Product: A digital tool for designers to stay organized and motivated in their UX/UI job search
Role: End-to-end Product Designer — research, flows, wireframes UI design, branding, prototyping.
Problem: Job searching is chaotic and stressful, especially for junior designers without guidance.
Solution: A gamified experience that organizes tasks, tracks progress, and provides encouragement.
Outcome: A streamlined system for managing applications, enhancing motivation, and lowering job search stress.
👩💻 Why Creating UXPath?
Job hunting is both an administrative and emotional journey. Designers need a space that's organized and supportive to track their progress without discouragement. I aimed to create a tool that transforms the job search into a structured, mindful, and human experience.
💔 Disclosure
After applying for numerous jobs, I found that many designers with organization and emotional balance. This project is, as I've faced similar challenges. Below is an example of how I tracked my job, which consumed 3-4 hours daily.
💡 Understanding the Problem
Designers spend months applying to jobs, managing dozens of applications, and trying to track everything in messy Notion boards, spreadsheets, etc.
User pain points:
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“I keep forgetting where I applied.”
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“I lose track of interview stages.”
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“It’s emotionally exhausting to manage it all.”
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“I wish I could visualize my progress.”
✅ Goal
Create a motivational, game-inspired platform that transforms job hunting into a trackable, rewarding, and emotionally supportive experience.
🔍 Approach
I designed a system where users set daily goals, track progress visually, and celebrate small wins. The UX writing tone was encouraging and human, helping users stay consistent without burnout.
💡 The Solution
UXPath is a personal career tracking tool for designers (and other creatives) to manage their job search journey visually and calmly.
Key idea: Combine practical organization with mental well-being.
👥 Researching My Users
Many junior designers, including myself, struggle with this. I follow the "Startup Designers" group on Facebook and various WhatsApp groups where young designers frequently share their frustrations.
🧍♀️ User Persona: “Dana, The Overwhelmed Job Seeker”
Name: Dana Cohen
Age: 32
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Occupation: Junior UX/UI Designer (recently graduated from a bootcamp)
Status: Actively job hunting
Personality: Organized chaos wrapped in pastel colors.
"If one more recruiter ghosts me, I might just start a ghosting-tracking app."
🎯 Goals
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Land her first or next UX/UI job quickly.
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Stay organized across multiple applications and interviews.
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Keep track of follow-ups, deadlines, and company details.
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Maintain motivation and emotional balance during the process.
😩 Frustrations
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Using too many tools (Notion + Excel + LinkedIn + sticky notes).
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Losing track of what she sent and when.
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Forgetting recruiter names or next steps.
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Feeling emotionally drained and unmotivated after rejection.
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No clear way to visualize her progress
💡 Needs
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A central, visual dashboard for all her applications.
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A gentle reminder system that doesn’t stress her out.
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A space to reflect and decompress after interviews.
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Tools that feel supportive, not mechanical or judgmental.
🧠 Tech Behavior
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Uses Figma, Notion, and LinkedIn daily.
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Loves calm, minimalist tools (Notion, Linear, Headspace).
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Distrusts cluttered dashboards or loud notifications.
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Works late nights — needs something that doesn’t drain her.
🧭 User Journey Map
💬 "Says" Summary
Lina expresses frustration, sarcasm, and exhaustion, but she’s still trying to stay optimistic (and caffeinated).
💬 "Does" Summary
Her actions reveal fragmentation — she’s trying to manage everything but lacks a calm, unified system.
💔 FEELS
Lina experiences a range of emotions from anxiety to. A well-designed product can help stabilize her feelings with clarity, structure, and gentle motivation.
😖 Overwhelmed by too much.
😔 Insecure from comparisons
😩 Disorganized despite good intentions.
😕 Confused about stages.
💪 Hopeful to improve.
😊 Rel when feeling in control and seeing progress.
✨ What This Tells Us
To assist Lina and all job-hunting designers, UXPath should:
✅ Be a supportive mentor, not a cold spreadsheet
✅ Replace chaos with soothing visuals.
✅ Make job tracking an engaging activity.
✅ Celebrate effort and progress, including small.
🗺️ User Journey Map: Dana’s Emotional Rollercoaster Ride 🎢
Here's a brief overview of Lina's daily journey, showcasing her work thoughts, pain points, areas for improvement.
