Enhancing Self-Taught Developers' Learning Journey

Self-taught developers and developers in general often face challenges in understanding their progress and position on their learning path. Our objective was to create a solution that empowers them to gain insights into their learning journey and track their knowledge effectively.

As a freelance UX researcher and designer, my role revolved around conducting comprehensive research, collaborating with Penguin's team to brainstorm ideas, prototyping solutions for feedback, and eventually testing the platform.

Our project commenced with interviews of developers at various stages of their careers to gain valuable insights. Through these interviews, we explored their learning techniques and the tools they utilize for educational purposes. Most of them heavily relied on video-based learning, with YouTube being their preferred platform. Additionally, all participants were subscribed to online learning platforms. In situations where they encountered challenges in their learning, they turned to forums or media channels for assistance.

An important observation was that most developers did not track their learning achievements as they pursued random courses or followed YouTube tutorials. To analyze the gathered data effectively, we employed an affinity diagram, which allowed us to identify patterns and extract meaningful insights, eventually guiding us towards the ideal solution for our users.

We recognized that the crux of the problem lay in how knowledge was shared among developers. Consequently, our primary goal was to develop a platform where users could effectively track their knowledge by sharing their learning paths. However, we encountered a challenge while deciding how to categorize our users' knowledge. To overcome this, we revisited our interviews and affinity diagrams to focus our solution better.

After careful consideration, we decided to categorize learning paths based on skills acquired, languages learned, or final product outcomes (such as apps or websites). Our prototype underwent rigorous testing, and valuable feedback from users allowed us to introduce more options, providing guided learning paths to those interested in acquiring specific skills based on their preferred learning websites.

Our platform, after launch, received positive feedback from users, encouraging us to continue refining and iterating the product. We take immense pride in achieving remarkable progress within a limited timeframe and with available resources. Looking ahead, our future plans include exploring ways to seamlessly track users' progress directly from their primary learning websites onto our platform.

Working closely with developers in a research-oriented approach provided us with unique insights and a captivating experience. We remain committed to advancing our platform's capabilities to empower self-taught developers worldwide on their learning journey.