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Career pathway · UI/UX Design

Design screens real customers use. Show the evidence.

UI/UX designers decide how a product feels to use. You research what customers need, map the flows, design the screens and test them with real people. At an early tech startup your designs go live, and you leave with a portfolio built on real products and real results.

Voluntary and fully remote. Up to three hours a day across a 60 Volunteer day term. A portfolio of course projects is enough to begin.

Design review · first-run screens
Research8 customer interviews, 3 key pain points
FlowSign-up reduced from 7 steps to 4
PrototypeClickable prototype in Figma
Test5 usability sessions, 2 fixes found
HandoverSpecs and components for front-end
Approved by the Tech FounderShipping next sprint
A human capital platform where people advance their careers through real, referenceable outcomes.
70,000+
Volunteers
158+
Countries
225+
Tech startups helped
6+
Years in operation
Why design at a startup

Course projects show skill. Live products show impact.

Hiring managers see many portfolios full of practice briefs and redesigns of famous apps. What stands out is design that real customers used, with the research behind it and the results after it. A Volunteer Term gives you exactly that.

1

Real customers

Interview and test with the people the product is built for.

2

Designs that ship

Your screens are built by developers and released to customers.

3

Measured results

Before and after numbers that show what your design changed.

The scope of the role

What a UI/UX designer owns.

Some Volunteers lean towards research and experience design, others towards visual interface design. Most early tech startups need both.

Area 01

User research

Understand who the customers are and what gets in their way.

Plan and run customer interviews
Build personas and journey maps
Share findings the team can act on
Area 02

Experience design

Design flows that are simple, clear and accessible.

Map user flows and information architecture
Sketch and wireframe options
Design for accessibility from the start
Area 03

Interface design

Turn approved flows into polished screens and components.

Design high-fidelity screens in Figma
Build and extend the design system
Hand over clear specs to developers
Area 04

Testing and iteration

Prove the design delivers, then improve it.

Run usability tests with prototypes
Track completion and drop-off
Iterate on what the evidence shows
The team around you

Design with product and engineering, not in isolation.

Designers at tech startups collaborate daily with the product manager who sets the priorities and the developers who build the screens.

Your design portfolio

Leave with case studies built on real products.

Every Volunteer Term leaves you with evidence a hiring manager can open and check.

Shipped designs

Screens and flows that are live in a real product.

Research you led

Interview findings and journey maps that shaped the product.

Usability evidence

Test results and the changes they led to.

A design system

Components and guidelines you built or extended.

A Tech Founder reference

A reference from the Tech Founder you collaborated with.

A global community

Connections with product managers, developers and founders across 158+ countries.

Getting started

Start in three steps.

Three simple moves to begin building demonstrable design experience.

1

Create your profile

Sign up and link your portfolio, even if it is course projects for now.

2

Match with a tech startup

Apply to UI/UX design opportunities, up to three at a time.

3

Design from Day 1

Agree the outcome brief, post daily and weekly updates, and deliver from Day 1.

Design for real customers, not practice briefs.

Join a tech startup's product team for a 60 Volunteer day term. Free, fully remote and flexible.