U/Me
design challenge
A mobile application for individuals seeking career advancements and skill development towards professional growth
We developed a mobile application for the 2023 Design Challenge hosted by the UT Dallas UX Club, sponsored by Intuit and the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Our mission was to create a tool that empowers individuals in their professional journeys. We proudly secured 1st place out of more than 130 participants.
role
UX Design, User Research, Product Branding
industry
Professional Career Advancement
timeline
4 weeks
team
Jade Nguyen & Faith Romero
project outcome
We created a mobile app, "Ume,” that offers empowering opportunities for professional growth through tailored event experiences and connections. Our app provides unique pathways for individuals of all levels to pursue their career goals with confidence and support.
tools
Figma
project brief
Our goal was to implement user research into a mobile app prototype design to ensure the platform is user-friendly and inclusive and meets the needs of individuals of all backgrounds seeking career empowerment through skill development and advancements.
problem & design challenge prompt
Create a design solution that empowers students in their professional journey.
For many individuals, navigating career paths is challenging due to limited networking, job opportunities, and skill-building resources. In today’s competitive job market, these barriers prevent individuals from reaching their full potential and contributing meaningfully to their fields. To address this, we designed a solution that empowers users with accessible resources and connections to pursue their professional goals confidently.
research goals
Our research focused on four key goals:
Identify core motivations and challenges in career advancement.
Analyze how users pursue skill development and professional exposure.
Understand peer connections’ role in supporting career growth.
Explore ways to create an inclusive, empowering environment for all users.
surveys
We gained insights into individuals' unique experiences and pain points by organizing them into the main themes: work-life balance, career planning, and job searching.
We conducted a Google Form survey to expand our focus beyond personas and explore real-world career challenges.
😵💫
"I didn’t realize how essential networking is for finding job opportunities…On LinkedIn, I often feel overwhelmed by all the posts in my feed."
62%
Survey respondents reported feeling anxious during their job search or career journey
🤳
"Using LinkedIn for job searching can feel overwhelming; seeing so many success posts from others increases my anxiety about finding a job."
📎
"Job requirements often feel out of reach for my current experience, and the recommendations don’t seem to match my specific interests."
stats key findings
With the overwhelming 71 responses we’ve collected, we gathered a collective key findings.
58%
Survey respondents relied on connections to secure job and internship opportunities.
50%
Survey respondents wanted more personalized job and internship opportunities
in-depth interviews
One-on-one interviews highlighted their unique experiences, challenges, and the key factors influencing their professional journeys.
Through our conversations with a psychology freshman and a visual arts junior, we highlighted our most valuable insights into their career paths.
"I think having more chances for students to communicate with each other would be really helpful, along with modules that focus on building professional skills." - Psychology Freshman 🧠
"I’d love to see more personalized content that actually speaks to my experience, plus some basic support for those of us who didn’t have it growing up." - Visual Performing Arts Junior 🎭
key insights
📚
Accessing skill-enhancing tools or lessons would be greatly beneficial
Faith and I uncovered valuable insights into individuality in career challenges through six academic journals, clarifying the three central themes our target users face.
Networking Challenges 👋
"Networking with others who may provide direct and indirect linkages to job opportunities is critical," yet many struggle to connect with peers and professionals, limiting career prospects.
Career Awareness and Misconceptions 👻
“Students hold misconceptions about professions due to lack of information,” highlighting the need for “awareness regarding areas of interest and prospective career fields” to support informed choices.
Job Search Behaviors 🔍
Procrastination, impulsive job searches, and limited networking skills often hinder career growth, underscoring the need to address “procrastinating on a job search, impulsive job search, and failure to network.”
market analysis
LinkedIn, Eventbrite, MeetUp, Coursea, and Skillshare were our competitors.
With a high demand for career development, I analyzed five key competitors to assess their strengths and weaknesses in networking, skill-sharing, and job opportunities. Through our competitive research, I took the lead in identifying ways to enhance event attendance and career resources in a crowded market.
key findings
design process
Overwhelming Variety of Information 😰
Cluttered interfaces with outdated job postings and distracting ads cause cognitive overload and disengagement.
Limited Networking Opportunities ☹️
Focus on skill-sharing leaves little room for meaningful networking.
Lack of Confidence 😶🌫️
Insufficient support in online spaces reduces users’ confidence to engage.
market product ideation
Our strategy focused on expanding market presence while empowering users to build confidence and form authentic connections.
