![Methodology
Overview
Survey Design
User Interview and Pitch Design
Survey
Focus Groups
[2 weeks]
Initial Features
User Interviews
Initial Features
User Interviews
[3 weeks]
Rd. 3 Features
User Interviews
[3 weeks]
Data Analysis
Pitch Deck
Affinity Mapping
[2 weeks]
Rd. 2 Features
User Interviews
First Pitches
[3 weeks]
Final Prototype
Final Pitches
Documentation
[3 weeks]
After conducting some early focus groups with 10 students and developing a hypothesis regarding
the three pain points, the survey was prepared on a Google Form and circulated largely on Slack
channels and Instagram, reaching 195 students from different demographics and levels of
LinkedIn use. Our questions were designed as open-ended, but quantitatively informative for
Tableau analysis. These were the questions included, others were demographic-related:
opt-in option for user interviews as part of our survey
We provided an , and emailed those who
said they were open to one, scheduling 20-minute slots over a 1 week period each round. We
interviewed 50 students, allowing them to play through each prototype iteration and answer
questions on general usability, and any suggestions of improvements or features they had.
LinkedIn Messenger to direct message up to 30 LinkedIn employees in Design,
Product, Marketing, Strategy and Engineering
We used
who were working within teams close to our
feature ideas. We scheduled ten 30 to 60-minute pitches, with twelve different people, improving
our deck and prototype based on feedback provided by each LinkedIn mentor.
Do you believe LinkedIn caters well to students?
How disappointed would you be if LinkedIn ‘died?’
How often do you use these features [often, occassionally, never]?
What’s your least favourite part of LinkedIn?
What do you want to see when you open LinkedIn?
Out of 10, on average cold DMs have lead somewhere meaningful for you?
What part(s) of the internship & job recruiting process do you need help with most?
Would you pay for a cheaper LinkedIn subscription (<= $10/month)?
5
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Whitepaper: LinkedIn for Students
- 1. January 2021 linktr.ee/linkedinforstudentspitch WHITE PAPER By Sarah Ahmed, Shobha Dasari, Milap Patel and Khushi Shelat For Students
- 2. Table of Contents 2 3 4 5 6 9 14 17 Meet the Team Executive Summary Methodology Research Findings Solution Development Market Research Conclusion 6 Overall Student Perceptions 6 Tableau Word Cloud Visualizations 7 Affinity Map 7 Price Pain Point 8 Mentorship Pain Point 8 Feed Pain Point 8 Jobs Pain Point 9 Overview 9 First Iteration and Initial Ideas 10 Second Iteration and User Feedback 11 Third Iteration and User Feedback 12 Final Feature Sets 13 Feature Prioritization Matrix 13 Feature Success Metrics 14 Overview 14 Total Addressable Market 14 Revenue Growth Opportunity 15 Competitive Landscape 16 Go-To-Market Proposal 16 Expansion Opportunities
- 3. Meet the Team Milap Patel UC Davis ‘22 Candidate for BS in Managerial Economics, Minors in Computer Science and Tech. Management Incoming Summer ‘21 PM Intern at Microsoft Role: Product Manager & UX Researcher Khushi Shelat Wharton ‘23 Candidate for BS in Economics, majors in Finance and Business Analytics, pursuing MSE in CIS PM Intern at Morgan Stanley Capital International Role: Product Manager & UX Researcher Shobha Dasari Stanford ‘23 Candidate for BS in Computer Science, Minor in Management Science and Engineering Product Management Intern at Healthcare Stealth Startup Role: Product Manager & UX Researcher Sarah Ahmed Santa Clara University ‘22 Candidate for MS in Engineering Management and Leadership, BS in Web Design and Engineering Incoming Technical Writing Intern at Salesforce Role: Product Designer 3
- 4. Executive Summary This three-month research and product design project was intended to: a) b) understand the issues faced by and key needs of LinkedIn’s student user base (high school, college, and new grad) propose new LinkedIn features to address the identified pain points. We act as advocates for aspiring professionals, intending to contribute to LInkedIn’s vision of creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. We completed 3 prototype iterations based on user interview feedback to address the pain points of Mentorship, Feed, and Jobs, as well as developing a Go-To-Market Strategy that has the potential to address the price pain point for students. Our final proposed features and GTM Strategy are summarised here: with professionals who opt-in availability as Mentors; filter and search by mentors who can be most helpful, and agree on an agenda prior Seamless Coffee Chat scheduler Mentorship , an anonymous company reviews option, and the