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SkillBridge

Connecting students with career-aligned volunteer opportunities.

SkillBridge is a proposed digital platform that helps students find volunteer opportunities related to their academic and career interests while helping employers connect with motivated early-career talent.

Four SkillBridge mobile app screens: welcome, opportunity dashboard, UX Design Volunteer details, and a student career-readiness profile
SkillBridge mobile product concept
Project type
Project Management & Product Planning
Course
SI 311 Project Management
My role
Lead Project Management & Product Contributor
Team
4 Members
Duration
August – December 2025
Tools
Figma, Google Docs, planning frameworks
Approach
Hybrid Waterfall & Agile

01 · Project overview

Experience should connect to where students want to go.

Students often struggle to find meaningful volunteer opportunities connected to their field of study. This can limit real-world experience, reduce their understanding of employer expectations, and affect confidence when preparing for careers.

SkillBridge was designed as a centralized platform where students could discover career-relevant roles and employers could post opportunities for early-career talent.

02 · Project purpose

Creating value on both sides of the bridge.

01

Find the right roles

Help students discover volunteer work aligned with their career goals.

02

Close the gap

Bridge academic learning and the expectations of real employers.

03

Connect talent

Give organizations access to motivated contributors and emerging talent.

03 · Target audience

Designed around a connected ecosystem.

Primary audience

Undergraduate students

Students looking for practical experience connected to their major or career interests.

Secondary

Career-changing & transfer students

Secondary

Student organizations & academic programs

Secondary

Employers & community organizations

Secondary

Career services & advising units

04 · Goals & objectives

Success, made measurable.

01

Opportunity matching

Launch a searchable platform with at least 50 verified opportunities within six months.

02

User adoption

Reach 10,000 visits and 1,000 sign-ups within three months of launch.

03

Employer participation

Connect 20 organizations with students within five months.

05 · Proposed solution

One platform. Two pathways.

A searchable, accessible experience that makes the connection between volunteering and career growth visible.

For students

  • Search by skill or career area
  • View personalized recommendations
  • Apply for or save roles
  • Track career-readiness progress
  • Showcase interests and skills

For organizations

  • Post volunteer opportunities
  • Reach students with relevant interests
  • Build early-talent relationships
  • Review engagement and application data

06 · My contribution

Turning an idea into a structured plan.

I contributed to defining the project purpose, identifying target users, developing project goals, analyzing stakeholders, planning deliverables, and organizing risks and assumptions. I also supported the visual presentation and helped translate the concept into a structured product and project-management plan.

ResearchProject PlanningStakeholder AnalysisGoal SettingProduct StrategyPresentation Design

07 · Process

How our team developed the concept.

  1. 01

    Identify the problem

    Explored barriers to finding career-relevant volunteer experience.

  2. 02

    Define the audience

    Mapped students and the institutional ecosystem around them.

  3. 03

    Establish goals

    Created measurable targets for listings, adoption, and participation.

  4. 04

    Define scope

    Proposed an accessible platform, analytics, and six-month timeline.

  5. 05

    Develop the product

    Created concepts for discovery, role details, profiles, and progress.

  6. 06

    Plan implementation

    Combined structured planning with iterative design and testing.

  7. 07

    Evaluate risks

    Documented assumptions, adoption risks, and scope challenges.

08 · Scope & approach

Scope

Connect students with relevant volunteer roles and create value for students and employers.

Deliverables

Searchable platform or LinkedIn feature, analytics tracking, and a fast, accessible interface.

Timeline

Six months from planning to launch.

Hybrid Waterfall + Agile

Structure first. Flexibility where it matters.

Waterfall shaped project scoping, requirements, research, and interface design. Agile supported iterative development, weekly testing, sprint reviews, and continuous improvements.

PlanningRequirementsUX ResearchUI DesignDevelopment SprintsTesting & FeedbackLaunch

09 · Stakeholders & success

A shared plan, with clear signals of progress.

50+Verified opportunities
1,000Registered users in 3 months
20+Employer partners

Project team

Olga Hamilton · Steven Nguyen · Moe Kyal Tun · Juvina Thaker

Key stakeholders

Students · Career centers · Employer partners · Designers · Developers · Analysts · Marketing

Communication

Weekly team meetings · Biweekly stakeholder updates · Monthly progress and risk reports

10 · Business value

Benefits

  • Improved career preparation
  • Practical skill development
  • Greater student confidence
  • Stronger student–employer connections

Costs & resources

  • Design, development, and testing
  • Marketing and digital advertising
  • Partnership management
  • Administrative staffing

11 · Risks & assumptions

Open items

  • Select final platform type
  • Define employer onboarding
  • Finalize verification procedures

Assumptions

  • Students value career-related volunteering
  • Employers will post roles
  • Marketing will reach the audience

Risks

  • Low student or employer participation
  • Feature creep
  • Difficulty maintaining scope

Proposed responses: targeted outreach, strong experience design, and careful scope control.

12 · Key deliverables

✓ Project initiation plan✓ Business-context analysis✓ Target-audience definition✓ SMART project goals✓ Product concept & mockups✓ Stakeholder plan✓ Scope & deliverables plan✓ Risk analysis✓ Implementation approach✓ Final presentation

13 · Skills demonstrated

Planning the product.
Communicating the vision.

Product & project

Project initiation · Scope definition · Stakeholder analysis · SMART goals · Risk assessment · Communication planning · Agile and Waterfall planning · Product strategy

Design & communication

Mobile product concepts · Visual storytelling · Presentation design · Team collaboration · Problem framing · Audience analysis

14 · Reflection

This project strengthened my ability to move from a broad social and career challenge to a structured product concept.

I learned how to define measurable goals, identify stakeholders, manage scope, evaluate risks, and connect project-management decisions to user needs. Working with my team reinforced the importance of communication, shared responsibilities, and iterative feedback.

15 · Future development

Where SkillBridge could go next.

Personalized recommendationsFilters by major, skill & scheduleVerified employer profilesStudent reviewsApplication trackingCareer-readiness indicatorsUniversity loginEmployer analyticsAccessibility testingLocal pilot program
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