Designing for Access to Expertise
Expert Network is a key offering within Microsoft for Startups’ Founders Hub, built to give startup founders direct access to top-tier industry experts. I led the design strategy for this project, creating an integrated experience that replaces third-party mentor platforms and empowers founders with the right guidance at the right time.
○ Shipped in Jan, 2023
Problem overview
Our founders were missing a direct and on-demand access to the right experts at the right time. Founders Hub previously relied on Turazo, a third-party platform to connect founders with industry experts which introduced friction, data silos, scheduling inefficiencies, and low engagement, making expert access cumbersome.
People impacted
Our users struggled to connect with the right industry experts quickly due to third-party inefficiencies. The industry mentors faced frustrations with calendar sync issues, opaque communication flows, and low engagement. The startups team encountered challenges in scaling expert access missing out on a core value proposition.
Intended business goal
The Expert Network aims to increase founder engagement, improve mentorship access, and enhance scalability within Founders Hub. By eliminating third-party reliance, it positions Microsoft as the go-to platform for expert-driven startup growth.
My role in solving for Expert Network
When Founders Hub became generally available to the public, we needed the next big idea to capture attention and provide real value beyond just a "coupon book" of free benefits. As the sole designer on the team, I led the discovery for the Expert Network by identifying challenges with Turazo (a third-party platform) and conducting multiple founder interviews to uncover the core pain points. I then worked with my team members to define what was feasible, shaping the MVP, V1, and V2 product roadmap to ensure a scalable experience within Founders Hub.
Themes that shaped the solution
Discover
How might we ensure founders can easily find and identify the right experts based on their industry, expertise, and business challenges, without friction or third-party barriers?
Connect
How might we streamline the introduction process so that founders can efficiently request and engage with experts, reducing scheduling conflicts and communication gaps?
Thrive
How might we measure and enhance the impact of expert interactions to ensure that founders receive actionable insights?
MVP experience
01
This extensive feature helps founders to quickly find and connect with the right industry experts.
🎯 Goal: Enable founders to quickly discover and connect with the right experts based on expertise, industry, and location.
📢 Signal: Increased expert profile views, effective filtering usage, and reduced time to find a relevant expert.
📊 Metric: 30% of founders with access browse the Expert Network within 6 months.
02
This design allows founders to send connection requests to experts and include a personalized message to provide context.
🎯 Goal: Simplify the request process so founders can easily initiate meaningful expert connections.
📢 Signal: Reduced friction in the request process and increased expert engagement.
📊 Metric: 15% of founders request contact with at least one expert within 6 months.
03
This feature enables experts and founders to share feedback on their sessions, helping the Microsoft team better understand expectations.
🎯 Goal: Capture valuable feedback to improve mentorship quality and refine expert-founder matchmaking.
📢 Signal: Increased feedback submission rates and actionable insights from reviews.
📊 Metric: 70% of founders and experts complete feedback after a session.
04
This is the most crucial step—inviting Microsoft experts to volunteer, complete onboarding, create a profile, and go live, enabling founders to find and connect with them from the directory.
🎯 Goal: Ensure a golden onboarding experience for experts, allowing them to create a meaningful profile that attract relevant founder requests.
📢 Signal: Increased expert onboarding completion rates and improved expert profile quality.
📊 Metric: 70% of invited experts complete onboarding and publish their profiles.
Roadblocks & open questions beyond MVP
• How should experts be ranked or sorted? Should priority be given to most recently added, most requested, or best-rated experts?
• How long should an ignored or declined request remain in a founder’s view? When should they be allowed to re-request the same expert?
• How do we handle scheduling conflicts? Should experts set availability via office hours, or should we introduce calendar integration (e.g., Microsoft Bookings) later?
• How do we incentivise experts to actively participate? Should we explore recognition badges, Microsoft MVP perks, or engagement tracking?
• How do we capture meaningful feedback from founders and experts? Should we introduce session-based reviews?
For version 2.0
The next version of Expert Network will enhance searchability through AI-driven expert suggestions, keyword search, and expanded filters for faster discovery. Experts will gain profile customization, integrated scheduling with Microsoft Bookings, and office hour settings for easier connections. Additionally, improved feedback mechanisms and engagement tracking will ensure better matchmaking and mentorship impact.