ability to store notes to track interesting jobs on LinkedIn More relevant job recommendations for students Jobs and post templates that encourage Ask Me Anythings, sharing insights, learnings and opportunities The option to post to Students Only Feed Proposed Features and Strategy Aim 1) cost of LinkedIn Premium is too high The for students, with 91% of students believing LinkedIn Premium is not worth the subscription cost, and 93% on the free plan 2) struggle to make helpful connections Students on LinkedIn with mentors who can share their advice and experiences 3) LinkedIn Feed provides often irrlevant and discouraging content The for students, with 36% of students (the largest number) identifying it as their least favourite feature 4) struggle to find jobs on LinkedIn that fit their values and qualifications Students , and 90% require more support in the job search process than they currently receive With 195 survey responses from a varied group of very active and non-active LinkedIn high school students, college students, and new grads, as well as 50 individual user interviews, we identified the following four key pain points for students using LinkedIn: We also identified a significant opportunity in improving the LinkedIn student experience, with 20% of LinkedIn users being between the ages of 18-24, 2 Million jobs targeted at students and new grads, and the potential to increase lifetime value as students move into professionals. Key Research Findings 4 in partnership with universities, or a $10/month Premium including these features, which 58% would pay for The potential for a completely free student offering Price
- 5. Methodology Overview Survey Design User Interview and Pitch Design Survey Focus Groups [2 weeks] Initial Features User Interviews Initial Features User Interviews [3 weeks] Rd. 3 Features User Interviews [3 weeks] Data Analysis Pitch Deck Affinity Mapping [2 weeks] Rd. 2 Features User Interviews First Pitches [3 weeks] Final Prototype Final Pitches Documentation [3 weeks] After conducting some early focus groups with 10 students and developing a hypothesis regarding the three pain points, the survey was prepared on a Google Form and circulated largely on Slack channels and Instagram, reaching 195 students from different demographics and levels of LinkedIn use. Our questions were designed as open-ended, but quantitatively informative for Tableau analysis. These were the questions included, others were demographic-related: opt-in option for user interviews as part of our survey We provided an , and emailed those who said they were open to one, scheduling 20-minute slots over a 1 week period each round. We interviewed 50 students, allowing them to play through each prototype iteration and answer questions on general usability, and any suggestions of improvements or features they had. LinkedIn Messenger to direct message up to 30 LinkedIn employees in Design, Product, Marketing, Strategy and Engineering We used who were working within teams close to our feature ideas. We scheduled ten 30 to 60-minute pitches, with twelve different people, improving our deck and prototype based on feedback provided by each LinkedIn mentor. Do you believe LinkedIn caters well to students? How disappointed would you be if LinkedIn ‘died?’ How often do you use these features [often, occassionally, never]? What’s your least favourite part of LinkedIn? What do you want to see when you open LinkedIn? Out of 10, on average cold DMs have lead somewhere meaningful for you? What part(s) of the internship & job recruiting process do you need help with most? Would you pay for a cheaper LinkedIn subscription (<= $10/month)? 5 5
- 6. Research Findings Overall Student Perceptions Tableau Word Cloud Visualizations 5 6 Students had a few main challenges regarding their use of LinkedIn: The first issue is pricing: students considered LinkedIn Premium to be too expensive for its perceived value. Only 9% of the students we surveyed are currently using LinkedIn Premium. Secondly, students do not consider the functions and features on LinkedIn to be targeted to their specific professional needs, including finding high-quality internships and entry-level jobs. Lastly, students consider LinkedIn to sometimes be detrimental to their mental health. Students described some aspects of the platform, such as posts on their feed, to be “overwhelming” and “discouraging” in the surveys. 59% of 195 surveyed students do not believe that LinkedIn caters well to the student population Word cloud for survey question: “What is your least favorite part of LinkedIn?” Word cloud for survey question: “How do you think LinkedIn can improve your experience with the platform?”
