A Day in the Life
An app that allows students to explore careers by showcasing real "Day in the Life" experiences of different careers
Team
2 Designers
1 Product Manager
Timeline
January 2025-April 2025
Tools Used
Figma
The Problem Statement
Students lack an engaging, centralized career exploration platform that empowers students to independently discover and learn about different career opportunities.
Final Hi-fidelity prototype
Our Solution
A Day in the Life
To help address this gap, my manager hired me and another designer to create a gamified app that enables high schoolers to explore and discover careers on their own.
Designed as a tool for schools, it:
Centralizes career information.
Empowers students to proactively learn about opportunities in an engaging way.
Career exploration should be constant and fun!
The Impact
User Satisfaction Score Went Up by 80%.
Although this app never launched, the changes that I incorporated increased the user satisfaction score by 80%.
Discover
Empathizing with Students and Educators
My design partner and I interviewed five high school students and five educators to understand the challenges that both groups face in career exploration. With limited funding for participant recruitment, we leveraged our network, and my manager also put out a Facebook ad to reach other educators.
Student Interview:
I interviewed four students that were in high school, and one student that is a first year at UVA.
Participants were at different points in exposure to careers. Some had a path informed by extracurricular activities, while others were still unsure how their interests and skills translated into careers.
Educator Interviews:
I interviewed three UVA Career Guidance Counselor, one high-school teacher, and one professor.
Key Insights Gained from Affinity Map
Value-based exploration
Jobs are not going to look they same as they will like in ten years, and that's why we guide students through value based career exploration, and it needs to be early and consistent!
"When students are anxious about career choices, make them think about their strengths, redirect energy and shift into creative thinking rather than logical thinking" - Laura DelPrato, UVA Career Guidance Counselor
"One of the most important things is meeting students where they are during career exploration." -Rebecca Coulter, Internship Placement Program Director @UVA
Real World Career Exploration
Students start to gain a better understanding of what careers they would like to do through real world experience, such as club involvement, completing a project, or talking to someone that is involved in the field. How might we simulate this in our app?
Participating in his business clubs at his high-school, such as DECA and FBLA, made Neal realize that he might want to do something in business.
Shadowing her uncle who is a dentist made Jordan (17 y/o) realize that dentistry was not for her.
Define
Based on the user research, I refined the problem statement to include the pain points and insights from the user interviews.
Students currently lack an engaging, values-based way to explore careers; without a resource that meets them where they are, many are unsure what career paths fit them.
POV: Students need a values-based career exploration platform that allow them to connect their values to real-world experiences and will allow them to understand what career path they could choose.
How might we provide realistic, nuanced simulations of different careers that showcase both challenges and rewards while maintaining student engagement?
Develop
The Career Funnel
The career funnel is the core idea that my manager started with. The idea is that the user would be able to get a quick snapshot of a career, and could choose whether they would want to explore more. This feature was also meant to help maintain engagement.
This was heavily supported by our user research, with “Real World Exploration” being the biggest cluster category in the affinity diagram.
Level 1
Quick snapshot of career (30 second)
Level 2
Deeper overview of career 60 second)
Level 3
Living a “Day in the Life”
Usability Testing
I created an initial prototype from the high-fidelity wireframes, and tested it on five students that I conducted the initial user research with.
I used think-aloud testing to observe users' real-time reactions and identify usability issues on each screen. After completing the user task, participants rated their experience on a 1-5 engagement scale, which I used as my primary KPI to measure satisfaction and validate the effectiveness of the design.
Version 1
Version 2
3/5 students were spending more than 15 seconds on this screen, and felt as though there was too much text on the screen to casually browse.
Creators on Tik Tok use the three second rule in order to catch the users attention. Through reducing text load on the screen and making the ""Learn More" button more central on the screen, it encourages the user to engage.
Career exploration was heavily emphasized by the educators in the user research, so we decided to put it on the homepage.
During the usability study, 4/5 users commented that they would like to explore both industry and value careers based on their results from the introduction quiz.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 1
Version 2
I added a progress bar to the onboarding quiz to allow user is informed about how much is left in the quiz.
Values Driven Career Exploration
Three out of five educators I interviewed said they guide students toward careers aligned with their personal values. To reflect this insight, I incorporated the RIASEC framework throughout the app.
