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Overview

Overview

Every month, a 2-person community team pulled data from Amplitude, manually designed certificates and emailed them to mentors. That was ADPList's recognition system at 32,000 mentors across 140 countries. No visibility. Nothing that scaled.


This project became an engine for retention and top-of-funnel acquisition via organic social shares, and reduced manual time spent on operations by 100%. This supported ADPList’s quarterly goal to improve mentor engagement and increase trust-driven bookings by 20%.


We chose this because it had the clearest network effects and lowest effort-to-impact ratio.

Every month, a 2-person community team pulled data from Amplitude, manually designed certificates and emailed them to mentors. That was ADPList's recognition system at 32,000 mentors across 140 countries. No visibility. Nothing that scaled.


This project became an engine for retention and top-of-funnel acquisition via organic social shares, and reduced manual time spent on operations by 100%. This supported ADPList’s quarterly goal to improve mentor engagement and increase trust-driven bookings by 20%.


We chose this because it had the clearest network effects and lowest effort-to-impact ratio.

ADPList - a global mentorship platform with 32,000 mentors across 140 countries.

Challenges

Challenges

Recognition that no one could see

Recognition that no one could see

Recognition that no one could see

ADPList had session milestones on mentor profiles – but a number without context isn't recognition. No trust signal for mentees. The certificates landed in the inbox-only.

ADPList had session milestones on mentor profiles – but a number without context isn't recognition. No trust signal for mentees. The certificates landed in the inbox-only.

Before - Manual Effort & Certificate Design

Before - Manual Effort & Certificate Design

Before - Mentor's Profile

Before - Mentor's Profile

Recognition Was Invisible to Mentees

Recognition Was Invisible to Mentees

Certificates existed — but only in inboxes. A mentee deciding which mentor to book had no quality signal beyond a star rating. At booking scale, invisibility is a conversion problem.

New Mentors Had No On-Ramp

New Mentors Had No On-Ramp

If you weren't already in the global top 1%, the system offered nothing. No acknowledgment of early momentum. That's a silent churn driver – mentors who feel unvalued leave before they hit their stride, taking future session volume with them.

The Manual Process Was a Ticking Clock

The Manual Process Was a Ticking Clock

A 2-person community manually managing this every month isn't a process. One person leaving would break the entire system. More critically, manual images can't live on a profile page.

Breakdown of the manual process of certificate generation

Breakdown of the manual process of certificate generation

Hypothesis

"If recognition was automated, consistent, and grounded in intrinsic motivation, we could meaningfully boost mentor activity and learner trust."

User Research

User Research

Strategy

Rooted in Self-Determination Theory

Rooted in Self-Determination Theory

Rooted in Self-Determination Theory

I needed to answer one question – what keeps a mentor showing up month after month?


I anchored the system in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) – the psychological framework behind intrinsic motivation. Because 300+ mentor interviews kept surfacing the same three needs, (1) wanting to track their own impact (2) wanting to earn recognition, (3) wanting their mentees to see it.

I needed to answer one question – what keeps a mentor showing up month after month?


I anchored the system in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) – the psychological framework behind intrinsic motivation. Because 300+ mentor interviews kept surfacing the same three needs, (1) wanting to track their own impact (2) wanting to earn recognition, (3) wanting their mentees to see it.

Self-Determination Theory

Self-Determination Theory

A momentum ladder covers every stage of the mentor journey

A momentum ladder covers every stage of the mentor journey

Top 1% – Peak Performance

Top 1% – Peak Performance

The most active mentors globally. Minimum 12 bookings in the last 30 days to qualify, then ranked against all mentors.

Rewarded Monthly

Rising Star – Early Momentum

Rising Star – Early Momentum

New mentors making an immediate impact. Account approved in the last 30 days with a minimum of 12 bookings.

Rewarded Monthly

Super Mentor – Sustained Impact

Super Mentor – Sustained Impact

Long-term excellence. 36+ sessions in the last 90 days, 100+ lifetime sessions, 90% attendance rate, and a 4.8+ lifetime rating.

Long-term excellence. 36+ sessions in the last 90 days, 100+ lifetime sessions, 90% attendance rate, and a 4.8+ lifetime rating.

Rewarded Quarterly

Top 10/50/100 – Expertise Leader

Top 10/50/100 – Expertise Leader

Expertise-focused, ranked by lifetime successful sessions. Two additional categories ensure the system is inclusive:

  • Female Mentors — Dedicated ranking recognising top female mentors

  • Fresh — For mentors approved in the last 90 days

Expertise-focused, ranked by lifetime successful sessions. Two additional categories ensure the system is inclusive:

  • Female Mentors — Dedicated ranking recognising top female mentors

  • Fresh — For mentors approved in the last 90 days

Rewarded Quarterly

The momentum ladder covering every stage of mentor journey

The momentum ladder

Progress Awareness

Progress Awareness

Visibility before the milestone, not after. Progress bar in the dashboard. Email nudge at 2 sessions away. The nudge was the bigger mover.

Visibility before the milestone, not after. Progress bar in the dashboard. Email nudge at 2 sessions away. The nudge was the bigger mover.

Moment of Achievement

Moment of Achievement

Badge earned → celebration modal fires on-platform + email goes out immediately. The modal handles the moment. The email handles the memory.

Badge earned → celebration modal fires on-platform + email goes out immediately. The modal handles the moment. The email handles the memory.