- 7. Research Findings Affinity Mapping Mentorship/ Career Advice Toxicity / Mental Health Job Listings/ Recruiting Connect- ions Online Presence / Personal Brand Feed/ Content/ Notifications Inconvenience of LinkedIn Feed Jobs Mentorship In addition to Mentorship, Feed, and Jobs, students also identified Pricing as a major challenge that prevented them from utilizing LinkedIn Premium. As a result, we also addressed pricing of LinkedIn in our solution. Based on student responses within the focus groups as well as the short- and long-answer responses from our survey, we collected over 200 quotes from students about their professional challenges and their experiences using LinkedIn. We then created an affinity map on the online whiteboard platform Miro to categorize these student responses. Through the affinity map, we were able to categorize comments into three main areas: Mentorship, Feed, and Jobs. Below is a screeenshot of our affinity map and the categories we identified. 5 7 Price Pain Point is too expensive Students generally believe that the current subscription price of LinkedIn Premium (Premium Career is of $29.99 per month) , especially considering that students do not believe that many Premium features are valuable to them (such an InMail). “I’d really like if LinkedIn discounted Premium for students and new grads who are searching for their first full-time job.” 91% of 195 surveyed students believe that LinkedIn Premium is not worth the current price
- 8. Research Findings Mentorship Pain Point Feed Pain Point Jobs Pain Point 5 8 Students often have trouble connecting with professionals whom they want to receive mentorship and career advice from. The lack of responses from potential mentors is often discouraging for students, and can have negative mental health consequences. 66%of cold connections on LinkedIn lead nowhere (on average), according to 195 surveyed students “I find the motivational posts and other stuff on the feed to be fake and cringe-y and not helpful at all (so I rarely read them).” Students generally do not find the posts on their LinkedIn feeds to be valuable. Most students also identified the feed to be the main source of discouragement on LinkedIn, with many citing their dislike of the “I’m so excited to announce” posts, which indicate that one of their connections has found a new internship or job position. 36% of 195 surveyed students identified the feed as their least favorite feature on LinkedIn “Sending out 50 messages with 2 responses shouldn't be the name of the game.” Students have trouble finding jobs on LinkedIn for which are qualified - they are often recommended senior-level or mid-career positions. Students also struggle with knowing whether a job posting on LinkedIn is a legitimate position that will allow them to gain professional skills and high-quality experience. 90% of 195 surveyed students would like more support in their job search “It would be helpful if the Jobs side of LinkedIn was structured to better cater towards students”
- 10. SolutionDevelopment SecondIterationandUserFeedback Feed Jobs Mentorship 5 10 UserFeedback: 1.Studentsenjoyedthequickand intuitiveexperience. 2.Studentsexpressedconcernsabout supplyofmentorsversusstudent demand. 3.Studentswantedashorter onboardingprocesstosignupfora mentorshipcoffeechat. UserFeedback: 1.Studentsrequestedlessonboarding timetosetupStudentHub. 2.Studentspreferredtogroup/filterout certaintypesofpostsintheirmain feedratherthancompletelyremove themfromtheirfeed. 3.Studentswantedtoadjustpost suggestionstobemoreactionable(ie. ShareanopportunitytoAMA). UserFeedback: 1.JobTrackerwasn’taJob-to-be-Done, asstudentsarehappywiththeir currentplatformsandwouldn’tmigrate toajobtrackeronLinkedIn. 2.Studentsneedbetter-curatedjobs opportunities(targetedtotheirskillset andlevelofexperience)before anythingelse. 3.Studentsalmostalwaysuse3rd partyjobapplications. Aneasytofind“coffeechats”buttonwhereuserscan inputtheirgoalsforthechatandfindingamutualtime. Anisolated environmentfor studentstobevery intentionalabouteach postwithlabelsand formatting. JobTrackerwithtags fordifferentstages Jobnotestobeaddedfor eachrolebeingexplored
