ROLE

UX Director

company

Wunderman Thompson

industry

Education Technology

Overview

General Assembly (GA) has been a leader in the tech bootcamp industry for over 10 years, but the competitive landscape has significantly changed in recent years. In response, GA wanted to slightly pivot its business strategy and product offerings to better align with both B2B and B2C customer needs. They approached Wunderman Thompson to help define these audiences and shape a digital experience that would meet the evolving goals of their customers.

What I Did

Results

Given GA’s strong emphasis on storytelling and content strategy, we recognized the importance of deeply understanding not just what their audience needed, but also their fears and motivations—especially when it comes to making the major decision of transitioning into a new career.

Although we didn’t have direct access to real customers, GA provided us with prototype personas. Through stakeholder interviews with internal teams (Sales, Marketing, Admissions, Client Services, Digital, etc.), as well as customer surveys conducted via OptimalWorkshop, we were able to build out detailed personas that guided our design decisions and informed the digital experience.

DEVELOPING PERSONAS

The goal when developing these personas was to capture the underlying motivations and behaviors driving each user type. We used GA’s proto-personas as a starting point, then refined them with insights from surveys, which helped highlight marketing opportunities and product enhancements.

B2C CUSTOMERS

For the B2C side, we identified two main types of "Strivers": Tech-Curious and Tech-Specific. While both groups are transitioning into tech from non-tech backgrounds, they have distinct needs:

• Tech-Curious Strivers need more guidance and reassurance. They’re exploring career shifts and need proof that GA is the right choice for their future. These users are seeking clear validation through testimonials, career trajectory data, and industry forecasts. They need emotional support to overcome the fear of making such a big life change.

• Tech-Specific Strivers are more experienced or confident in their career shift. They’re focused on understanding specific job roles (like software engineering) and want to know about salaries, job market demands, and long-term career growth. They need thought leadership and resources to understand what it takes to thrive in the tech industry.

Key Opportunities for GA's Digital Experience:

• Freemium Model: Showcase how GA’s programs, curriculum, and instructors give graduates a competitive edge in a crowded job market.

• Industry Forecasts: Highlight future trends across tech disciplines to reinforce the idea that GA’s curriculum prepares learners for long-term success.

• Diversity & Success Stories: Use alumni success stories, quotes, and statistics to build trust and demonstrate real-world outcomes.

GA Alumni Persona (Secondary Persona):

The GA Alum is a graduate who completed a program and is seeking additional resources for career guidance, job opportunities, and networking. Although this persona is secondary, it represents a key opportunity for GA to better leverage their existing customer base.

Opportunities for Alum Experience:

• Dedicated Alum Links: Create a clear pathway to alumni-specific resources in global navigation and/or footer.

• Proactive Feedback: Actively gather feedback from current and recent students, which can be leveraged on key site pages to build trust and credibility.

• Peer Connections: Connect newer grads with more experienced alumni for mentorship opportunities.

B2B Customers

On the enterprise side, we focused primarily on the Talent Acquisition persona. These clients are always looking for qualified candidates to fill high-skill positions. They may partner with GA to source entry-level talent or train existing employees for new roles. Their main concerns are filling positions quickly and ensuring the talent they hire has the skills and diversity needed to succeed.

Key Opportunities for Talent Acquisition Persona:

• Industry Insights: Showcase GA as a leader in talent solutions, positioning the company as a thought leader in workforce development.

• Retention Metrics: Highlight candidate retention statistics to demonstrate the superior quality of GA’s training programs and the long-term value for clients.

• Diversity & Upskilling: Emphasize GA’s success in placing diverse candidates and upskilling employees to meet evolving business needs.

Competitive Analysis & Market Research

As we developed personas, we also conducted market research to understand the broader digital landscape and how GA's competitors were positioning themselves. We explored what platforms B2C customers interact with and how GA can differentiate itself from the crowded bootcamp market. This included analyzing competitor digital experiences, content strategies, and identifying any gaps or unmet needs. This research directly influenced our content strategy and helped position GA more effectively in a competitive space.

Leveraging Analytics

To better understand user behavior, we collaborated with GA’s analytics team to dive into current site engagement. Using Google Analytics and heat map tools like Crazy Egg, we gained valuable insights into how visitors interacted with content. This helped inform the overall site structure and page-level content hierarchy, ensuring we were prioritizing the most engaging content for users.

Mapping the Customer Journey

One of the most insightful parts of this process was developing detailed customer journey maps. These maps helped us visualize how B2B and B2C customers interact with GA across various touchpoints. They revealed opportunities for GA to improve the user experience and more effectively meet the needs of each customer segment.

What stood out during this process was that many of the key opportunities for improving the experience were content-focused, not functionality-driven. Since GA’s digital experience is largely about telling the right story and guiding users through their decision-making journey, we identified moments where content could be leveraged to motivate users, particularly in the B2C space, to trust GA and take the leap into a tech career.

The insights we’ve gathered from the persona development, market research, and analytics are helping guide the ongoing redesign of General Assembly’s digital experience. By focusing on both the emotional and functional needs of their diverse audience, we are positioning GA to better serve its customers and align with its new business strategy. This research phase has been critical in shaping the foundation of the experience that will support both B2C and B2B customers as they navigate their career journeys with GA.