What is RIASEC?
Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional. A personality test developed by John L. Holland that pairs values with careers.
User can access their onboarding RIASEC quiz results on their profile page.
A card that the user sees after completing the onboarding quiz
Design System
I led the development of the design system. I ensured that the Primary/Text colors complied with WCAG Standard.
Logo developement:
A Badge System to Maintain Engagement
Maintaining user engagement was a key priority for this app. Drawing inspiration from learning platforms like IXL and Khan academy, which uses badges to encourage exploration, I designed a badge system that gives students a sense of accomplishment as they progress.
Hi-Fi prototype
Finalized User Flows
New user onboarding process.
User viewing their badges
User going through the career exploration funnel
The Impact
80% increase In user engagement after iterative redesign
I invited the same participants to test the revised designs, and the average engagement score increased by 80%, rising from a 2.5 to a 4.5, demonstrating that my design iterations significantly improved the user experience.
Real world application and possible stakeholders
Although this app was never fully developed due to budget constraints, my manager envisioned it as a tool students could use both during guidance counselor sessions and independently for career exploration. The primary stakeholders would include school supervisors, educators, and teachers, who would rely on the app to support and guide students throughout the exploration process.
Conclusion
Reflection and Next Steps
Lack of demographic diversity in user research
Because of time and recruitment challenges, I was only able to survey five students from the same geographic area. This resulted in a lack of demographic diversity, and the insights may have differed had we been able to include students from a broader range of backgrounds, including low-income school communities.
More real-world connection and educator dashboard
Future features I plan to implement include enabling users to search across the entire app and providing opportunities to connect directly with real-world industry professionals. I plan to add an educator dashboard so guidance counselors and teachers can track student engagement, identify interests and gaps, and better support students’ career exploration.
Transforming an idea into a usable design
When I first joined, the idea existed only as a rough concept from my manager, and we spent multiple sessions refining it into something tangible. It was also my first experience designing for an external stakeholder, which meant that I had to ensure that my work aligned with his vision and requirements while still advocating for the user needs.
Hello! You made it to the end :)
Contact me
📞 571-376-3007
Hello! You made it to the end :)
Contact me
📞 571-376-3007
A Day in the Life
An app that allows students to explore careers by showcasing real "Day in the Life" experiences of different careers
Team
2 Designers
1 Product Manager
Timeline
January 2025-April 2025
Tools Used
Figma
Hello! You made it to the end :)
Contact me
📞 571-376-3007
Hello! You made it to the end :)
Contact me
📞 571-376-3007
Hello! You made it to the end :)
Contact me
📞 571-376-3007
A Day in the Life
An app that allows students to explore careers by showcasing real "Day in the Life" experiences of different careers
Team
2 Designers
1 Product Manager
Timeline
January 2025-April 2025
Tools Used
Figma
The Problem Statement
Students lack an engaging, centralized career exploration platform that empowers students to independently discover and learn about different career opportunities.
Final Hi-fidelity prototype
Our Solution
A Day in the Life
To help address this gap, my manager hired me and another designer to create a gamified app that enables high schoolers to explore and discover careers on their own.
Designed as a tool for schools, it:
Centralizes career information.
Empowers students to proactively learn about opportunities in an engaging way.
Career exploration should be constant and fun!
The Impact
User Satisfaction Score Went Up by 80%.
Although this app never launched, the changes that I incorporated increased the user satisfaction score by 80%.
Discover
Empathizing with Students and Educators
My design partner and I interviewed five high school students and five educators to understand the challenges that both groups face in career exploration. With limited funding for participant recruitment, we leveraged our network, and my manager also put out a Facebook ad to reach other educators.
Student Interview:
I interviewed four students that were in high school, and one student that is a first year at UVA.
Participants were at different points in exposure to careers. Some had a path informed by extracurricular activities, while others were still unsure how their interests and skills translated into careers.
Educator Interviews:
I interviewed three UVA Career Guidance Counselor, one high-school teacher, and one professor.
Key Insights Gained from Affinity Map
Value-based exploration
Jobs are not going to look they same as they will like in ten years, and that's why we guide students through value based career exploration, and it needs to be early and consistent!
