Supporting Student Progress in Community Colleges
How might we help California Community College students plan their education with more clarity and confidence?
This was a semester-long speculative design project focused on the challenges students face when navigating complex academic pathways. The project was completed as my graduate thesis at ArtCenter College of Design. My role included leading research, concept development, and interaction design.
California Community College students often face unclear pathways to graduation. While the state’s Guided Pathways initiative aims to bring structure, existing tools are fragmented, hard to use, and don’t always align with students’ real needs.
Key challenges students reported:
-
Difficulty tracking progress toward degree requirements.
-
Limited visibility into how courses connect to majors or careers.
-
Overwhelming systems with jargon and poor usability.
Below are 2 screenshots from Assist, one of the primary tools that students use to manage their goals. As is, it felt a little impersonal with jargon that could be confusing for students who are new to the CCC system. It is also browser-based which may not be ideal for busy students who need their information on the go.
The Problem
I conducted interviews with current and former community college students, reviewed state resources like Assist.org and CCC’s MyPath initiative, and mapped out common pain points in the enrollment and advising process.
Findings included:
-
Students wanted a clearer sense of progress (“Am I on track to graduate?”).
-
Many relied on advisors or peers to interpret requirements.
-
Exploration was limited. Many students discovered majors or careers that they were interested in too late.
Below is a glimpse at what one of the surveys distributed to CCC students looked like.
Initial Research & Insights
Design Goals
To create a digital experience that makes pathways more visible, progress more tangible, and exploration more approachable. The ultimate goal was to empower CCC students to feel in control of their academic journey.
Early Prototyping & Feedback
Early concepts focused on three core experiences: a progress dashboard that visualized milestones toward graduation, a personal profile where students could define their goals and interests, and an exploration feature that allowed them to search by major, career, or personal interest. These flows were developed in Figma and tested with peers to ensure clarity.
Some of my low-fidelity prototypes can be seen below along with feedback to follow.
Early concepts focused on three core experiences: a progress dashboard that visualized milestones toward graduation, a personal profile where students could define their goals and interests, and an exploration feature that allowed them to search by major, career, or personal interest. These flows were developed in Figma and tested with peers to ensure clarity.
Some of my low-fidelity prototypes can be seen below along with feedback to follow.
Outcome
Outcome
The final prototype of PathBuilder brought these ideas together in a cohesive mobile app. Students could see their academic progress at a glance, explore how different majors aligned with their goals, and use their profile as a touchstone for recommendations. By aligning with the Guided Pathways framework while prioritizing student needs, the design highlighted a future where digital tools could reduce barriers and give students greater confidence in their choices.
The following video below was presented to a panel of Art Center faculty. Following that, I will include the most recent prototypes. The project was selected for a Fellowship award where I will continue to develop it throughout Fall 2025.
The final prototype of PathBuilder brought these ideas together in a cohesive mobile app. Students could see their academic progress at a glance, explore how different majors aligned with their goals, and use their profile as a touchstone for recommendations. By aligning with the Guided Pathways framework while prioritizing student needs, the design highlighted a future where digital tools could reduce barriers and give students greater confidence in their choices.
The following video below was presented to a panel of Art Center faculty. Following that, I will include the most recent prototypes. The project was selected for a Fellowship award where I will continue to develop it throughout Fall 2025.
Reflection
PathBuilder is speculative, but it reveals how reframing educational planning around student agency could make an immediate impact. The process reinforced for me the importance of combining research with visual storytelling and highlighted the potential for interaction design to create clarity within complex systems. As it will continue to be developed during the ArtCenter Post-Graduate Fellowship, the next steps will involve testing with CCC students and working with institutions to address implementation challenges.