A comprehensive UX research and design project aimed at democratizing mentorship within the university ecosystem.
Understanding the institutional context.
Since its establishment in 2008, the University has cultivated a diverse alumni network. However, it lacks a centralized digital platform for alumni to stay connected with each other and current students.
This gap results in low alumni engagement and underutilized internal networks for final-year students seeking internships. Without integrating alumni into the existing student ecosystem, the university misses the chance to strengthen its academic-to-professional pipeline.
Tools like Graduway and Almabase show increased institutional investment in alumni engagement.
Universities leveraging alumni for mentoring show higher student satisfaction and alumni loyalty.
Gen Z students prefer finding jobs through internal, trusted networks rather than cold applications.
Post-pandemic, universities are digitizing all stakeholder experiences: students, alumni, and faculty.
Who are we designing for?
Graduated 2006-2024
Pain Points:
No central platform, lost contact with peers[.
Job Seekers
Pain Points:
No easy way to reach out to working professionals.
Coordinators
Pain Points:
Scattered data, manual outreach, no analytics.
Analyzing Direct and Indirect Competitors.
Premium platform used by top universities. While powerful, its cost and complexity make it unsuitable for smaller institutions needing student integration.
User-friendly and designed for fundraising. However, it lacks strong mobile-first experiences and doesn't deeply connect current students with alumni.
Widely used but lacks university-level control, verification, or structured community features like mentorship systems.
Zero cost but prone to spam. Lacks authentication, data ownership, and offers no analytics or admin tools.
| Feature | Mentora (Us) | Graduway | Almabase | FB Groups | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralized Database | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No |
| University Admin Dashboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Student Integration Ecosystem | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Verified Users | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Free for Users | Yes | Paid (Inst.) | Paid (Inst.) | Freemium | Yes |
Strategic evaluation of the competition.
Full ecosystem, career mentoring, high-quality UI/UX. Used by global Ivy Leagues.
High cost, not feasible for smaller universities. Complex implementation requiring training.
Expand via partner networks, offer advanced analytics.
Overkill for small institutions. Cannot deeply integrate into student life systems.
Ready-made engagement, donation modules, email automation. Trusted globally.
Expensive subscription, limited customization for university culture.
Scale across multiple departments, integrate with CRM tools.
Data privacy concerns (stored on third-party servers). Generic UI adoption issues.
Familiar platform, wide reach, already used by students.
No official university control, limited community building tools, no admin analytics.
No exclusivity, data privacy not under university control. Easily distracted by other content.
Easy to use, zero cost, instant messaging capabilities.
No structure, no verification, no analytics, risk of spam.
Fragmented experience, no university ownership.
Validating the demand (Sample Size: 9 Students across BCA, BA, B.Sc).
The Gap
Students currently use NO platform to interact with alumni, relying on scattered methods.
The Goal
Primary expectation from alumni is Internship & Job Referrals, guiding our MVP features.
Validation
Students actively interested in a University-Managed App for trusted connections.
Churn Risk
Would uninstall the app if they encounter Irrelevant Content, emphasizing personalization.
The survey covered a diverse range of students, with the largest group being BCA students (33.3%), followed by Arts and Biotech. This ensures the solution caters to both technical and non-technical career paths.
Currently, students are "hacking" their way to opportunities using WhatsApp Groups and family networks. There is no formalized channel for alumni to pass down opportunities to current students.
Understanding the perspective of mentors (Sample Size: 8 Verified Alumni).
Current Habit
Alumni primarily use WhatsApp Groups to stay connected, which they find disorganized for professional networking.
Top Contribution
Alumni are most interested in providing Job & Internship Referrals to juniors, validating our core feature.
Major Concern
Top privacy fears are "Misuse of Contact Details" and Spam. The app must hide phone numbers by default.
Open to Mentoring
A clear majority answered "Yes" to mentoring students, proving the supply side of our platform is ready.
We interviewed 15 participants (5 Students, 5 Alumni, 5 Staff) to decode the "Why" behind the data.
"I want to talk to alumni working in big companies like Netflix, but I don't know who they are or how to reach them."
Participant P4
Final Year Student
"I'm looking to hire juniors from my college, but there's no easy way. I want to contribute, but nobody has approached me."
Participant P7
Working Professional
"We use Excel sheets to store alumni data—it's chaotic. WhatsApp doesn't scale for 15,000 alumni."
Participant P11
Alumni Coordinator
We clustered the coded verbatims into 3 core problem themes that defined our design strategy.
Key Insight
The gap isn't lack of intent; it's the lack of a centralized medium.
Students feel confused about job readiness and lack "Real World" mentors. Learning Java isn't enough; they need industry context.
Alumni have a strong desire to reconnect and hire, but "lost touch" due to absence of a common platform.
Admins are drowning in Excel sheets. Manual coordination for 250+ courses across 18 colleges is impossible without automation.
We sorted 50+ data points into 4 actionable themes to guide our features.
The chaos of Excel sheets (Theme 03) prevents the natural desire to mentor (Theme 01) and hire (Theme 04). Our solution must be a "Self-Sustaining Ecosystem" that automates data collection while facilitating connection.
Based on our research, we defined three archetypes to guide our design decisions.
Final Year B.Tech
"I'm learning Java and web dev online, but I don't know if I'm on the right track. I need guidance."
Working Professional
"Finally, a way to give back to my university. I want to hire juniors but can't access student data easily."
Alumni Coordinator
"I'm burdened by inefficient tools. WhatsApp groups don't scale for 250+ courses across 18 colleges."
Mapping the emotional journey of our three key stakeholders.
Tracing the emotional highs and lows to identify exactly where our intervention is needed.
Goal: Land a job in Tech
"Where do I even begin? Am I learning the right things?"
"I hope these projects are good enough for recruiters."
"Will anyone guide me? I can't find contact info."
"No one responds on LinkedIn. I feel ignored."
"Curated learning paths & direct alumni matching."
Tanishq's drop in confidence happens at Step 3 & 4 due to lack of response. Mentora solves this by replacing "Cold Messaging" with "Structured Mentorship Requests".
Goal: Reconnect & Hire
"I want to reconnect with my college circle."
"Why is there no common platform? It's all scattered."
"I'd love to help, but I can't access the student pool."
"Shared on WhatsApp but response is messy."
"Verified community & structured job posting."
Priyank's intent to help (Step 3) is blocked by lack of access. Mentora provides a "Student Showcase Dashboard" so alumni can filter talent and offer referrals directly.
Mapping the logical pathways for our two distinct user groups: Students and Alumni.
Logic Check
Verified Student?
Search
Filter Alumni by Domain / Company
Action
Send Mentorship Request
Start Chat
Browse
View Jobs & Referral Openings
Details
Check Criteria & Skills
Apply Now
Verification
Degree Check?
Create
Post Job / Internship Details
Review
Check Student Profiles
Shortlist
Inbox
Receive Student Requests
Decision
Accept / Reject?
Guide Student
Organizing complex features into intuitive navigation structures for our two distinct user groups.
Bringing it all together: A fully functional solution built on 6 years of IT experience.
Interact with the prototype above
This project is not just a concept; it represents my ability to own a product lifecycle from chaos to clarity.
Bringing technical feasibility to design decisions.
Deep understanding of student-institution ecosystems.
From Research & IA to UI & Prototyping.
"I am currently open to new opportunities where I can utilize my full potential to solve complex user problems."