"When students are anxious about career choices, make them think about their strengths, redirect energy and shift into creative thinking rather than logical thinking" - Laura DelPrato, UVA Career Guidance Counselor
"One of the most important things is meeting students where they are during career exploration." -Rebecca Coulter, Internship Placement Program Director @UVA
Real World Career Exploration
Students start to gain a better understanding of what careers they would like to do through real world experience, such as club involvement, completing a project, or talking to someone that is involved in the field. How might we simulate this in our app?
Participating in his business clubs at his high-school, such as DECA and FBLA, made Neal realize that he might want to do something in business.
Shadowing her uncle who is a dentist made Jordan (17 y/o) realize that dentistry was not for her.
Define
Based on the user research, I refined the problem statement to include the pain points and insights from the user interviews.
Students currently lack an engaging, values-based way to explore careers; without a resource that meets them where they are, many are unsure what career paths fit them.
POV: Students need a values-based career exploration platform that allow them to connect their values to real-world experiences and will allow them to understand what career path they could choose.
How might we provide realistic, nuanced simulations of different careers that showcase both challenges and rewards while maintaining student engagement?
Develop
The Career Funnel
The career funnel is the core idea that my manager started with. The idea is that the user would be able to get a quick snapshot of a career, and could choose whether they would want to explore more. This feature was also meant to help maintain engagement.
This was heavily supported by our user research, with “Real World Exploration” being the biggest cluster category in the affinity diagram.
Level 1
Quick snapshot of career (30 second)
Level 2
Deeper overview of career 60 second)
Level 3
Living a “Day in the Life”
Usability Testing
I created an initial prototype from the high-fidelity wireframes, and tested it on five students that I conducted the initial user research with.
I used think-aloud testing to observe users' real-time reactions and identify usability issues on each screen. After completing the user task, participants rated their experience on a 1-5 engagement scale, which I used as my primary KPI to measure satisfaction and validate the effectiveness of the design.
Version 1
Version 2
3/5 students were spending more than 15 seconds on this screen, and felt as though there was too much text on the screen to casually browse.
Creators on Tik Tok use the three second rule in order to catch the users attention. Through reducing text load on the screen and making the ""Learn More" button more central on the screen, it encourages the user to engage.
Career exploration was heavily emphasized by the educators in the user research, so we decided to put it on the homepage.
During the usability study, 4/5 users commented that they would like to explore both industry and value careers based on their results from the introduction quiz.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 1
Version 2
I added a progress bar to the onboarding quiz to allow user is informed about how much is left in the quiz.
Values Driven Career Exploration
Three out of five educators I interviewed said they guide students toward careers aligned with their personal values. To reflect this insight, I incorporated the RIASEC framework throughout the app.
What is RIASEC?
Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional. A personality test developed by John L. Holland that pairs values with careers.
User can access their onboarding RIASEC quiz results on their profile page.
A card that the user sees after completing the onboarding quiz
Design System
I led the development of the design system. I ensured that the Primary/Text colors complied with WCAG Standard.
Logo developement:
A Badge System to Maintain Engagement
Maintaining user engagement was a key priority for this app. Drawing inspiration from learning platforms like IXL and Khan academy, which uses badges to encourage exploration, I designed a badge system that gives students a sense of accomplishment as they progress.
Hi-Fi prototype
Finalized User Flows
New user onboarding process.
User viewing their badges
User going through the career exploration funnel
Conclusion
Reflection and Next Steps
Lack of demographic diversity in user research
Because of time and recruitment challenges, I was only able to survey five students from the same geographic area. This resulted in a lack of demographic diversity, and the insights may have differed had we been able to include students from a broader range of backgrounds, including low-income school communities.
More real-world connection and educator dashboard
Future features I plan to implement include enabling users to search across the entire app and providing opportunities to connect directly with real-world industry professionals. I plan to add an educator dashboard so guidance counselors and teachers can track student engagement, identify interests and gaps, and better support students’ career exploration.
Transforming an idea into a usable design
When I first joined, the idea existed only as a rough concept from my manager, and we spent multiple sessions refining it into something tangible. It was also my first experience designing for an external stakeholder, which meant that I had to ensure that my work aligned with his vision and requirements while still advocating for the user needs.