UX/UI Designer Capstone

The idea: In design, knowledge becomes skill only when you do the work — and the single artifact that gets you hired is a case study that shows how you think, from problem to tested solution. In this capstone you take one real product through the full design-thinking loop — research, information architecture, wireframes, a clickable Figma prototype, usability testing, and a polished high-fidelity UI built on a small design system — and package it all as a portfolio-ready case study.

How it works: Each deliverable unlocks after the syllabus topic that teaches its skill. You produce the artifact (a template is provided), submit it, and the app's AI reviews it against a rubric, gives you specific feedback, and lets you revise until it's solid. Finished deliverables assemble into the one piece of work that matters most in design hiring: proof of how you reason, not just what you can describe.

Your project: the FreshCart redesign (read this first)

End-to-End Product Redesign Case Study. Everything you build in the capstone serves one scenario, so read it carefully before Deliverable 1:

FreshCart, a 4-year-old online grocery-delivery startup, is hemorrhaging first-time shoppers. Analytics show 58% of new users abandon their very first order somewhere between browsing and checkout, and app-store reviews repeatedly call the app "confusing" and the checkout "a maze." Leadership has hired you — their first dedicated UX/UI designer — to diagnose why new shoppers drop off and redesign the core browse → cart → checkout flow so a first-timer can place an order in under three minutes.

You will research the drop-off, restructure the navigation and flow, design and prototype the new experience, test it with real users, and deliver a polished, on-brand UI built from a reusable component kit — then tell that whole story as your capstone case study. Use the same FreshCart problem for every deliverable so the artifacts form one coherent narrative.

The deliverables (your capstone arc)

#	Deliverable	Unlocks after	The skill it proves
1	Research & Personas Insight Report	Topic 4 (User research basics)	Grounding design in real user evidence
2	Information Architecture & User Flow Map	Topic 5 (Information architecture and user flows)	Structuring a product so people don't get lost
3	Wireframes & Clickable Prototype	Topic 6 (Wireframing and prototyping)	Making an idea testable before any polish
4	Usability Test Plan & Findings	Topic 7 (Usability and testing)	Letting real observation drive iteration
5	High-Fidelity UI & Mini Design System	Topic 9 (Design systems and Figma)	Shipping polished, on-brand, reusable UI
6	Portfolio Case Study	Topic 10 (Portfolio and landing the job)	Telling the whole story like a designer

Each deliverable builds on the last — the empathize/define research foundation feeds the IA and flows, which name the screens you wireframe and prototype, which you put in front of real users, then polish into the final high-fidelity solution, and finally weave into one case study.

1 — Research & Personas Insight Report (after Topic 4, ~75 min) A one-to-two-page research summary for FreshCart's first-time-shopper problem: the user segment, a primary persona, 3–5 sharp insights (facts vs. assumptions clearly labeled), and a set of neutral, past-behavior interview questions. This is the empathize/define foundation the whole case study builds on. Template: ../templates/research-insights-report.md.

2 — Information Architecture & User Flow Map (after Topic 5, ~70 min) An IA map (sitemap / nav structure with user-language labels) plus a step-by-step user-flow diagram for the core browse → cart → checkout journey, marking where first-timers get stuck and naming the screens the redesign actually needs. Template: ../templates/ia-and-user-flow.md.

3 — Wireframes & Clickable Prototype (after Topic 6, ~120 min) Low-to-mid fidelity wireframes for every screen in the redesigned checkout flow, linked into a clickable Figma prototype a person can tap through to complete a test order — the testable experience built before any visual polish. Template: ../templates/wireframes-and-prototype.md.

4 — Usability Test Plan & Findings (after Topic 7, ~90 min) A usability test plan (realistic task scenarios + what you'll observe) run with ~5 users on your prototype, written up as findings: where users hesitated, severity-ranked issues against usability heuristics, and the prioritized fixes you made — proof you let real observation drive iteration. Template: ../templates/usability-test-report.md.

5 — High-Fidelity UI & Mini Design System (after Topic 9, ~130 min) The polished, on-brand high-fidelity UI for the key checkout screens in Figma, built from a small reusable component kit (color/type tokens, buttons, inputs, cards) with accessibility-grade contrast and a clear visual hierarchy — the final "solution" screens of the case study. Template: ../templates/ui-and-design-system.md.

6 — Portfolio Case Study (after Topic 10, ~110 min) The complete case study that weaves Deliverables 1–5 into one narrative — problem → research → process (flows, wireframes, options explored) → solution → testing & outcome — written and structured to present in a portfolio and walk through in an interview. Template: ../templates/portfolio-case-study.md.

What "done" looks like

A complete capstone is six artifacts about one product (FreshCart), each passing its rubric, that together tell a single end-to-end story — from a researched problem to a tested, polished solution. The final deliverable, the Portfolio Case Study, is the piece you link from your resume and walk a hiring manager through line by line. A finished portfolio proves a UX/UI designer can do the real job: turn a vague business problem ("new users keep dropping off") into evidence, structure that evidence into flows and screens, test their work instead of trusting their taste, and ship UI that is both beautiful and accessible — all narrated in the language of the craft. When you reach the interview prep and the program schedule, you'll practice presenting these artifacts the way you would to a hiring manager, especially the portfolio walkthrough.

Tips

• Keep it real and specific. "Made checkout easier" is weak; "removed the forced account-creation step that made 3 of 5 test users hesitate, cutting the first-order flow from 6 screens to 4" is a designer thinking.
• Show your reasoning, not just the result. Hiring managers buy the process. Label facts vs. assumptions in your research, mark where users got stuck on the flow, and keep the options you explored and rejected — the thinking is the portfolio.
• Carry one thread through all six. A research insight in Deliverable 1 should visibly shape the IA in Deliverable 2, the screens you prototype in Deliverable 3, what you test in Deliverable 4, and the final UI in Deliverable 5. A coherent thread is exactly what makes Deliverable 6 a strong case study.
• Test before you polish. Build wireframes and prototype the experience (Deliverable 3) and put it in front of users (Deliverable 4) before investing in high-fidelity UI (Deliverable 5) — that order is the whole point of the design-thinking loop.
• Use the templates in ../templates/ as starting points, and revise based on the AI feedback rather than aiming for perfect on the first try (that's the whole loop).