- 11. SolutionDevelopment ThirdIterationandUserFeedback Feed Jobs Mentorship 5 11 UserFeedback: 1.Studentswanttoensurethatboth partiesdon’twastetheirtimeduring themeeting. 2. Studentsaskedforintegrationwith Apple/GoogleCalendartoeasilysend calendarinvites. 3.Studentsalsoaskedforawaytobe remindedtofollowupwithmentors aftermeeting. UserFeedback: 1.Studentsexpressedconcernsaround how“StudentsOnly”wouldcatertoall students(ex.highschool,undergrads, andgradstudentsallhavedifferent needs). 2.Studentsfoundtheactionable“types ofposts”tobeappealing. 3.Studentswantaninclusive student-onlyenvironmentwhilestill havinghighqualitycontentposted. UserFeedback: 1.Studentscareaboutcompany cultureandvalues,andwouldliketo seethereviewsystemupdatedto shareinsightsaboutthis. 2.Studentshaveastrongneedfora smootherflowbetweenmentorship andjobs(i.e.,iftheyhaveamentor relationshipwithsomeoneata companytheyareapplyingfor). 3.Studentspreferintegrationwith notesfromcoffeechatsoverajob tracker. Aprocesstoensurebothmentorsandmenteesare makingthemostoftheirtimethroughmutualgoals Creatinganew“studentonly”audiencetoposttocreating anisolateinsightssectionforlearnings Employee testimonialswhich canbeself-reported tohelpinternsor futureemployees understandwhat companiesvalue Studentscantake notesforspecific rolesandcompanies todocumenttheir research
- 13. SolutionDevelopment FinalFeatureSets Feed Jobs Mentorship 5 12 1.QuickandintuitiveCoffee ChatsScheduler 2.CustomizedIntegration withCalendar&Notes 3.FollowupReminder Messagestocontinue relationship 4.Optionsforin-personand virtualchats 1.Wellpersonalizedand curatedFeed 2.Isolated“StudentHub”to promptinformal conversationand community 3.Continuetofindcontent throughhashtag suggestions Aneasytorequestcoffee chatswithintegratedfollow-up andcalendartoolstomakefor aseamlessflow Ahashtagsuggestionsystem basedonindividualprofiles andpreferenceswithanability tofilterthroughdifferent audiencesofposts Easiernavigationonjoblistings withanabilitytoexplorerole specificreviewsandresearchto trackwithintegratednotes 1.Suggestingrealand relevantjobs 2.Companyreviewswhich areabletobefilteredbased ontypeofrole 3.Notestobetterconnect relationshipsmadefrom MentorshiptofutureJobs
- 14. Market Research 5 14 Overview Total Addressable Market Revenue Growth Opportunity To quantify the extent of the problem as well as the opportunity in our proposal for a LinkedIn Premium Student as a new Premium Subscription Tier, we conducted market research on the total addressable market, revenue growth opportunity, and the competitive landscape. We applied this research to develop a GTM proposal. To quantify the extent of the problem as well as the opportunity in our proposal for a LinkedIn Premium Student as a new Premium Subscription Tier, we conducted market research on the total addressable market, revenue growth opportunity, and the competitive landscape. We applied this research to develop a GTM proposal. The LinkedIn student population indicates a significant opportunity for LinkedIn to create new progress towards its Mission and Vision, expanding the members of the global workforce it is able to increase economic opportunity for, and creating more connectons for productivity and success. The four main revenue streams we see the potential to impact with LinkedIn for Students are Talent Solutions (59%), Marketing Solutions (19.5%), Premium Subscriptions (17.8%), and Learning and Development (3.6%); each percentage is relative to LinkedIn’s total revenue. The proposed features are both directly related to and have potential to grow revenue in these areas. For example according to this graph derived from our student survey, 93% of the students don’t currently pay for LinkedIn, and 77% have never even tried the free version of Premium. However, the features we introduced have the ability to support students with cheaper or free access to a Premium subscription, and are likely to encourage students to be more engaged professionals on LinkedIn after and beyond graduation. $604B spent by universities on students in 2017-18, with at least 30% allocated to student services & support * According to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics 2M internship and entry-level positions exist on LinkedIn, 11% ofthe total job postings on the platform 20.3% ofLinkedIn’s user base is between 18-24years old, with 46Mstudents & new grads, as of2016