⚠️ Key insights
User needs identified:
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A way to track applications easily
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Small, motivating tasks
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A clean daily routine
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Encouragement during emotional lows
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A sense of progress and achievements
🧩 Workflows & Task Structure
I mapped the ideal job-search workflow:
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Create or update portfolio
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Prepare CV & LinkedIn
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Search for roles
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Apply strategically
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Track applications
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Prepare for interviews
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Maintain mental balance
Key improvements
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Breaking large, overwhelming tasks into small, rewarding milestones
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A tracker with clear stages
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Daily micro-goals
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Built-in motivation through positive feedback
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A progress dashboard to reduce anxiety
💻 Wireframes & Concept Structure
Main features
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Dashboard: overview of tasks and progress
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Application Tracker: status, dates, notes, contacts
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Daily Checklist: small steps to reduce overwhelm
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Motivation Cards: encouraging messages
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Portfolio Prep Section: structure + best practices
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Gamification: XP, badges, completion streaks
Wireframe decisions
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Simple layouts with calm spacing
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Minimal cognitive load
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Very visual, very clear
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No crowded components or heavy text
🎨 Branding & UI Design
UXPath is intentionally:
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Soft (colors, rounded shapes)
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Friendly (gentle fonts, supportive tone)
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Non-judgmental (no harsh UI patterns)
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Calming (pastel palette, simple hierarchy)
Visual elements
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Rounded cards and buttons
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Gentle highlights instead of aggressive notifications
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Achievements designed like positive encouragement, not pressure
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Clean tables and trackers with clear states.
This creates a UI that feels like support rather than pressure.
Design Principles
UXPath was built around:
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Emotional wellness first
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Simplicity > complexity
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Calm visuals for stressful moments
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Guided structure for chaotic processes
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Small wins over big overwhelming tasks
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Positive reinforcement
Final
Design
The Dashboard is the core of the UX Staff Program, providing designers with a motivating overview of their search, progress, daily priorities, and emotional check-ins in a user-friendly interface.
The final design features a minimalist layout for usability and emotional balance, with clear sections, subtle color blocks, and easy navigation. Interactive checkboxes and sliders enhance user satisfaction through micro-inter.
💼 Jobs Tracker
The Jobs Tracker turns the chaotic job-search process into a structured, empowering journey.
Each application becomes a story — with stages, notes, and reminders — helping users see how far they’ve come instead of how far they still have to go.
✅ Why it matters
The Jobs Tracker screen provides users with a structure to log opportunities, track progress, and record essential details in one place. With a clean interface and supportive microcopy, it turns a stressful process into an empowering experience.
Final
Thoughts
🚀 Conclusion
This project reflects my passion for creating supportive, human-centered experiences, especially in emotionally challenging moments.
It combines UX thinking, emotional design, and my own lived experience navigating the design job market.
UXPath helps designers:
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Organize their job search
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Track progress across multiple applications
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Reduce emotional overwhelm
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Stay motivated with small achievements
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Build confidence throughout the process.
💡 Key Design Improvements
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Centralized job tracking hub that replaces scattered notes, docs, and boards.
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Progress visualization to shift users from “lost in applications” to “in control of momentum”
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Motivational micro-interactions that reinforce progress and reduce anxiety
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Structured job pipeline (discover → apply → track → follow-up → interview → offer)
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Emotion-aware UX, turning stress-heavy actions into smaller, rewarding steps
🧠 User Impact
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Helped users regain confidence during a psychologically heavy process.
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Made job search feel manageable instead of chaotic.
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Reduced cognitive load by centralizing tasks and clarifying progress.
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Supported consistency through emotional reinforcement, not just organization.
🔍 Design Challenge
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Designing not only for task efficiency but also for emotional resilience.
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Creating structure without making users feel pressured, overwhelmed, or “behind”.
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Balancing productivity tools with human-centered encouragement.
🧩 Design Principle Learned
Great UX isn’t just about solving actions — it’s about removing emotional friction.
Sometimes the best feature isn’t adding more, but simplifying more and designing for reassurance, clarity, and momentum.
⏭️ Next Steps
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Expand system to include auto-follow-up reminders & progress analytics.
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Test long-term retention for habit-forming.
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Add community support and shared success experiences.
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Develop AI-assisted resume and application suggestions.
