A clearer path for newcomers to Canada
The brief
Where this started
Skilled immigrants arrive to a maze: over 550 IRCC-funded service providers, high underemployment, and difficulty validating international credentials. I led the design of DataUpskill, a human-centric, data-driven platform that consolidates fragmented resources and guides users through skill assessment, career planning and networking.
The friction
What was getting in the way
A complex, scattered ecosystem of settlement services.
High rates of underemployment among skilled immigrants.
Difficulty validating international credentials and identifying transferable skills.
The response
What we built instead
Assessment of personal and professional credentials: soft and technical skills, strengths and gaps.
A personalized awareness dashboard with job market insights, trends and demographic analytics.
Career planning dashboards visualizing pathways, progress and milestones.
A recommendation engine plus networking and mentorship connections.
The method
How the evidence led there
User research
sessions with immigrant job seekers and service providers to identify challenges and map workflows.
Design
journey maps, wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes in Miro and Figma.
Validation
usability testing with iterative refinement of dashboards, profiles and recommendation flows.
Intelligence
AI-driven insights and analytics integrated to personalize guidance.
The result
What changed
Simplified access to employment resources, reducing cognitive overload.
Users identify skill gaps and career pathways more efficiently.
Increased engagement through personalized dashboards and ML-powered recommendations.
Why it matters: Designing for newcomers means designing for the widest range of contexts, languages and digital comfort levels, which is to say, designing well.
Full walkthrough deck, Miro boards and Figma prototypes available on request (NDA-protected). Get in touch.