Shareable Certifications

Shareable Certifications

HTML-generated. 12 unique designs for Top 1%, one per month. Built for LinkedIn, Slack, portfolios. 95% of recognised mentors shared externally — the certificate was the acquisition loop.

Profile Trust Signals

Profile Trust Signals

Badges on mentor profiles. Recognition that was invisible to mentees became the primary trust signal at the moment it mattered most. However, we couldn't fetch the historic certificates.

Badges on mentor profiles. Recognition that was invisible to mentees became the primary trust signal at the moment it mattered most. However, we couldn't fetch the historic certificates.

Trade-offs

Managing Risks & Tensions

Managing Risks & Tensions

Managing Risks & Tensions

Exclusivity vs. Inclusivity

Exclusivity vs. Inclusivity

Tension: If Super Mentor is genuinely hard, most mentors will never touch it. Do we soften the threshold or risk building a system only the top mentors care about?

Tension: If Super Mentor is genuinely hard, most mentors will never touch it. Do we soften the threshold or risk building a system only the top mentors care about?

Decision: Kept the threshold high. Added Rising Star and Discipline Rankings as parallel lanes – not consolation prizes, but distinct recognitions for different mentor journeys.

Decision: Kept the threshold high. Added Rising Star and Discipline Rankings as parallel lanes – not consolation prizes, but distinct recognitions for different mentor journeys.

Super Mentor Qualifications

Super Mentor Qualifications

Manual vs. Automated

Manual vs. Automated

Tension: Engineering said no in the first meeting. They had their hands full, and assumed community team 'managing fine.'

Decision: Reframed it as operational risk, not a design request. Manual images can't live on a profile page and a 2-person team can't email 300+ mentors monthly – it was ticking time bomb. Presented cost-benefit and fallback logic the same week to get engineering aligned.

Automated Reward Delivery System

Automated Reward Delivery System

Generic vs. Personalised Certificates

Generic vs. Personalised Certificates

Tension: Midway through design the visual designer pushed back: 20 unique certificates is 20x the effort and wanted to ship one design, iterate later.

Tension: Midway through design the visual designer pushed back: 20 unique certificates is 20x the effort and wanted to ship one design, iterate later.

Decision: The same certificate posted every month loses its shareability. We designed 12 unique Top 1% designs. One design each for other tiers since those don't repeat.

Decision: The same certificate posted every month loses its shareability. We designed 12 unique Top 1% designs. One design each for other tiers since those don't repeat.

Impact

How the Numbers Moved

How the Numbers Moved

How the Numbers Moved

4 weeks, end-to-end. Designed and shipped to directly support ADPList's Q1 OKRs on mentor retention, operational efficiency, and organic platform growth.

0%

0%

Manual ops eliminated

0%

0%

Manual ops eliminated

0%

0%

MoM organic platform growth

0%

0%

MoM organic platform growth

0%

0%

Improved mentor satisfaction

0%

0%

Improved mentor satisfaction

0%

0%

Mentor Retention

0%

0%

Mentor Retention

I specialise in security engineering, not general software development. The discipline ranking made that visible on my profile. I started getting session requests from people who actually needed security expertise, not just whoever was available.

I specialise in security engineering, not general software development. The discipline ranking made that visible on my profile. I started getting session requests from people who actually needed security expertise, not just whoever was available.

Adrian Kitto,

Co-founder/ CISO at Detexian

Post-Launch Iterations

Dynamic Ranking Logic

Dynamic Ranking Logic

Dynamic Ranking Logic

After launch, mentors flagged that most weren't single-discipline experts. A UX designer might also mentor on product management or leadership – but their certificate and ranking only reflected their first chosen field, regardless of what they actually did.

After launch, mentors flagged that most weren't single-discipline experts. A UX designer might also mentor on product management or leadership – but their certificate and ranking only reflected their first chosen field, regardless of what they actually did.

We updated the logic so session topics and mentee requests determined which field to surface for each mentor. Expertise was validated by behaviour, not just a dropdown selection.

We updated the logic so session topics and mentee requests determined which field to surface for each mentor. Expertise was validated by behaviour, not just a dropdown selection.

Reflections

We designed a recognition system that honours the mentor’s journey, reinforces quality for mentees, and creates a culture of celebration.


I believe recognition isn’t about rewards but about reinforcing trust at scale. This project was a turning point for me in how systems-thinking and behavioural design can drive cultural change at scale.


It strengthened my belief that senior design leadership is about more than beautiful interfaces – it’s about aligning people, incentives, and technology toward shared goals.

We designed a recognition system that honours the mentor’s journey, reinforces quality for mentees, and creates a culture of celebration.


I believe recognition isn’t about rewards but about reinforcing trust at scale. This project was a turning point for me in how systems-thinking and behavioural design can drive cultural change at scale.


It strengthened my belief that senior design leadership is about more than beautiful interfaces – it’s about aligning people, incentives, and technology toward shared goals.

What's next?

What's next?

Member-Side Gamification

Member-Side Gamification

Consistency rewards for learners. Similar behavioural model, applied to the other side of the marketplace.

Consistency rewards for learners. Similar behavioural model, applied to the other side of the marketplace.

Coming Soon

Real-Time Browser Notifications

Real-Time Browser Notifications

Push notifications triggered the moment a badge is earned — no waiting for the next login.

Push notifications triggered the moment a badge is earned — no waiting for the next login.

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