Supporting Women in the UK Civil Service
A Web Platform for Career Development.
The Vision
Thresholds deliver career support programmes for women in the UK Civil Service. Their programmes allow participants to examine their career aspirations and then develop these through expert mentorship and themed resources.
At the beginning of 2021, Thresholds approached mmtm looking for a technical partner to replace their existing ‘Quick Tracks’ platform with a new bespoke system.
Thresholds required a partner with expert product development experience, but also a capability to communicate technical concepts in a patient and unintimidating manner. After a short evaluation period, mmtm were selected to design and develop the new platform.
The end-result was Mara, a beautiful online platform to facilitate Thresholds’ award-winning mentorship programmes.
Watch the Demo
Discover how the new Thresholds Mara app transformed the organisation and better understand what was built
Discovery
A Discovery Workshop with undertaken to investigate the feasibility of the new platform.
Three clear objectives were identified:
- Reduced administration for Thresholds management
- Improved delivery of the Crossing Thresholds programme
- Flexibility for new clients and programme types
Our technical focus was to achieve these objectives whilst building a delightful user experience for all user types. Participants needed to use the platform to engage with themed module content, interact with mentors, join workshops, organise group presentations and more. Whilst admins use the platform to facilitate their operations and participants.
“Mara's had a transformative impact. We're now delivering programmes more profitably than ever and our customers love using the app. We're delighted with the outcome and already planning the next sprint!”
Streamlining Business Operations: From Manual to Automated
We designed an intuitive calendar-based interface that automatically schedules programmes and facilitators depending on their availability. Coupled with automatic calendar syncing, this feature has eliminated the need for back-and-forth emails and calendar invites, saving countless hours.
Beyond scheduling, mmtm also integrated Mara with Mailchimp and the Marketing Website to automate back-office operations.
Migrating from a Legacy System
The original Quick Tracks platform had worked well in the Thresholds’ early years but was later deemed no longer fit for purpose. A large part of the project was an extensive data migration exercise to securely port seven years’ worth of Thresholds programme and user data to a new database.
The transition was successful with zero downtime, allowing us to transfer real-time accurate data over to the new platform.
32,000+
Records Imported: All transferred from a MongoDB database with no data loss
7 Years
Data Migrated: Data spanning from 2015 was migrated so that everything is still accessible
24/7
Increased Support: Always there to help with a big launch and everything that comes after
With a Clean, Intuitive Design System - Ready for Scale
We designed and developed a stunning new design system. The design had to incorporate Thresholds’s latest brand guidelines whilst keeping a professional yet friendly tone.
Our UI & UX work has vastly improved the delivery quality of Thresholds’ courses and events compared to the original Quick Tracks platform. A participant now has everything available to them within a few clicks.
‘Flexibility’ and ‘Scalability’ was a key theme throughout the development, and the system can accommodate bespoke course types, new clients and different processes. Therefore removing the need for any extensive platform rework as the company scales.
Civil Service Success
After a short design phase, we developed Mara over seven sprints at the beginning of 2022 with a follow-up sprint later that summer to implement feedback.
I'm sure Crossing Thresholds played a part in reaching my goal, but the longer-term benefits of the programme are far wider.
Sarah Chidgey
Participant
17,000+ Programme Participants
Total participants using Thresholds, with over 7,000 accounts
92% of Particpants Gained Career Clarity
We worked with Thresholds to make sure their resources were easily accessible during programmes
76% of Graduates Secured New Roles
Participants were able to secure promotions or move a more satisfying role after graduating
Let's build something great together.
Book a Free Scoping Workshop