Redesigning mentor onboarding to reduce drop-off and help volunteers feel confident before their first session.
I redesigned mentor onboarding for StartOut, an LGBTQIA+ youth mentoring platform, lifting onboarding completion by 60%
Overview
StartOut connects LGBTQIA+ young people with volunteer mentors. The organisation depends on mentors actually following through: showing up ready, and staying involved once they've signed up.
The Challenge
New mentors weren't sure what to expect or whether they were ready to start. That uncertainty showed up before their first session, which meant some people likely lost confidence before mentoring had even begun.
I interviewed four current mentors about their first few weeks on the platform, and spoke with StartOut's program coordinator about where they saw people getting stuck.
Business Goals
Improve completion of onboarding tasks
Support mentor retention, so fewer volunteers are lost before they start
User Goals
Understand what's expected of them as a mentor
Feel reassured and ready before their first session
Know what to do next at every point in onboarding
Research
Key insights
Mentors needed clearer guidance on what to expect
People wanted reassurance before starting the mentoring process
The onboarding flow needed to explain next steps more clearly
Mentors responded well to practical conversation prompts and activity ideas
A more supportive tone increased confidence and trust
Design
Session Prep Toolkit: A resource hub accessible before and during sessions — conversation starters, topic guides, and training refreshers. The goal was to give mentors a safety net without making the experience feel scripted. Usability testing confirmed this was the feature mentors valued most.
Mentee Progress Tracker: A simple visual tool for tracking milestones and growth over time. Initial designs were too metric-heavy, which felt clinical for a platform built on emotional support. I simplified it to focus on qualitative milestones — moments of connection, topics explored, mood over time — rather than numbers.
Reflective Journal: A built-in note-taking space for mentors to log session highlights and revisit key moments. Particularly useful for mentors managing multiple mentees, and for maintaining continuity between sessions.
In-session Conversation Prompt: Guided questions and mood check-ins that mentors could pull up mid-conversation without disrupting the flow. These were added after an early round of testing revealed mentors wanted in-session support, not just pre-session prep.
Safe Exit for Mentees: A clearly labelled "end chat" button giving mentees an easy way to exit conversations at any time. A small addition — but an important one for a platform where psychological safety is non-negotiable.
Outcome
The redesigned mentor experience gave volunteers the tools and confidence to show up more effectively for the young people they were supporting.
60% improvement in onboarding task completion — measured through usability testing on the prototype, comparing task completion rates before and after the redesign.
Post-testing feedback from mentors indicated greater confidence going into first sessions, easier initiation of conversations with hesitant mentees, and a stronger sense of continuity across sessions.