Through key findings, we identified a critical need to extend our reach, particularly in underserved areas where our presence was minimal. This drove us to design an app with a distinct purpose: offering users a unique experience that sets us apart from competitors. Unlike other platforms, our app combines four essential elements—fostering meaningful connections, uncovering professional opportunities, accessing valuable resources, and tracking personal milestones—all in one seamless solution, creating unmatched value for our users.
design for impact and growth
Based on creating our marketing strategy, we organized concerns into groups, mapped themes, and used user journey mapping to shape our final star features.
secondary research
🫂
Having a supportive community to rely on and gain knowledge from is important
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Ideation and Brainstorming
We brainstormed creative solutions to address our key concerns, exploring diverse ideas to tackle challenges effectively. This process helped us generate innovative approaches to move forward.
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Affinity Mapping
We categorized the issues into groups based on common themes, which helped us recognize patterns and tackle them in a structured way.
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Group Mapping
Divided each theme into core components: professional networking, resource opportunities, skills, and profile. This approach allowed us to dive deeper into each area, uncovering insights and connections to guide our user journey mapping.
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User Journey Mapping
We outlined each step of the user’s experience, capturing their actions, emotions, pain points, and opportunities for improvement. This helped us identify ways to enhance the flow and create a more intentional, user-focused experience.
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Crazy 8’s
During app development, we encountered many ideas and perspectives, making identifying the most valuable features challenging. To streamline this process, we turned to the "Crazy 8" method for rapid idea generation, followed by a star-based voting system to prioritize and refine our choices.
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Behind the Scene
We brainstormed and wrote out the features for each page: Onboarding, Event Feed, Skill Learning, and Profile.
branding blueprint
We created a bold, empowering brand that resonates with aspiring professionals. It emphasizes personalization, inclusivity, and confidence.
I ensured our brand name and logo aligned with our vision, standing out in a competitive market. Design elements were carefully selected to connect with our target audience, making the brand easily recognizable and distinct.
Values: Personalization, Confidence, Inspiration, Inclusivity, Accessibility
Brand Persona: Inviting, Exciting, Simple, Empowering
Target Audience: Aspiring individuals seeking professional opportunities to advance their careers
Age Range: 17-30 (Late teens to early thirties / Incoming college students to graduates)
lo-fi wireframes
Our team conducted early user testing after, collaborating to gather valuable feedback, refine the design, and enhance the overall user experience.
solutions
feature #1
Tailored Events, Just for You
Explore a curated selection of professional events personalized to your interests and career goals. Connect with organizations and companies offering workshops, networking sessions, and industry events in your area. Easily bookmark favorites, register for upcoming gatherings, and revisit memorable past experiences—all in one place.
feature #2
Effortless Connections, Redefined
Transform the way you network with our cutting-edge NFC technology. Instantly exchange contact details with like-minded professionals at events, allowing you to focus on meaningful interactions and building relationships.
feature #3
Unlock Insights, Achieve Goals, Stay Connected
Gain exclusive access to company-published articles for trusted industry insights. Earn achievement badges that motivate active participation in networking and community events. Stay engaged with your new contacts through our seamless messaging feature.
prototype
Introducing UM/E a mobile app to elevate your professional journey
Building the Bridge Between You and Me
project results
We secured first place at the UX Club banquet.
This competition has been a core experience for me and my team. As we spent countless all-nighters at the library putting our best foot forward to make the most developed mobile app as we envisioned. This experience allowed me to put my design skills to use in a fast-pace time frame and strengthen my abilities in communicative approaches in teamwork.
Without the time constraints, I would like to improve the prototyping and overall design branding to give it a more clean, seamless user experience.
key takeaways
Collaboration is important.
Relying on your team’s strengths and asking for help leads to stronger product app development.
Learn from setbacks.
Every misstep is an opportunity to re-assess, adopt, and re-design for a more intuitive app product.
Resilience fuels progress.
Pushing through endless sleepless nights (late-night munch included) and time-crunch challenges created a strong team bond that strengthened our perseverance and drove success.
explore further
Read about our UX competition coverage more on the Bass’ School news article.
future thinking
If this product were to enter the market, my next steps would include:
Conduct in-depth user testing with a niche target audience to gather feedback from early users to assess satisfaction and pinpoint areas for improvement.
Monitor event engagement and badge achievement metrics through feature performance analysis to better understand user behavior and refine key features.
Refine recommendation algorithms based on user feedback to enhance event personalization and offer more relevant opportunities.
