Project Brief
Context
B2C B2B
AI tool
Edtech
Project Details
MVP
Jan'25 - August'25
Mobile and desktop
My Role
Product designer
UI and illustrations
User testing
Team
Developers
Brand managers
Product managers
What I do
ASU Learning Enterprise
I worked as a Product Designer at ASU Learning Enterprise (LE), where we collaborated with companies like Adidas, Uber, and Starbucks to support their workforce in upskilling. CareerCatalyst is a platform created by LE to provide access to high-quality, industry-aligned education with ASU Online.
Background
After conversation with Uber, we noted that despite ASU's vast course catalog, their employees struggle to:
Understand course relevance
Learners were unclear about how individual courses would contribute to their overall learning goals or certifications.
Navigate course sequencing
There was a lack of transparency around the optimal order of courses, making it challenging to follow a structured learning path.
Customize a learning journey
Users had limited flexibility in refining their pathways, which reduced personalization and increased frustration.
Project Overview
To design a UX solution that helps students navigate ASU’s course catalog by generating personalized learning pathways based on their background and goals. Each pathway bundles courses, tests, videos, and projects, offering a structured, customizable learning experience with enhanced usability and transparency.
AI-Powered Personalization
Learners enter their background and goals to generate tailored pathways.
Offer flexible customization.
Users can customize their pathway
Increased visibility
Enhance discoverability of relevant courses according to goals by leveraging AI-generated pathways.
Bundled Content
Pathways include a mix of courses, assessments, and projects for a holistic learning experience.
How Was This Solved ?
Ideation and solution exploration
The UX team collaborated with stakeholders and learners to brainstorm potential solutions. Through workshops, brainstorming sessions, and user interviews, they explored various concepts
Research
After several rounds of research and feedback, the Pathway Builder emerged as the most effective solution, directly addressing user pain points with personalized course paths and enhanced insights into course relevance.
Defining the solution
Through Pathway Buidler we aimed to empower learners to personalize thier education journey by creating and adjusting course pathways. After inputting their background and goals, users can drag and drop courses, receiving real-time feedback on how changes affect their progress.
User Research
During ideation, we recognized that the issue being addressed might
extend beyond our current scope, potentially affecting other partner companies as well.
To gain deeper insights and better understand real user pain points,
we conducted user interviews based on the developer prototype.
Online Students
Age 18-35
Uber Employees
Age 24-50
Stakeholders
from Uber, Starbucks and Adidas
User Interviews
Conducted with current ASU students to understand their goals, preferences, and pain points when selecting courses. Identified patterns in how users interpreted course relevance.
Surveys
Identified common challenges with course navigation and lack of guidance.
Sketches
Early sketches visualizing the pathway generation flow, course bundles, and cart functionality.
Competitor Analysis
Analyzed similar educational platforms to identify best practices in pathway customization and course bundling.
Michel Lee
Career Switching, 30
Persona 1
Mid-career professional seeking new career paths
David Johnson
Professional, 35
Persona 2
Exploring different career pathways
Emily Brown
Upskilling, 24
Persona 3
Looking for skilling up and job-market-relevant skills
Usability Testing
Evaluated the effectiveness of the developer prototype, measuring task completion rates, error rates, and user satisfaction.
Brainstorming
My work started here in the early stages, I created low-fidelity wireframes to map the user flow and structure of the Pathway Builder. These sketches were based on round 1 of user research insights.
Landing Page
Find Pathway
Student Background
Select Pathway
Expand Pathway
Commit to Pathway
User Stories
Could Have
As a user, I don’t just want courses in a pathway, I also need the additional steps needed to actually get the job/promotion.
As a learner, I need a system that can take my modular learning pathway and validate it in some form of credential that an employer would recognize.
vs
Should Have
As a learner, I need to be able to see why courses are recommended to me so that I can assess whether or not they align with my stated learning goal.
As a learner, I want to be able to refine my learning pathway so that I can improve suggestions and remove those that are not useful to me.
vs
Must Have
As a learner, I want to see a sequenced learning path (i.e. courses and the order I should be taking them in) so that I can see how my learning will progress towards my goal.
As a learner, I need to be able to state my career goal in an open ended way so that the system knows what my desired end state is.
Usabilty Testing
The testing involved a diverse group of participants to gather comprehensive feedback on the tool's effectiveness, usability, and overall experience.
Testing tasks
Task 1
Browse course catalog page to find a course.
Task 2
Add background and goal information.
Task 3
Review Pathway Recommendation.
Task 4
Add pathway recommendation to cart.
Testing Insights
Testing Insight 1: Navigation Fix
Users must navigate back to edit their education and background, adding an extra step to the flow.
To tackle this, background and goal fields were added at the top for easy access and editing.
Testing Insight 2: Flow Inefficiency
Participants returned to the catalog due to the hassle of adding a resume and LinkedIn.
To streamline the journey, I replaced it with a simple text box for background input.
Testing Insight 3: Feedback Functionality
The pathway editor allowed users to remove irrelevant courses but lacked a feedback option.
Adding feedback helped the tool learn and generate more accurate pathways.
Rebranding
During testing, users found the name "Pathway Builder" confusing,
suggesting it might generate entirely new courses using AI.
To address this misconception and improve clarity, we renamed it to "Navigator."
Pathway Builder
Navigator
Hi-Fidelity
User Journey
Final designs
What's next
Next Steps
The Navigator was released after multiple rounds of research and testing driven by learner needs. It aims to empower users with personalised, goal-driven pathways, making it easier to discover, customise, and enrol in courses that align with their aspirations.
Check out the live website here: https://careercatalyst.asu.edu/
Impact
Higher Retention
Clear, goal-oriented pathways encourage enrollment in relevant courses.
Continuous Improvement
Feedback loops will enable iterative enhancements for more accurate recommendations.
Illustrations
Learning
User-Centric Design: Prioritizing learner needs through continuous research and testing leads to more intuitive, impactful solutions.
Iterative Development: Multiple rounds of prototyping and feedback are essential for refining functionality and usability.
AI-Powered Personalization: Leveraging AI for customized learning pathways enhances relevance and user satisfaction.
Clear Communication: Transparent, goal-driven pathways with actionable insights improve trust and engagement.
Data-Driven Decisions: Usability testing and behavioral insights are key to continuous improvement and informed design choices.
