Designing Vaqat's marketplace MVP
A UI/UX Case Study on Building an Agile Micro-Internship Platform
Client: Vaqat
Role: Lead UX/UI Designer
Version: MVP + Beta
Timeline: May 2021 - Jan 2024
Impact: Attracted over 40,000 users within the first 10-months after launch
Role: Lead UX/UI Designer
Version: MVP + Beta
Timeline: May 2021 - Jan 2024
Impact: Attracted over 40,000 users within the first 10-months after launch
The Challenge
I was hired to design and validate a new business idea for flexible internships
The founder, a management consultant, thought there was a market need to improve the work-life balance of consultants by staffing college students on flexible projects. He hired me to:
• Phase 1: Test the business idea with a mock landing page and questionnaire.
• Phase 2: Pending positive reception, proceed to develop an MVP.
• Phase 1: Test the business idea with a mock landing page and questionnaire.
• Phase 2: Pending positive reception, proceed to develop an MVP.
Validation of Vaqat's Business Model
Initially, my two-concept test approach validated Vaqat's business model
To validate Vaqat's business model, I implemented a two-concept test approach using a waitlist landing page and a targeted survey.
The results were promising:
• Waitlist Landing Page: 1,300 people signed up, indicating strong interest in the value proposition.
• Targeted Survey: 95% of 50 students surveyed agreed with the concept
• Waitlist Landing Page: 1,300 people signed up, indicating strong interest in the value proposition.
• Targeted Survey: 95% of 50 students surveyed agreed with the concept
These results significantly boosted my confidence in the market opportunity for Vaqat.
Product Market Fit test with Waitlist landing page:
Product Market Fit test with Targeted survey:
Wireframes & Journey Mapping
Given these strong signals, I built out the concept further
I structured the initial concept based on desk research into platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. Managers would post their support requests, students would get notified and could apply with their pre-filled profiles. This streamlined matching takes just a few minutes.
In the MVP, managers would select candidates based on their profiles, previous reviews, and resumes.
To attract larger organizations, I proposed an HR feature that aggregates all feedback reports within an organization. Talent acquisition specialists can build a pipeline of vetted candidates for future recruitment.
Prototype Feedback Loop
The high-fidelity prototype tested well, but 2 features were missing
I conducted usability testing with ten potential users, where they interacted with the prototype, allowing me to gather valuable feedback and data for improvements. I noticed that users from larger companies often requested the option to manage the budgets for some teams/departments. To meet these demands, I suggested adding a budgeting feature.
Some prospective clients asked about adding additional criteria beyond skills. Given that the platform would collect data, such as university, degree, or major, I designed an “Advanced Criteria” feature.
Usability testing
I usability tested the MVP and introduced 3 feature changes prior to the development stage
Once I developed a clickable prototype, I asked eight potential users to play with the tool.
I had 3 main observations:
• Interview scheduling button ignored - removed from MVP.
• "Add project" button missed - relocated for better visibility.
• Required fields unclear - highlighted for easier completion.
• Interview scheduling button ignored - removed from MVP.
• "Add project" button missed - relocated for better visibility.
• Required fields unclear - highlighted for easier completion.
MVP Development & Product Launch
I collaborated with a software development team to build the MVP
The product was built in Go and React by 3 experienced developers. Working in an agile setup, I QA’ed each user journey whenever it was pushed to the staging environment. My role was to test the user journeys and ensure the end product adhered to the original designs. In some cases, I decided to change some design system elements to improve the visibility and UX, e.g., colors of inactive buttons.
Challenge Diagnostics
After launch, user feedback revealed 4 key challenges that could be solved.
• Challenge #1: Low Daily Active Users (DAU) caused by limited project awareness.
• Challenge #2: Rigid project requirements narrowed the eligible candidate pool.
• Challenge #3: Centralized pricing limited Average Contract Value (ACV) potential in certain geographies.
• Challenge #4: An overwhelming number of candidates affected the Project Posted/Project Matched ratio.
• Challenge #2: Rigid project requirements narrowed the eligible candidate pool.
• Challenge #3: Centralized pricing limited Average Contract Value (ACV) potential in certain geographies.
• Challenge #4: An overwhelming number of candidates affected the Project Posted/Project Matched ratio.
Challenge #1
Low Daily Active Users (DAU) caused by limited project awareness.
Solution: Growth design - email reminders, WhatsApp integration, increased project visibility
Posted projects initially struggled to attract candidates, often remaining without applicants for hours. Students' irregular logins led to missed opportunities. I proposed 3 solutions:
• Automated email notifications
• WhatsApp integration for faster notifications and direct applications
• Removing the logic of hiding projects based on incomplete profiles, which often hindered candidate visibility.
• Automated email notifications
• WhatsApp integration for faster notifications and direct applications
• Removing the logic of hiding projects based on incomplete profiles, which often hindered candidate visibility.
These adjustments resulted in projects receiving applications within 30 seconds of posting.
Challenge #2
Rigid project requirements narrowed the eligible candidate pool.
Solution: Display of an eligible candidate counter when posting a project.
Advanced criteria, such as degree, specific university, or previous experience, sometimes limited matches.
I designed a counter of eligible candidates visible while adding a new project. Whenever criteria limit the talent pool too rigorously, the icon and colors change, incentivizing the manager to remove some of the requirements. The change improved the project matched to the project posted ratio by 20%.
Solution: Implementation of a user-set hourly rate.
Challenge #3
Centralized pricing limited Average Contract Value (ACV) potential in certain geographies.
Solution: Implementation of a user-set hourly rate.
Centralized pricing capped average contract value (ACV) in some regions.
As a result, I suggested allowing managers to define the hourly rate, which could be adjusted based on the manager’s geographic focus. That change led to a 35% ACV increase reported within the first 7 days from the update.
Challenge #4
A high number of candidates affected the Project Posted/Project Matched ratio.
Solution: Enhanced candidate filtering and sorting.
More ambitious projects often attracted 250+ candidates within the first hour from posting. I created enhanced filters in the active recruitment panel to help managers quickly rank and select the most relevant candidates, reducing the time required to choose a candidate for the job..
“Candidate filtering made the selection much easier!”
Impact
Vaqat facilitated matches in 27 countries and attracted over 40,000 students from 70 countries.
Vaqat has enabled students to gain valuable experience early in their academic careers. For instance, a Stanford economics freshman worked on a live project with Bain & Company, supporting their Bay Area team with research. While 77% of US students graduate with just one or two internships, some Vaqat users have completed 4-6 projects, broadening their career exploration. The platform has also improved consultants' work/life balance, such as when a student was hired in 22 minutes at 10 p.m. to complete a task, freeing the consultant for other urgent work. Additionally, Vaqat has helped companies find top talent, like a UC Berkeley startup that hired a Nigerian computer science student full-time after a successful project.
I left the Vaqat team in early 2024 after onboarding a junior UI/UX designer into the team. As of April 2024, the team is raising its 2nd VC round and hopes to continue its growth!