FINOMABILITY

ROLE: PRODUCT DESIGNER
Website
Finding Opportunities as a Student Isn’t Easy — So We Built a Better Way

As a student, I realized how hard it was to get real-world experience before graduation. It wasn’t from a lack of ambition—many of us were eager to apply what we’d learned. But finding opportunities felt frustrating and confusing. I kept hearing the same thing from classmates: “I’d love to work on real projects, but where do I even start?”

At the same time, I saw how much our educators wanted to help us grow beyond the classroom. The problem? They didn’t always have the right tools or connections. And while some businesses were open to mentoring or collaborating, there wasn’t a clear way for them to reach students directly.
That gap is what sparked the idea behind Finomability—a collaborative platform that brings students, educators, and industry partners into one space. Our goal was to simplify how these three groups connect and collaborate on real-world projects, turning student learning into real-world experience.

THE CHALLENGE

Building Finomability wasn’t just about making a platform—it was about solving a multi-sided problem. We had to design a seamless experience for three different user groups, each with unique needs:

STUDENTS

needed a clear way to explore, join, and apply for industry projects.

Educators

needed visibility into student activity and progress without adding more to their plate.

Industry partners

needed a simple, approachable way to post opportunities and engage with student teams.
To approach this, I started by conducting a competitive analysis of similar platforms like Riipen and capsource. Most of these tools were either too enterprise-heavy, or lacked dedicated support for educators.

This research helped us spot key gaps—like clunky onboarding, lack of educator tools, or project discovery that felt overwhelming.

To validate our design ideas early, we tested our platform with all three user types—students, educators, and industry partners. Their feedback played a huge role in shaping the way each feature was designed.

It became clear early on: this wasn’t just about visuals—it was a bigger problem around clarity and ease of use. The solution had to be clean, scalable, and intuitive across all touchpoints. 

My Approach

To move forward, I mapped out user journeys for each audience. Rather than attempting to design everything at once, I focused on what each user group needed most and created targeted flows around those priorities:
A clean website to explain what Finomability is and who it’s for
A student dashboard for discovering and applying to projects
A business portal for creating, managing, and reviewing opportunities
An educator dashboard with just the right amount of visibility and control
Throughout the process, my focus was on clarity, simplicity, and alignment—every decision had to make the experience easier, not more complicated.

Designing for Students

Simplifying the student experience

The student flow was designed to reduce friction. From onboarding to project discovery and application, every screen had one goal: guide students without overwhelming them. I stripped away unnecessary distractions and kept it UI focused.

Making Applications Feel Effortless

I narrowed the application process to just two clear steps: setting up a team and sending an introduction. Progress indicators showed where they were in the process and what came next. This small change made a huge difference—it felt less like filling out a form and more like joining something meaningful.

Rethinking Project Discovery

Originally, the project discovery screen felt cluttered and disconnected. I redesigned it into a two-panel layout: a preview list on the left and full project details on the right. This helped students scan quickly and dive deeper only when something caught their eye.

for Industry Partners

A Smoother Project Posting Flow

Many industry users weren’t technical, so the project-posting process had to feel easy and approachable. I broke it into three friendly steps with supportive tooltips: define the project, categorize it, and set expectations. The interface guided them without making them guess.

A Dashboard That Stays on Track

With limited time, industry users needed a dashboard that focused on what mattered most. I highlighted top actions like “Publish Project” with an integrated calendar  to keep things organized.

Application Review, Made Simple

To simplify the application review process for industry partners, I focused on designing a clean overview screen that surfaces just the essentials: team name, educator email, project name, and submission date. This helps users assess applications at a glance without getting overwhelmed, keeping the interface quick and focused.

Designing for Educators

Just the Right Level of Control

Educators didn’t need a complex admin panel—they needed clarity. I designed a minimal dashboard that made it easy to view projects, track teams, and check schedules without digging through layers.

Managing Multiple Teams with Ease

Educators often oversaw several student groups. I created a “My Projects” view with sortable status tags so they could track progress at a glance and jump into details when needed.

Information That’s Easy to Digest

To help educators stay informed, I used a card layout to show goals, tasks, and communication side by side. This kept the layout clean, with context available at a glance.

Impact

We had the chance to showcase Finomability at SAIT’s Capstone Fair, and the response was beyond what we expected. Educators, students, and visitors showed genuine interest, and the Academic Chair of IT personally highlighted its potential. That sparked deeper conversations about how the platform could be used outside of SAIT. The feedback even led to connections with the University of Calgary, where we began exploring ways to share Finomability with a much wider audience.

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