Mentor Match - Proof of Concept

Introduction

Several Benevity clients expressed a need to offer mentorship through their ERGs—but were relying on spreadsheets, manual processes, or separate tools that weren’t integrated with their broader engagement programs. They wanted a solution that reduced tool sprawl, was easy to manage, and aligned with their inclusion goals. In response, we partnered with a nonprofit client to design a lightweight proof of concept for mentorship within the Employee Groups platform—aimed at creating structured, inclusive opportunities for connection.

Mentorship profile showing various skills and your proficiency in those skills.

Discovery

Uncovering pain points in mentorship and matching workflows
To understand current mentorship practices, we interviewed program coordinators, mentors, and mentees across departments—including clients already running mentorship initiatives within ERGs, as well as internal teams at Benevity. We also audited existing tools, processes, and forms used to manage and measure these programs.

We learned that:

• Coordinators struggled to scale programs or track outcomes due to manual matching and limited reporting.

• Employees often didn’t know how to articulate what kind of mentorship they were seeking—or offering.

• Matching criteria were inconsistent, leading to uneven experiences and missed opportunities for connection.

• Admins wanted more structure, but also flexibility to adapt to the needs of different groups and departments.

To move quickly, we facilitated an “event storming” session with our team to model how the feature would fit into the existing Employee Groups product. From there we prototyped a lightweight flow that could test and validate at an industry event Benevity held in the Spring of 2024.

Design

Prototyping a flexible matching workflow
With limited time and resources, we aimed to validate the concept through a simple, guided flow that could support a variety of mentorship styles. We designed a prototype that allowed employees to opt in, share goals, and express preferences, and choose a mentor.

• Employees could opt in as mentors, mentees, or both, and answer a few structured prompts to help surface relevant values, topics, and goals.

• Program owners could configure questions, set timelines, and export responses to support manual or semi-automated matching.

• We prioritized clarity, low effort, and equity

• The prototype was designed to be repeatable across programs and scalable with improvements based on feedback.

We tested the experience internally and gathered feedback from a demo station & questionnaire we had set up at an industry event where program managers and employees in attendance could walk up and test the demo.

Introduction prompt with partially filled form to speed up initial communication between mentor and mentee.

Searching for and displaying a list of available mentors based on your specific mentorship needs.

Prompt to employees that mentorship opportunities are available and that they can join the group for that specific cohort.

Member view of the mentorship cohort group.

Outcome

Validating the concept and informing future iterations

The proof of concept sparked strong interest from both internal and external stakeholders.

• Program owners shared that the guided flow made it easier to launch mentorship programs without needing a dedicated tool.

• Feedback highlighted opportunities for future automation, including smarter matching and participant dashboards.

• Several clients expressed interest in adapting the prototype to their existing ERG programs, validating cross-organizational demand.

Though not yet a fully scaled feature, the pilot helped us confirm real demand, reduce tool fragmentation, and lay the groundwork for a more integrated mentorship solution within the Employee Groups platform.

Reflection & Learnings

This project highlighted how mentorship can mean very different things across departments and organizations—and how critical it is to design for flexibility without losing focus. Starting with a lean prototype helped us explore a complex space quickly, and validate needs before committing to full-scale development.

One key learning: even simple UX improvements, like guided prompts and structured flows, can reduce ambiguity and build confidence in community-driven programs. It also reinforced the value of co-creation—bringing internal and client voices into the process early made the solution stronger and more adaptable.