Skills Matter community learning & events platform
Membership-based social e-learning
Connect software professionals, experts, and tech leaders with skills development, networking and career growth opportunities.
Innovating the Industry
When I was approached with the vision for Skills Matter, I knew right away that it was a product I wanted to have an impact on because there is nothing else like it currently on the e-learning tools market.
Like other tech learning platforms, Skills Matter caters to software professionals who want to develop their skills through online learning. The difference however is in the approach.
Skills Matter aims to address the key problems that software professionals face today: keeping current with new technologies, building domain expertise, and advancing their careers. The trouble with today's solutions is that they don't work together to solve these key issues.
Event tools & platforms miss the mark on personalization & community engagement, without ongoing connection to experts and peers.
E-learning solutions suffer from low completion rates, content is often outdated, and courses are designed around a solo learning journey that is isolating and unengaging.
Community platforms are more proficient at the social networking aspect than as a means to cultivate interaction and learning.
These gaps create consequences like talent shortages, more costly development teams, and reduced career mobility for both software professionals and the companies that employ them.
Skills Matter's mission is to become the first tech community platform where experts, tech leaders, and knowledge-seekers learn better, together.
Defining Our Value
One of the first tasks I undertook was identifying our value propositions through the business model canvas and an in-depth review of our customer segments. This was rounded out by conducting stakeholder interviews to get alignment on the value prop, the mission, and the company and product priorities.
Identifying the Skills Matter value proposition.
The Differentiator
We set out to create a dynamic first-of-its-kind ecosystem, ripe with opportunities for growth and collaboration where software pros can interact with their peers and world-class experts, attend curated online and in-person events, and stay connected with their communities and leading companies, every day.
The Process
This was a very involved process from the get-go. Not only was I responsible for the product design and strategy, but I also led the rebrand to position Skills Matter as a competitor in the e-learning and social community markets.
Early stage sketches
Discovery pages
One of the biggest challenges was conveying the value proposition on the homepage for new visitors. It was important to showcase what Skills Matter has to offer at a glance—building community, sharing knowledge, learning from experts, and accessing opportunities for growth and collaboration.
Furthermore, the main navigation was organized into the 3 main actions the user can take: Learn, Connect, Join.
The new logged out homepage
There were several iterations of the signed-in homepage, which evolved into the My Skills Matter dashboard.
Dashboard iteration
Dashboard iteration
On the My Skills Matter dashboard, members can easily pick up where they left off, see events they recently attended and connect with other attendees, follow experts, view their upcoming schedule for events they have registered for, start community discussions, and get recommendations that match their interests and behavior patterns.
All of the learning communities also get their own profile where members can deep-dive into tech chats, attend and host events, and find incredible networking and collab opportunities.
The Results
Unfortunately, my work at Skills Matter was cut short due to the inability to secure further funding in a volatile economic climate. The entire team, myself included, were dismissed.
Even though this project and my time there ended abruptly, I am extremely thankful for the experience and thoroughly enjoyed collaborating on such an innovative product with a talented global team.
I learned a lot about startups, funding rounds, crafting a pitch deck, and strategizing the research, design, and launch of an entire product.
