Showcase and Grow
"Showcase and Grow" is an innovative LinkedIn feature specifically crafted to redefine the professional storytelling landscape for tech enthusiasts, students, career changers, and emerging tech entrepreneurs.
Problem Space
Emerging tech professionals face barriers in sharing their journeys, hindered by psychological challenges and the absence of a supportive platform for showcasing growth and collaboration.
Problem Statement
How might we enable tech professionals to overcome hesitancy and share their growth narratives, fostering a culture of openness and collaborative learning?
Problem Background
With the tech landscape’s dynamism, individuals find navigating and pivoting within the sector challenging. The gap in expressing personal branding and the need for a community-centric sharing platform is evident from social media, forums, and market research insights.
Research Insights
User Pain Points
Through our surveys and interviews with tech professionals, including Associate Solution Architects, Quality Assurance Auditors, Senior Analysts, and Founders, we gathered extensive feedback on their experiences and hesitations with Building in Public (BIP). The primary barriers identified were fear of judgment, time management challenges, imposter syndrome, and handling online criticism. These insights were instrumental in understanding the multifaceted nature of the reluctance to engage in BIP, emphasizing the need for a supportive platform.
Supporting Data
An unequivocal finding from our research was that all participants, without exception, encountered hurdles in their BIP endeavors. These ranged from fear of judgment and imposter syndrome to concerns about maintaining a professional image while engaging in honest, open sharing. This unanimity highlights a glaring need within the professional networking landscape—a need 'Showcase and Grow' aims to address by offering a space on LinkedIn designed specifically for fostering a supportive and encouraging BIP environment.
Feedback
In the course of our initial research, the feedback from tech professionals clearly indicated a strong desire for a more integrated, user-friendly platform to facilitate Building in Public. Many aspire to share their tech journey in a way that authentically represents their personal and professional growth, including both successes and challenges. However, the absence of a dedicated space that offers both visibility and community support has been a significant barrier. This feedback is instrumental in shaping 'Showcase and Grow,' ensuring it aligns with the real needs of our users, making the process of Building in Public not just viable but also rewarding within the LinkedIn ecosystem.
Landing on the Solution
Understanding the unique challenges our users face when engaging in Building in Public (BIP) on LinkedIn, we've crafted specific features for "Showcase and Grow" to create a supportive and enriching environment:
- Encouragement First Feedback Model: This feature aims to cultivate a positive atmosphere for new contributors by highlighting constructive and encouraging feedback, leveraging LinkedIn's existing culture of professional growth and support.
- BIP Scheduling & Reminder System: Recognizing the busy schedules of our users, this tool will integrate with LinkedIn’s notification system, allowing users to plan their BIP posts and receive timely reminders, enhancing the user experience without overwhelming their daily routines.
- Milestone Celebrations: Leveraging LinkedIn’s endorsement and recommendation features, we're introducing a way to celebrate personal growth milestones, aiming to boost visibility and recognition within the professional community.
- Constructive Criticism Toolkit: Building on LinkedIn's framework for professional interaction, this toolkit will provide resources and guidelines to promote constructive dialogue, enriching the community's feedback culture.
Explanation of Solution
The development of the 'Showcase and Grow' feature was directly influenced by the detailed feedback and insights gathered from our engagement with tech professionals. Through surveys and interviews, we discovered a widespread need for a platform that not only facilitates the sharing of professional achievements but also addresses common barriers such as fear of judgment, imposter syndrome, and the challenges of managing online criticism constructively. The Encouragement First Feedback Model was envisioned to create a supportive environment that counters the fear of judgment, encouraging more users to share their journeys. Similarly, Milestone Celebrations aim to validate and celebrate every step of professional growth, directly addressing imposter syndrome by recognizing effort and achievements publicly.
The concept for Mentorship Matching emerged from a clear desire among users for deeper, more meaningful connections within their professional networks, indicating a gap in current mentoring opportunities on LinkedIn. The need for structured guidance and feedback inspired the Constructive Criticism Toolkit and Private Feedback Loops, designed to help users navigate feedback constructively and privately refine their shared content before public posting. The aspiration for a balanced approach to 'Building in Public'—one that acknowledges the challenges of time management and the desire for personalized learning paths—led to the introduction of the BIP Scheduling & Reminder System and Personalized Learning Pathways. These features are grounded in the collective insights from our research, tailored to empower users to engage in 'Building in Public' with confidence, support, and a sense of community.
Future Steps
Feedback underscores the importance of aligning "Showcase and Grow" with LinkedIn's mission of connecting the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. Moving forward, we plan to:
Enhance the Mentorship Matching feature for more relevant and impactful connections, leveraging LinkedIn’s extensive professional network
Explore deeper integration of BIP Scheduling & Reminder System with LinkedIn’s existing tools, ensuring a seamless user experience.
Further develop Private Feedback Loops to allow users to refine their content based on trusted peer feedback, reinforcing the platform’s community-driven growth ethos.
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Ariel Taylor
Co.Lab was a very interesting experience for me as a product manager spearheading the 'Showcase and Grow' feature on LinkedIn. It honed my understanding of the complexities inherent in defining a focused problem space within the vibrant, ever-evolving tech community. This journey underscored the necessity of developing a deep empathy for our users, listening to their challenges, aspirations, and the nuanced ways they sought to connect and grow professionally on LinkedIn.
Engaging directly with our target audience through surveys and interviews illuminated the transformative power of iterative feedback. It became evident that a flexible and adaptive approach to product development isn't just beneficial—it's essential. The feedback cycles were not just a pathway to refinement but a vital tool for ensuring our solution deeply resonated with the users' actual needs.
This project also reinforced the importance of creating a product that addresses specific user pain points with precision. Overcoming psychological barriers like fear of judgment and imposter syndrome, and fostering a sense of achievement and community, was at the heart of 'Showcase and Grow'. It taught me that at the core of effective product management is the capacity to facilitate meaningful experiences that extend beyond mere problem-solving.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
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Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
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I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.