product.
Open initiatives
- Freelance & SMB profiles within LinkedIn
- Payment / Video calling / tracking on Platform