Product Design
Link to Site: NJ Training Explorer
Project Stakeholders: New Jersey Department of Labor, Office of Research and Information
In 2020 at the New Jersey Office of Innovation, I worked with the New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL) to help job-seekers find training in New Jersey’s fastest growing industries. The range of training provided through accredited schools and programs could help people get into jobs such as nurse practitioners, supply chain logistics, social work, and advanced manufacturing. The exciting design focus was to help people leverage NJDOL’s rich workforce data to find more relevant and impactful training opportunities for new career opportunities.
Project Stakeholders: New Jersey Department of Labor, Office of Research and Information
In 2020 at the New Jersey Office of Innovation, I worked with the New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL) to help job-seekers find training in New Jersey’s fastest growing industries. The range of training provided through accredited schools and programs could help people get into jobs such as nurse practitioners, supply chain logistics, social work, and advanced manufacturing. The exciting design focus was to help people leverage NJDOL’s rich workforce data to find more relevant and impactful training opportunities for new career opportunities.
Landing Page MVP
Product Development Process
I paired with a cross-functional team at VMWare / Pivotal Labs that consisted of a product manager, product designer, and software engineer. The team at Pivotal Labs was working full-time on the project for three months until I assumed both Product Manager and Product Design roles.
For the design system, we looked at similar training search tools that other States had and College Scorecard, a U.S Department of Education tool. At the time, these tools were either built on privately managed platforms or javascript visual frameworks like Vue. The team chose to build mobile-first design components on a React framework for project sustainability.
We started with discovery sprints to understand the mindsets and entry points that people had when seeking training in New Jersey. We also spoke to career coaches and case managers at NJDOL’s workforce development centers called Career OneStops. This helped the team understand how job coaches used career search tools and what data they used to help training seekers. Through card sorting and prioritization exercises, these conversations with training seekers and coaches helped the team drill down to which training filters would be the most relevant and useful in an online catalog search.
I paired with a cross-functional team at VMWare / Pivotal Labs that consisted of a product manager, product designer, and software engineer. The team at Pivotal Labs was working full-time on the project for three months until I assumed both Product Manager and Product Design roles.
For the design system, we looked at similar training search tools that other States had and College Scorecard, a U.S Department of Education tool. At the time, these tools were either built on privately managed platforms or javascript visual frameworks like Vue. The team chose to build mobile-first design components on a React framework for project sustainability.
We started with discovery sprints to understand the mindsets and entry points that people had when seeking training in New Jersey. We also spoke to career coaches and case managers at NJDOL’s workforce development centers called Career OneStops. This helped the team understand how job coaches used career search tools and what data they used to help training seekers. Through card sorting and prioritization exercises, these conversations with training seekers and coaches helped the team drill down to which training filters would be the most relevant and useful in an online catalog search.
Initial Set of filters, informed by research with coaches and training seekers
Translating Data into Action
These discovery conversations helped expand the product direction beyond a catalog of training information. Using historic NJDOL data on training, we helped people make more informed career choices by showing employment rates and salary information post-training. People who were early in their career search also expressed interest in using this training catalog as a research tool for other jobs.
These discovery conversations helped expand the product direction beyond a catalog of training information. Using historic NJDOL data on training, we helped people make more informed career choices by showing employment rates and salary information post-training. People who were early in their career search also expressed interest in using this training catalog as a research tool for other jobs.
Occupational Detail Page
The team integrated NJDOL’s in-demand jobs list and open data APIs to help people understand career growth, as well as what a day-in-the-life looks like. To one research participant’s surprise, they were no longer interested in phlebotomy when they saw on the website it was about drawing blood from people.
Continued Development, Support, and Workshops
After building the initial foundation for the Training Explorer with Pivotal Labs, I worked with software engineers at the Office of Innovation to continue making iterative developments on a training comparison tool and special training provider offerings like night classes, childcare, and accessible entry.
Stakeholders at NJDOL were inspired by the team’s human-centered design approach. We coordinated workshops with their staff, including leadership, to teach them how to conduct and apply human-centered practices to their work.
The Impact
Today, the tool is part of a larger, continued effort from NJDOL called My Career NJ to provide additional workforce tools to help people find training and explore new careers. As of 2024, the tool has helped over 100,000 people find training programs and job openings.
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Screenshot of the current landing page
Continued Development, Support, and Workshops
After building the initial foundation for the Training Explorer with Pivotal Labs, I worked with software engineers at the Office of Innovation to continue making iterative developments on a training comparison tool and special training provider offerings like night classes, childcare, and accessible entry.
Stakeholders at NJDOL were inspired by the team’s human-centered design approach. We coordinated workshops with their staff, including leadership, to teach them how to conduct and apply human-centered practices to their work.
The Impact
Today, the tool is part of a larger, continued effort from NJDOL called My Career NJ to provide additional workforce tools to help people find training and explore new careers. As of 2024, the tool has helped over 100,000 people find training programs and job openings.
Screenshot of the current landing page