CareerRobo
About project
A mobile-first app that helps students explore careers through real, unfiltered experiences instead of guesswork. It combines a TikTok-style feed of honest “day-in-the-life” content, quick interactive simulations to try real tasks, and low-pressure chats with professionals—allowing users to discover, test, and validate career paths before making decisions.
The Approach
Using Jakob Nielsen’s UX principle of Matching the System to the Real World, CareerRobo app is created to eliminate the "discovery deficit" caused by abstract career tools. The app is around Gen Z's native digital habits rather than forcing them into traditional, institutional career frameworks.
What I did
Market Research
Competitive analysis
User survey
Flow diagrams
Wireframes
Prototype
High-fidelity UI
Accessibility evaluation
Existing Research
The Promblem
The modern career journey is defined by a "discovery deficit."
75% of high school graduates feel unprepared to make career choices, which leads to 50% to 75% of college students switching their majors at least once.
This lack of early direction has long-term consequences: 50% of all workers—and 70% of Millennials—now regret their career path.
The Solution
The solution is to shift career decisions from guesswork to guided discovery. By giving students early access to personalized career exploration—through real-world insights, skill assessments, and clear roadmaps—they can make informed choices before committing years and money.
Competitive Analysis
I analysed 3 most popular platforms in the field - looking both at the user experience and negative app store comments to find patterns
Problems from the comments
User Survey
I started with a broad hypothesis that a career exploration app could help students make more confident decisions, but at the beginning it was unclear what features would actually be most useful or how students truly prefer to explore careers in practice. To better understand their real needs and pain points, I conducted interviews with high school and early university students to explore how they currently discover career paths, what influences their decisions, and where they feel most confused or unsupported in the process.
What is the biggest thing you wish you knew about your current career path (or major) before you actually started it?
40 PARTICIPANTS
80%
Career Assessment Accuracy
Generic quizzes, little real clarity
High school students often lack a clear picture of their own strengths and interests, and the generic quizzes most tools offer don't close that gap. 80% say these assessments gave them little to no real clarity on what path might suit them.
75%
Personalized Pathways
One-time results that never adapt
Most career platforms, service or assesment give a one-time result and never adapt as a student's interests change or deepen. 75% say the guidance they received felt static and didn't evolve with them.
60%
Real-World Industry Insight
Little exposure to the actual day-to-day
Students rarely get an honest look at what a job actually involves day-to-day, beyond a title and a salary range. 60% say they had little to no real exposure to what the work is actually like before committing to a path.
34%
Mentor/Counselor Support
Mostly left to figure it out alone
Most students are left to figure out their career path largely on their own, with little access to real human guidance. Only 34% felt they had meaningful mentor or counselor support when it mattered most.
Notable Comments
“I thought I wanted business, but I have no idea what people actually do in it day to day.”
Maya
High School Student
“The workload and stress are way higher than I expected, it doesn’t feel like what I saw online.”
Sofia
Professionel
“I wish someone showed me real examples before I chose this, not just the fun parts.”
Daniel
Design Student
Initial research shows
Traditional career tools feel boring, abstract, and disconnected from real work — so students disengage. CareerGuide makes career exploration fast and hands-on: a "5-Minute Test Drive" lets students try real job tasks through interactive simulations, and "Coffee Chat" connects them with professionals for quick, low-pressure guidance. Together, they turn career discovery from passive reading into active, real-world exploration
User Flow
To out line all the necessary functionality I created a simple flow diagram of the main tasks users can do. One of the flows is shown below.
Main Client Flow
Low-fidelity Wireframes
Once the flow is established , I stared creating the low-fidelity wireframes of the main flow.
High-fidelity UI Design
Once the initial flow was complete. I started by creating a couple of the main screens of the app. I started by defining the fonts and colors
Color palette
Accent, primary, secondary, background
Main CTA button color
Font
Inter
High-fidelity walkthrough of the Career Guide app showing onboarding quiz, TikTok-style Real-Day career feed, 5-Minute Test Drive simulation, and Coffee Chat messaging.
Figma File
A snapshot of my Figma file.
02
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