Professional Pioneer | Thananyavat

Professional Pioneer Website

Web Design

Role: Designer, Researcher
Duration: 3 months (Dec2023-Feb2024)

About:

CIPD stands for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. It’s the professional body for HR (Human Resources) and people development, based in the UK but recognized internationally. They offer training, qualifications, and accreditation for HR professionals.

In collaboration with the Service Design department at UAL, CIPD worked to identify gaps and opportunities to enhance membership engagement, with a focus on attracting new users to sign up as members.

Research & Ideation :

Over the course of three months, our team conducted interviews with a variety of stakeholders. This included expert interviews with existing CIPD members and interviews with university students in the UK. The goal was to uncover weaknesses and opportunities within the current membership experience that could be improved to attract and engage new users.

Interviewed students from CIPD-affiliated universities and current members to uncover insights for enhancing the membership experience.

Key Insights:

Weakness

CIPD has limited resources to reach potential new prospects, particularly students seeking career guidance.
There is a weak connection between CIPD and students, especially those in non-HR-related majors, leading to low awareness of CIPD among this group.

Opportunity

The people profession welcomes diverse talents, making it accessible to individuals from various academic backgrounds.
Second- and third-year students and recent graduates actively seek personalized career advice, often through one-on-one consultations at university Student Hubs.
With greater media accessibility, students now explore career paths more independently, beyond traditional sources, opening new avenues for engagement.

Opportunity Statement:

"How might we help students discover untapped potential within themselves and understand how their skills can transfer into the people profession, while providing clarity about what the profession truly involves?"

Design & Development :

We conducted a co-creation design process with 20 students from various UK universities to understand their needs and expectations. A physical prototype was created and tested with the students, and their feedback was used to refine and improve the concept. After several iterations, we tested the improved version with university student liaison staff to ensure alignment with institutional needs, before preparing for a final launch test and gathering real feedback for future development.

Following the testing phase with university staff, we launched the prototype and collected real user feedback, which provided valuable insights for refining the service further.

Deliver:
We created a toolkit called “Professional Pioneer” specifically for university students, especially those from institutions with existing connections to CIPD. The goal is to help students explore their personal strengths and discover potential career paths, particularly within the people profession, which may align with their hidden talents.

The toolkit encourages students to broaden their view of the people profession, a field that goes beyond recruitment or HR management, and to see how their unique skills can fit into this diverse and impactful career path. At the end of the experience, users are invited to connect with experienced CIPD members and sign up for membership if interested.

1. Online Experience

Students can access Professional Pioneer through the website, integrated into academic support emails, one-on-one career consultations, university activity websites, and social or peer-to-peer sharing.

2. Physical Experience
A card game version of Professional Pioneer is available at university career hubs and played with CIPD trainers during career fairs.

Conclusion:

Our solution enables participants to conduct meaningful self-reflection and discover how their talents align with opportunities in the people profession. This journey not only helps them recognize their potential but also opens the door for future engagement, including CIPD membership.

The project received positive feedback from participants, who gained new insights into their skills, strengths, and personal values. It also fostered greater understanding of the people profession, supporting long-term awareness and interest in this diverse and impactful career field.

"I always thought the people profession was just HR, but now I see it’s much broader and more relevant to me."

"I used to overlook the people profession, but now I’m curious — it actually matches my interests more than I thought."

"I never realized that my skills could fit into the people profession until now."

"Without this, I wouldn’t have connected my personal strengths with career options in the people profession."

"This helped me see a whole new side of myself I hadn’t thought about before."

Next steps:

Create engaging content that supports self-reflection and offers deeper insights into the people profession.
Collaborate with more educational institutions, career counseling centers, and industry partners to expand the reach and impact of the toolkit.
Ensure long-term sustainability by securing funding, partnerships, or sponsorships to support ongoing development and implementation.