Research: I interviewed and surveyed active job seekers as well as recently hired folks from a few networks: personal, professional, and online. I sought out friends, former colleagues, and reddit and linkedIn users.

Goals: The initial goal was to uncover pain points, and also what is working, within the job search process and to improve the experience for the job seeker.

Synthesis: Even with a diverse set of interviewees from varying industries and professional levels, some themes revealed themselves through affinity mapping. Although their frustrations and pain points may have varied, one common denominator kept rising to the surface. The job search experience seems to negatively affect the confidence and morale of the user. Repeated rejection can be detrimental and leave a job searcher feeling burned out and defeated. But what I also noticed is that the job searchers I interviewed did not have a definitive answer as to how many jobs they applied to that week, or whether or not their resume was up to date and uploaded on all search sites. More than adding a feature to an existing site or designing a new one from scratch, I needed to focus on improving the mental and emotional state of job searchers through taking a big task (like landing a job to improve quality of life), and breaking that task down into more digestible mini-tasks that align with everyday life (walk the dogs, do the dishes, add soft skills to resume, work out).

User Persona: Mel, a 28-year-old recently unemployed job seeker with a background in marketing, is struggling to find structure, motivation, and balance in life lately.

Problem Statement: Jaded job searchers need to be revved up to gain the momentum necessary to dive into a new role.

User Story: “As a job seeker, I want to restore my self-esteem and confidence in everyday life so the I can land a job that fits my needs.”

Ideation: I sketched multiple user flows based on the problem statement and user needs. Sitemapping would need to be simple and focus-driven to keep the on track with their goal of completing tasks.

Prototyping: After wireframing a few low-fidelity prototypes, I gathered assets to create a high-fidelity prototype of the new app design in Figma, focusing on key functionalities, user flows, and an overly simple aesthetic that is calming and focused.

Usability Testing: I reconvened with some of the job searchers I initially interviewed to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of the prototype.

Iteration: In response to user feedback from testing, I look forward to further iterations incorporating push notifications and animations, to keep the job searcher on track and reward them with a little shot of dopamine each time they complete a task.

Development: ToDo was my first Figma project, a perfect way to learn as I designed the UI of a very simple app. I plan on using no-code software to complete the project and push myself to learn more.

Launch and Measurement: There are still several tasks to complete prior to launching ToDo, and I will continue to carve out time to tackle each one. I might even use the ToDo Beta version for this! A full circle moment!