Overview

Sidekick provides an interface to connect parents, kids and professionals for the purpose of exposing kids to careers and opportunities they don’t have in their small communities. To empower parents & kids to learn about new things, provide them with resources (free if possible), and ultimately give them confidence in their unique skills.

For Parents

Have your children ever talked about something and you're thinking, "I don't know what they are talking about." Well, I can't help with whatever lingo they might be using, but...if they are talking about a career path they are interested in, Sidekick™ is here to connect a few dots for you.

For Kids

Well, we're going to call them "sidekicks". Sidekicks are the core reason that I designed this app. As you begin to define who you are, there is not much that holds more influence than the people around you. Sidekick helps by connecting you with people who can help guide you on your way to the dream career.

For Professionals

Mentorship can be a meaningful way to contribute to your profession and make a difference for kids looking into that career. Yes, it will require some time and dedication. But I think it's worth the effort. ​

How it started

INITIAL BRAINSTORM

I grew up in small town. When it came time to choose a career path, I knew I was allowed to dream big. But I didn't have direct contact with professionals that actually worked in the careers I was considering. 

This is the whiteboard in my office where I tried to break down why the career search process is difficult in a rural area, and what some of the peripheral concerns might be. Perhaps ironically, the pandemic simulated some of this type of isolation even in urban areas.   

This projects was part of a UI/UX Specialization course sequence I did in 2020. It was intended to follow an app or website development from brainstorming to high-fidelity wireframes. While I'd been a part of many website builds, I hadn't always been a part of (or had full control) of every step of the process. 

Wireframing Stages

Various stages of thinking through the logistics of the resulting app. 

Most of my focus was on making sure that the child was able to discover more about things that excite them in a SAFE environment. Security was a major concern for me. For that reason, a parent or guardian is privy to what their child is engaging with and all of the chats between their child and professionals. 

One of my hopes for including the parents in the loop (aside from keeping their children safe) is to give them an avenue to understand their child's unique talents and intelligences more.  Perhaps providing a less embarrassing way of addressing the anxiety of  "I have no idea what they're talking about, but I want to support their interests."

Adding in some style...

Developing the Brand

I was waiting for this stage throughout the entire project.  I chose the color palette, created a logo, designed the icons, created some sample avatars (looking back, it could be more diverse). 

Next step: flowing this artwork into the first round of high-fidelity wireframes.
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Final Prototype

The high-fidelity interactive prototype (linked below) includes 67 Screens for 3 user types -- kid, parent, professional.

There is some added complexity because the prototype tries to address all three user groups simultaneously. Because of that, a few areas are a little more "rough" than might be expected. 

View Interactive Prototype