PathBuilder: Supporting California Community College Students
How can 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.
The Problem
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.
Initial Research & Insights
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.
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 experience. Students could view their academic progress at a glance, explore how different majors aligned with their goals, and use their profile as a touchpoint for personalized recommendations. By aligning with the Guided Pathways framework while prioritizing student needs, the design proposed a future where digital tools could reduce barriers, support exploration, and give students greater confidence in their educational choices.
The video below was originally presented to a panel of ArtCenter College of Design faculty, followed by the most recent prototype explorations.
Following the presentation, the project was selected for the Fall 2025 GIXD Post-Graduate Fellowship. During the fellowship, the project expanded beyond course planning into a broader exploration of how digital systems shape a student’s sense of direction and agency. The work focused on refining the visual identity of the app, evolving the Theo AI assistant, and continuing to develop pathway visualizations that connected academic decisions to future opportunities.
The fellowship period also opened space to consider how AI is represented within educational platforms. Rather than functioning as a neutral chatbot, Theo was developed as a more recognizable presence within the experience. The character and name were chosen to evoke a sense of wisdom and familiarity, helping the assistant feel less clinical and more conversational within an often overwhelming institutional system.
Reflection
PathBuilder is speculative, but it demonstrates how reframing educational planning around student agency could meaningfully reshape the community college experience. The project reinforced the importance of pairing systems research with visual storytelling, using interaction design not only to organize information, but to make institutional structures feel more understandable for students navigating higher education.
The project continued to evolve during the ArtCenter College of Design GIXD Post-Graduate Fellowship, where the work expanded into questions surrounding AI representation, student trust, and the emotional experience of academic planning. During this phase, PathBuilder’s pathway visualizations and Theo AI assistant were further refined to explore how digital systems might feel more supportive and relational rather than purely administrative.
Future directions include testing with California Community College students and exploring how a platform like PathBuilder could exist within real institutional systems while still maintaining a student-centered experience.
I’m currently open to new opportunities in design and creative collaboration.
Let's Connect