Design practice

Redesign with Research

End-to-end portfolio project from research to design

Start the exercise

01 / Prepare

What you’ll
work on.

Take an existing product or feature with known UX issues and redesign it through a structured process: research, problem definition, ideation, design, and testing. This produces a portfolio-ready case study that demonstrates process, not just visual output.

Before you begin

  • Basic experience with user research, wireframing, and prototyping
  • Figma proficiency (components, auto layout, prototyping)
  • Access to 3–5 people for research and testing

02 / Practice

The work,
step by step.

Work through these 5 parts at your own pace. Keep your notes and work together so you can review them when you finish.

  1. Research

    4–5 hours

    1. Choose a product — Pick something with friction you've experienced personally

    2. Conduct 3 user interviews — Using the skills from the interview exercise

    3. Run a brief competitive analysis — How do 2–3 competitors solve the same problem?

    4. Synthesize — Affinity map your findings, identify top 3 pain points

  2. Define

    2–3 hours

    1. Write a problem statement — "[Users] need [a way to X] because [reason], but [current barrier]"

    2. Create a user flow — Map the current experience vs. your proposed experience

    3. Define success metrics — What would improvement look like? (task completion, time, satisfaction)

  3. Design

    5–6 hours

    1. Sketch 3 different approaches — Diverge before converging

    2. Wireframe the strongest direction — Low-fidelity, focusing on structure and flow

    3. Build a high-fidelity prototype in Figma — Key screens with realistic content

    4. Apply design system thinking — Use consistent components, tokens, and spacing

  4. Test

    3–4 hours

    1. Run 3 usability tests — Task-based, think-aloud protocol

    2. Document findings — What worked, what confused people, severity of issues

    3. Iterate — Make 2–3 improvements based on test results

  5. Case Study

    2–3 hours

    1. Write up the process — Research, Define, Design, Test, Iterate

    2. Show decision-making — Why you chose this approach over alternatives

    3. Include metrics — Even informal ones (3/3 users completed the task vs. 1/3 before)

03 / Review

Look at what
you’ve made.

Gather your deliverables, then use the criteria to find what worked and what you would change. They also give a peer something specific to respond to.

What to bring together

  • Research synthesis (affinity map, key insights)
  • Problem statement and user flow
  • 3 sketch explorations
  • Figma prototype (5–8 key screens)
  • Usability test findings and iteration notes
  • Written case study (portfolio-ready)

How to assess your work

Research rigor
Real user input, not assumptions. Synthesis that connects to design decisions
Problem framing
Clear, specific problem statement grounded in research
Design quality
Consistent, accessible, responsive. Shows design system thinking
Testing
Evidence of real testing with real people. Honest about what didn't work
Storytelling
Case study reads as a coherent narrative, not a list of steps

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