Collaborating with Myntor (myntor.io) and Michael, the Director of Product at Myntor and MBA candidate at UC Berkeley, Hass School of Business, exposed me to the day-to-day life of a startup. It provides me a chance to tackle real-world problems in a cause I believe in as someone from a background where education is not taken for granted. Myntor can close the gap between students in wealthier families and lower socioeconomic statuses. It creates equal access to tutors for High School students using conversational AI technology. It is exciting and amazing to be part of those who improved the product and benefited countless users. This unique opportunity challenges me to step outside of my comfort zone, discover ways to leverage and utilize resources, and most importantly, confirm my interest to pursue further education in Human-Computer Interaction.
With a consulting role in this project, I am interested in improving user experiences, studying user behaviors, and gaining early phase startup experiences. I initiated this process by understanding the mindset of the business, goal, and vision for future growth.
Initial Phase:
I navigated through the site in the eyes of a premium user, where I have access to a proportion of the services Myntor has to offer. My primary goals are to improve the overall impression of the website and the free demo experience. These are the key factors that directly influence users to transition from free to paying customers. After running through the site in detail several times, I provided feedback based on intuition and consulted with Michael. With a good understanding of the flow of the product and goal in mind. I moved to the usability testing phase.
Intermediate Phase:
Without prior User Research background, I read articles and literature online to obtain basic background knowledge. The best way to understand the problem is by doing. Therefore, I performed an in-depth useability testing where I observed the participants navigate and interact with all the platform’s features. I recorded the navigation flow and the behavior of the participant at different sections of the platform. This experience was insightful in understanding users and identifying another vital issue. As a new startup platform, the website goes through updates at a rapid speed. The rate of update surpassed the rate of conducting usability testing.
Current Phase:
I turned to consult User Researchers working in the industry who are willing to share their advice through LinkedIn. With their expertise, my next step will be creating scenarios for the usability testing of the free demo. Structured usability testing is critical for Myntor’s development as it allows quantitative analysis of human behaviors in a semi-controlled approach. The development of paper prototyping is also considered for the general testing features that govern the website’s user flow and overall functionality. This iterative process and the inductive learning method maximized potential outcomes and proficiency gained through each cycle.
Background:
Myntor is a pre-seed stage startup with four full-time employees, including Nate Poon, who founded the company in 2020 with a Ph.D. background in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
