Fair-ly is a mobile application designed primarily for volunteers looking to give their time to educate youth about their careers, making the process of finding opportunities more streamlined.
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Using Fair-ly, volunteers can easily search for opportunities in their area and have a convenient platform to connect and communicate with organizers
Fair-ly
​Jan 2023 - Mar 2023
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Role: UX Designer + Team Lead
Research Methods: Thematic Analysis, Interviewing, Sketching, Wire-framing, Prototyping, Competitive Analysis, Empathy mapping.
Team: Pichy Jumpholwang, Carson Walter, Vincent Kurniadjaja, Stephen Zheng
Secondary Research
Context
This project draws on four interview transcripts that were provided, each featuring local voices from the Santa Cruz community. A thematic analysis was conducted with the following questions in mind: What are this person’s goals and needs? What barriers are they facing? What partial solutions have they tried? What motivates them? What or who influences them? And how does their environment shape their actions? This framework helped surface patterns and shape the direction of the project.
Need finding
Thematic analysis of the interviews surfaced several core themes, each tied to specific needs and challenges within the community. From these themes, a few key problem areas emerged:
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Problem Area #1: Collaboration and Matchmaking
Volunteers and counselors often struggle to find the right opportunities that align with their interests, skills, and availability.
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Problem Area #2: Engaging and Visualizing
There’s a need for richer, more engaging ways to explore and understand different career paths—especially ones that go beyond surface-level descriptions.
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Then we narrowed it down to one problem statement!
“Volunteers struggle to find opportunities that match their skills and interests, while organizations have trouble reaching the right volunteers. A lack of visibility, personalization, and streamlined communication creates a disconnect on both sides."
Design & Implementation
Ideation
Kicked off ideation by generating a series of “How Might We” questions based on problem statements. These prompts framed thinking and opened space for a range of possible solutions. Each team member brainstormed individually—using techniques like Crazy 8s to quickly sketch ideas and prioritize quantity over perfection.
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After sharing and discussing concepts, overlapping themes and strong directions were synthesized into a focused solution. This iterative, collaborative process led to the development of Fair-ly.
How did these ideas turn into Fair-ly?
Building on ideas from the "How Might We" prompts, each member proposed an individual concept. The strongest elements were then merged to create an alternative solution that became Fair-ly.
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To refine the concept, follow-up interviews were conducted with professionals experienced in organizing career events like panels and fairs. Their feedback offered valuable insights, which were incorporated to ensure the product effectively addressed real-world needs.
How did these ideas turn into Fair-ly?
Building on ideas from the "How Might We" prompts, each member proposed an individual concept. The strongest elements were then merged to create an alternative solution that became Fair-ly.
​
To refine the concept, follow-up interviews were conducted with professionals experienced in organizing career events like panels and fairs. Their feedback offered valuable insights, which were incorporated to ensure the product effectively addressed real-world needs.
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After deciding to build an app connecting counselors with industry professionals who share their career paths with students, the process was broken down into key steps. Task flows were mapped to outline user interactions. Sketches and wireframes then visualized the app’s structure and functionality. These foundations guided the creation of low-fidelity prototypes, enabling iterative design refinements before moving on to high-fidelity prototypes.
Task Flow
Wireframes
Prototype
Personal Takeaways
Design
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Use components instead of copying and pasting elements for efficiency and consistency.
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Ensure better contrast in the design, avoiding colors like yellow that may not be accessible.
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Present more developed ideas visually rather than relying solely on verbal explanations.
UX
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Conduct broader surveys with counselors early on to better understand actual needs before narrowing down concepts.
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Focus on core services by avoiding unnecessary features like chat functions.
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Explore unique offerings such as automated matchmaking systems for events or reusable resource materials.
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Clearly define project goals and user needs from the outset.
Other
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Allocate more time to research and workflow testing to uncover gaps in user experience.
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Test concepts with students and gather additional feedback through targeted surveys.
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Develop a deeper understanding of the target audience to ensure solutions meet real-world needs.