Role: Lead Designer - Art Director / Branding / UI/UX
About Skills Canada:
Skills Canada was founded in 1989 as a national, not-for-profit organization that works with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trades and technology careers among Canadian youth. Its unique position among private and public sector partners enables it to work toward securing Canada’s future skilled labour needs while helping young people discover rewarding careers. Skills Canada offers experiential learning opportunities including skilled trades and technology competitions for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians through regional, provincial/territorial, national and international events, as well as skilled trades awareness programs. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Skills Canada is the Canadian Member organization of WorldSkills.
Objectives:
Skills Canada (SCC) is working with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to raise awareness of the nine key Essential Skills that are crucial for success in the workplace. SCC aims to create an Essential Skills mobile application and related career counseling tool. Content from the mobile application will be incorporated into the development of the career counseling tool. The project supports SCC’s role in promoting skilled trades among young Canadians through outreach to employers, educators, labour groups and governments.
Target Audience:
• Students; young teens.
Challenge:
To design an engaging and fun mobile application that would resonate with the target audience for both the
Apple and Android mobile operating systems.
Solution:
To design a mobile application that incorporates the nine essential skills and profiles for different jobs. The mobile application includes tools that assist users to find a skilled trades and technology school or training facility, integrated map functionality, social media integration enabling users to post their career consultation results to social media and a “challenge” section that encourages users to challenge their friends.
Results:
The app has been released as part of Skills Canada’s annual National Competition is November of 2014 with great reviews. The Essential Skills Mobile App is designed for iPhone®, iPad® and iPod Touch® and android devices and is currently available free for download in the App Store and Google Play.
App Features:
• Profiles of over 40 different trade and technology careers.
• Summary of the Nine Essential Skills for the workplace.
• A comprehensive set of questions that can be completed on average in 15-20 minutes. Results are provided as a star rating link to careers in trade and technology sectors.
• Social Media features for users to share their results with friends, teachers and parents. Students can post and compare their results to see how their friends are performing and progressing. Teachers can use the App as a classroom tool.
• A link to the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Office of Literacy and Essential skills with access to all the National Occupational Profiles. Results can be compared against the levels of complexity in the ESDC profiles for specific skilled trade careers.
• A directory of all trade and technology schools and training facilities in Canada.
“This new mobile app highlights the essential skills that are the foundation for learning all the other skills needed in today’s workplace. Skills ranging from the ability to communicate clearly, think strategically and work in teams all help in bridging the skills mismatch that often occurs between the classroom and the workplace,” said the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Employment and Social Development. “I’m sure the app will help lead these young tradespeople to full and satisfying careers.”
According to Brian Linn, Career Consultant for Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division and Moderator for the Educator’s Forum at the Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC): “The App is quite intuitive and very easy to use. It will be simple for students to link the essential skills directly to trade and technology programs and careers. Also, linking to real world situations will be helpful for career guidance counsellors as well as core curriculum teachers who are trying to explain how students will use essential skills in real world jobs. The App can be easily started in the classroom and continued on the bus ride home. The test is fun, like a trivia game – and who doesn’t like games!”
Read the press release here:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1540503/skills-canada-launches-essential-skills-mobile-app-for-students-and-teachers
