HEAD OF EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Building the Future of Tech Learning: The Skills Matter Community Platform
To redefine learning for software professionals, I led the UX strategy for Skills Matter—a first-of-its-kind platform integrating education, networking, and career development. Through deep user research, rebranding, and a scalable product strategy, we increased engagement, improved retention, and positioned Skills Matter as a leader in social learning.
The Business Challenge: Bridging the Gap Between Learning, Networking & Career Growth
Skills Matter set out to create a first-of-its-kind social learning platform that combined expert-led education, live events, and professional networking into a seamless experience. However, existing e-learning solutions often suffered from low engagement, outdated content, and an isolating user experience, while event platforms lacked community-building and personalization. The challenge was to design an intuitive, dynamic ecosystem that kept users engaged beyond individual courses or events, fostering continuous learning and collaboration.
GOALS
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Build the first tech learning platform that seamlessly integrates education, networking, and career development into an always-on community.
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Design an engaging, membership-based platform where software professionals can learn from experts, connect with peers, and grow their careers through live events and community-driven discussions.
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Position Skills Matter as a pioneering force in the e-learning and tech community space by increasing user engagement and retention.
My Leadership Strategy
Defining Our Value Proposition & Market Differentiation
Establishing market position
Through business model analysis by defining audience segmentation and key competitive advantages.
Aligning on value proposition
With company leadership through stakeholder interviews to ensure mission-driven product development.
establishing a unique learning model
Where software professionals, tech leaders, and experts can learn, collaborate, and grow—together.
Designing a First-of-Its-Kind Learning Ecosystem
developing a holistic ux strategy
That balances structured learning, social interaction, and career development.
Structuring around 3 core pillars
To guide navigation and participation: Learn, Connect, Join
Leading a full platform rebrand
To position Skills Matter as a competitive player in both the e-learning & professional networking spaces.
Execution: Transforming Vision into an Engaging Product Experience
Bringing the Skills Matter platform to life required iterative product design, deep collaboration with stakeholders, and a user-centric approach to engagement.
Unclear User Needs
Existing e-learning and event platforms lacked engagement, but the reasons behind low retention and participation were unclear. Without deep user insights, design decisions risked being misaligned with real pain points.
Conducted user research through surveys, interviews, and behavioral analysis, identifying key challenges in content discovery, social interaction, and professional networking to inform a more engaging platform experience.
solution
Interview scripts and insights from UX research.
Click image to expand.
SME interview with Chris Richardson
“Experts are the busiest people. If we can create a space where they can hash out ideas with people who are using these technologies, I think they will keep them coming back.
Space for feedback provides value”
- Subject Matter Expert
“Interactions that feel intelligent, respectful of other viewpoints, open to new collaborative ideas—this is what creates a healthy community.”
- Subject Matter Expert
Undefined Value Proposition
Skills Matter lacked a clear differentiator, making it difficult to position itself competitively in the crowded e-learning and tech community space.
Led cross-functional workshops with leadership, product, and marketing teams to refine the platform’s core value—an integrated learning ecosystem combining expert-led education, peer collaboration, and career networking.
solution
Using the Business Model Canvas to illustrate Skills Matters’ key partnerships, resources, benefits, & customer segments. Click image to expand.
Ranking needs and pain points of each customer segment. Click image to expand.
Mapping each customer segment to a value proposition canvas. Click image to expand.
The Value Proposition
The first tech community platform where software professionals go for skills development, networking, and career growth.
Where experts, tech leaders and knowledge-seekers learn better, together.
Enhancing User Experience & Engagement
New User Onboarding Confusion
The homepage lacked clarity in communicating Skills Matter’s unique value, leading to lower conversion rates and user drop-off.
Designed a highly visual and interactive landing experience, immediately showcasing:
solution
Expert-led content & live learning events to highlight value upfront.
Community-driven discussions & mentorship opportunities to emphasize peer learning.
Seamless integration of learning and networking to differentiate Skills Matter from traditional online learning platforms.
Before: The existing Skills Matter events platform homepage suffered from high drop-off rates and low conversions due to a lack of clarity and engagement. It failed to effectively communicate who Skills Matter is, what they offer, or why it matters to users.
Visually, the page was overwhelming and disorganized, with no clear hierarchy, a confusing information architecture, and an inconsistent color palette, making navigation difficult and reducing user trust.
Showcasing Value Upfront
One of the biggest challenges in designing the homepage was effectively communicating Skills Matter’s unique value proposition to new visitors in a way that was both immediately engaging and easy to understand. Unlike traditional e-learning platforms, Skills Matter offered a hybrid model—blending expert-led learning, live events, and professional networking—but this needed to be clearly conveyed at a glance to encourage sign-ups and engagement.
To address this, I focused on creating a highly visual and interactive homepage experience that immediately answered:
What is Skills Matter?
A dynamic learning and networking platform for software professionals.
It fosters career growth through expert-led content, peer collaboration, and industry events.
Why does it matter?
How can users engage?
Through three key pillars—Learn, Connect, and Join.
This structure became the foundation of the site’s main navigation, ensuring users could easily:
Learn
Explore personalized learning paths, expert-led courses, and technical deep-dives.
connect
Engage with mentors, industry leaders, and peers in meaningful discussions.
join
Participate in live events, community meetups, and exclusive networking opportunities.
By organizing the platform’s offerings into these three intuitive actions, the homepage and navigation provided clear entry points for new users while reinforcing Skills Matter’s core differentiators in the competitive ed-tech and professional networking space.
The Next Step
After defining the Learn, Connect, Join information architecture, the next step was to implement immediate improvements to the existing platform to maintain revenue flow and ensure seamless event operations. This included a rebrand and visual refresh, enhancing the site’s design and usability while laying the groundwork for the full platform transformation.
