Afrina Kugelstadt
Creating 'Aha' Moments:
A UX Journey to Boost Engagement
Skills Management Software
Service
Research
Concept
Usability Testing
Project Structure
Agile Project - Scrum
(3 weeks Sprint)
Duration
1 Year
Year
2023
Context
This project focused on a skills management platform that helps companies keep track of employee qualifications and match them with role requirements. It's especially useful for teams that need to stay compliant or quickly see where there are skill gaps.
My Contribution
I contributed to the end-to-end design process in close collaboration with my team — from research and concept development to wireframing, iterative design, prototyping, and usability testing. The goal was always to deliver user-centered solutions aligned with client needs. This work was part of my role as a working student.
Problem
A testing revealed that new users face a steep learning curve during onboarding. In one case, it took an individual user nearly three months to become fully proficient—particularly when setting up employees and managing qualifications. This long time-to-competency underscored significant friction in both the user experience and overall setup process.
The following depiction show cases a journey of creating an employer and a skill.
Goal
Design an 'aha' moment within 2 minutes to boost user engagement by keeping interactions fast and intuitive
Process
- Researched the data model, user journey, and created a wireflow plan.
- Developed a concept using mid-fidelity screens.
- Iterated designs based on feedback from the client.
- Tracked adjustments through tickets and refined screens accordingly.
- Created prototypes and prepared for usability testing.
- Conducted usability testing to validate and refine the design
Usability Testing
We created mid-fidelity screens and built a prototype to test the workflow and usability. The prototype was internally tested with six participants, focusing on tasks such as employee creation, skill setup, matrix mode switching, and adding results.
Results Usability Testing
Participants found the prototype simple, accessible, and easier to use compared to other tools like Excel, despite a slight learning curve. Once understood, it was praised for its clarity, systematic structure, and ease of navigation.
More to explore
Telecommunication
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Skills management
Enhancing Skill Matrix:
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Afrina Kugelstadt
afrina.design
Afrina Kugelstadt
Service
Research
Concept
Usability Testing
Project Structure
Agile Project - Scrum
(3 weeks Sprint)
Duration
1 Year
Year
2023
Context
This project focused on a skills management platform that helps companies keep track of employee qualifications and match them with role requirements. It's especially useful for teams that need to stay compliant or quickly see where there are skill gaps.
My Contribution
I contributed to the end-to-end design process in close collaboration with my team — from research and concept development to wireframing, iterative design, prototyping, and usability testing. The goal was always to deliver user-centered solutions aligned with client needs. This work was part of my role as a working student.
Problem
A testing revealed that new users face a steep learning curve during onboarding. In one case, it took an individual user nearly three months to become fully proficient—particularly when setting up employees and managing qualifications. This long time-to-competency underscored significant friction in both the user experience and overall setup process.
The following depiction show cases a journey of creating an employer and a skill.
Goal
Design an 'aha' moment within 2 minutes to boost user engagement by keeping interactions fast and intuitive
Process
- Researched the data model, user journey, and created a wireflow plan.
- Developed a concept using mid-fidelity screens.
- Iterated designs based on feedback from the client.
- Tracked adjustments through tickets and refined screens accordingly.
- Created prototypes and prepared for usability testing.
- Conducted usability testing to validate and refine the design
Usability Testing
We created mid-fidelity screens and built a prototype to test the workflow and usability. The prototype was internally tested with six participants, focusing on tasks such as employee creation, skill setup, matrix mode switching, and adding results.
Results Usability Testing
Participants found the prototype simple, accessible, and easier to use compared to other tools like Excel, despite a slight learning curve. Once understood, it was praised for its clarity, systematic structure, and ease of navigation.
More to explore
Telecommunication
A customizable, white-label solution to unify and simplify orders across multiple network providers.
View Project
Skills management
Enhancing Skill Matrix:
Clear Visual Cues for Better State Identification
View Project
dachzeltnormaden
Investing in Research Saves Time and Money
View Project
Afrina Kugelstadt
afrina.design
Afrina Kugelstadt
Creating 'Aha' Moments:
A UX Journey to Boost Engagement
Skills Management Software
Service
Research
Concept
Usability Testing
Project Structure
Agile Project - Scrum
(3 weeks Sprint)
Duration
1 Year
Year
2023
Context
This project focused on a skills management platform that helps companies keep track of employee qualifications and match them with role requirements. It's especially useful for teams that need to stay compliant or quickly see where there are skill gaps.
My Contribution
I contributed to the end-to-end design process in close collaboration with my team — from research and concept development to wireframing, iterative design, prototyping, and usability testing. The goal was always to deliver user-centered solutions aligned with client needs. This work was part of my role as a working student.
Problem
A testing revealed that new users face a steep learning curve during onboarding. In one case, it took an individual user nearly three months to become fully proficient—particularly when setting up employees and managing qualifications. This long time-to-competency underscored significant friction in both the user experience and overall setup process.
The following depiction show cases a journey of creating an employer and a skill.
Goal
The goal was to support a shift toward a Product-Led Growth strategy by reducing Time to Value for new users. To achieve this, we focused on simplifying the initial user journey and refining the core feature set, enabling users to reach meaningful outcomes quickly and independently.
We aimed to create a scalable and intuitive experience that empowers users to build structures aligned with their organization’s logic. This included simplifying the data model by clearly separating employees, qualifications, and requirements, reducing setup friction and cognitive load.
Our North Star was to drive early engagement by designing for an 'aha' moment within the first 2 minutes—ensuring that key interactions felt fast, intuitive, and rewarding from the very beginning.
Process
- Researched the data model, user journey, and created a wireflow plan.
- Developed a concept using mid-fidelity screens.
- Iterated designs based on feedback from the client.
- Tracked adjustments through tickets and refined screens accordingly.
- Created prototypes and prepared for usability testing.
- Conducted usability testing to validate and refine the design
Usability Testing
We created mid-fidelity screens and built a prototype to test the workflow and usability. The prototype was internally tested with six participants, focusing on tasks such as employee creation, skill setup, matrix mode switching, and adding results.
Results Usability Testing
Participants found the prototype simple, accessible, and easier to use compared to other tools like Excel, despite a slight learning curve. Once understood, it was praised for its clarity, systematic structure, and ease of navigation.
More to explore
Telecommunication
A customizable, white-label solution to unify and simplify orders across multiple network providers.
View Project
Skills management
Enhancing Skill Matrix:
Clear Visual Cues for Better State Identification
View Project
dachzeltnormaden
Investing in Research Saves Time and Money
View Project
Afrina Kugelstadt
afrina.design