- 15. Market Research 5 15 Competitive Landscape LinkedIn for Students is most notably in direct competition with Handshake, Ladder, and MentorMesh, among other similar platforms such as Edith Labs and Lunchclub. These platforms target the same user base, and are resolving the pain points we identified through this research. Mentorship: MentorMesh “We let students leverage their personal potential to partner with mentors” Community of 800 students, run by a big tech leader (founded September 2020) Intimate, community-based approach to long-lasting mentor connections for students in tech Feed: Ladder “Community-first career growth for the next generation” Community of 70K students grown since March 2020 Main features include community feeds, live events, reference database, student coffee chats, and a career newsletter Mentorship: Handshake “A LinkedIn for university students and diversity” 17M Job Seekers, 1K institutions who purchase a partnership for their students, 500K employers $550M valuation, $80M growth round Primary feature is matching students to student-focused employment opportunities LinkedIn remains uniquely positioned: No other platform combines networking, Feed and Jobs.
- 16. Market Research 5 16 Go-To-Market Proposal Expansion Opportunities College Students Universities Mentors Employers Price being a pain point identified through research, developing a GTM strategy that allows for this to be feasibly addressed is key to our LInkedIn for Students Proposal. If LinkedIn for Students is included in a new Premium Subscription tier for students, then there are two feasible options: These features are a baseline for future innovation and improvement of the LinkedIn experience for all members, not necessarily only students. They have the ability to increase the quality of professional connection, and support professionals from all backgrounds in achieving success. Building excitement and incentive Opening doors to other members With a campaign like #LinkedInTopMentors, promoting AMA posts, and building a culture around company reviews, we can improve the look and feel of LinkedIn overall through marketing these features 58% Inclusive pricing will require support for public and non-profit institutions Option 1: to remove all affordability barriers, LinkedIn for Students can be made free for those with .edu emails Option 2: to remove some affordability barriers, LinkedIn for Students can be made $10/month for Students of students surveyed would pay this amount for the Mentorship, Feed, and Jobs features Universities can pay an annual fee, similar to Handshake’s model Tiered subscription based on the number of students Small, Medium and Large colleges would pay approximately 100K, 300K and 500K a year For example: Coffee Chats can eventually be rotated by industry, not only being exclusive to students; if the Feed features expand into Student Hub, this concept could also be helpful to frontline workers.
- 17. Conclusion 5 17 The features we have proposed and work we have conducted in research between November 2020 and January 2021 has illustrated that not only are there clear pain points for students on LinkedIn, but there is a path and significant opportunity to resolving these pain points. We collated almost 200 survey responses, 50 user interviews, and 10 pitches with LinkedIn employees to design viable feature sets across Mentorship, Feed and Jobs. We also proposed Go-To-Market strategy that aligns directly with LinkedIn’s Mission and Vision. As students and heavy LinkedIn users ourselves, we are incredibly excited by the position LinkedIn is in to create this impact for young people, and expand access to professional opportunities by supporting this demographic. We hope that our work can reach those teams and decisionmaking bodies within LinkedIn that can apply the work in this whitepaper to inform and improve the student experience. Thank you for your time and readership. For our prototype, pitch video, slide deck, and working document, please visit linktr.ee/linkedinforstudentspitch You can reach our team at linkedin/in/milappatel3, linkedin/in/khushishelat, linkedin/in/shobha-dasari, and linkedin/in/sarahahmed31415