Rebranding Skills Matter: Modernizing for a Competitive Edge
To establish Skills Matter as a leading platform in the online learning, social community, and events marketplace, a full-scale rebrand was essential. The existing brand lacked cohesion, clarity, and a strong visual identity, making it difficult to stand out among competitors in the ed-tech and professional networking space.
The goal was to modernize and elevate the brand, ensuring it matched (and exceeded) the level of established players in the industry. This required a strategic visual and UX transformation, including:
A refreshed design system
With a bold, contemporary aesthetic that enhanced credibility and user trust.
Updated type, color palette, & UI elements
To create a cohesive and professional identity across web, mobile, and marketing channels.
Stronger brand positioning
That emphasized Skills Matter’s unique combination of expert-led learning, live events, and social collaboration.
New brand guidelines and sample UI components. Click image to expand.
Redesigned signed out homepage.
Click images to expand.
The first redesign of the signed-in homepage introduced "My Skills Matter"—a personalized experience where users receive tailored event recommendations based on their activity and can easily view all their upcoming registered events. Click images to expand.
Additional pages
These are content category pages where users can explore all of Skills Matter’s events and offerings including:
Conferences
Course
Meetups
Tech Talks
Groups
Discovery pages
These are sales pages where users can explore and compare Skills Matter membership options, including:
Membership Levels & Pricing
Benefits for Individuals
Benefits for Businesses
Sales pages
From Events to Ecosystem: Evolving Skills Matter into a Connected Learning Community
The transition from a rebranded event platform to a fully integrated learning community ecosystem required a fundamental shift in both strategy and execution. While the refreshed platform improved branding and usability, it still lacked a cohesive user journey that connected learning, networking, and career growth. To bridge this gap, we redefined the experience—introducing structured learning paths, interactive community spaces, and personalized engagement features. This transformation involved deep user research, strategic UX design, and seamless integration of live events, mentorship, and peer collaboration, ultimately evolving Skills Matter into a dynamic, always-on learning ecosystem.
Lack of a Centralized User Hub
Users struggled to navigate between learning content, events, and networking opportunities, leading to fragmented engagement.
solution
Developed the “My Skills Matter” dashboard, providing a personalized learning and networking center.
On the “My Skills Matter” dashboard users can:
Resume learning sessions seamlessly without losing progress.
Engage with event attendees and connect with mentors to build professional relationships.
Follow industry experts and participate in real-time discussions for continuous learning.
View a personalized event calendar with upcoming trainings and networking opportunities.
The "My Skills Matter" dashboard extends post-event engagement, enabling ongoing networking and discussions, a scrolling personalized schedule, real-time and upcoming community events, and a social feed showcasing the latest community content.
Limited Community Interaction
Existing platform features didn’t foster engagement, making it difficult for members to connect and collaborate.
solution
Designed interactive community profiles and features.
Interactive Community Features
Deep-dive into tech chats with community members on emerging industry trends.
Host & attend live events with industry leaders to foster thought leadership.
Discover networking & collaboration opportunities with like-minded professionals, strengthening user retention.
Set goals and track engagement by monitoring participation in discussions, events, and learning activities, helping users measure progress and stay actively involved in the community.
There are 3 different types of profiles for:
Individuals
Enterprises
Communities
Take a tour of the Skills Matter Learning Community
Business & Team Impact: Transforming Skills Matter into a Scalable Learning & Community Platform
By reimagining Skills Matter as a membership-based learning and networking ecosystem, we created a platform that seamlessly integrated education, live events, and professional connections. This shift not only improved user engagement but also unlocked new revenue streams and long-term growth opportunities.
key outcomes
Increased community engagement by integrating interactive learning, live expert sessions, and networking features, driving higher user retention.
Launched a scalable membership model, opening new revenue opportunities through premium content, exclusive events, and industry partnerships.
Strengthened collaboration between product, design, and engineering teams, laying the groundwork for future innovations and platform expansion.
Developed a personalized user experience, allowing learners to discover relevant content, events, and peer connections tailored to their professional goals.
Led a complete brand and UX overhaul, positioning Skills Matter as a modern, user-centric learning and community platform.
Increased corporate
partnerships and
event participation by
35%
Increased User
Engagement By
20%
my leadership Impact
Fostered a
high-touch,
collaborative
partnership with
Stakeholders &
4 remote teams
Across 3 Continents
Created a
scalable
membership-based model,
enhancing revenue
opportunities
through premium content,
exclusive events,
and networking features.
Designed a
personalized
dashboard
that dynamically
surfaced relevant
content, events,
and expert
connections based
on user behavior.
Implemented
WCAG-compliant UI
updates, ensuring
inclusive experiences
for a diverse
global audience
of software
professionals.
Led a complete
rebrand of
Skills Matter,
positioning it as a
next-generation
learning and
community platform
that merged education with
social engagement.
Leadership Reflections
The Skills Matter platform wasn’t just about designing an online learning tool—it was about fostering a thriving community where learners, experts, and event organizers could connect. Bringing this vision to life required tight collaboration between product, engineering, marketing, and community teams.
Key Leadership Takeaways
Shared vision leads to a stronger product. Working across design, product, and community teams to define a Learn, Connect, Join framework, ensured user needs were at the center of the experience.
Data-driven design unlocks engagement. By partnering with marketing and analytics teams, we tested and refined onboarding flows, leading to increased event participation and user retention.
A scalable platform requires technical partnership. Collaborating closely with engineering teams ensured that the new learning dashboard, community spaces, and personalization features were implemented efficiently.
This project reinforced that creating an engaging digital learning community isn’t just about UX—it’s about teamwork across product, marketing, and engineering to design an experience that truly connects people.