Making Converstaional AI Feel More Human.

KINDRED

My Role
1 of 3 UX Designer

Project Type
Client project: Pre-launched

Timeline & Methods
3 weeks agile sprint, MSCOW, Persona, Mid-Fidelity

Client Challenge

Competitive Analysis

User Interviews

These early interviews laid the groundwork for KINDRED's tone, visual language, and feature set, especially our focus on warmth, support, and humanized AI.

Conducted 6 in-depth user interviews with recent graduates navigating their early career journeys and alumni 3-5 years out reflecting on the outer. The objective was to uncover emotional and behavioral insights that would guide the direction of Kindred’s core features.

Research Goals:

Understand how grads are currently approaching networking
Explore how people feel about using AI in professional development tools
Discover what would make a platform feel safe, encouraging, and worth using regularly conversations or help prepare for awkward career moments.

The Backstory

KINDRED is a pre-launch network intelligence platform that is business to business, built to support early alumni career professionals at one of the most uncertain and isolating times in their journey after graduation. With AI-powered practice tools, smart alumni matchmaking, we are looking to make user feel seen and have meaningful career connections.

As we approached this task, we were excited by the opportunity to help people navigate their career paths through an interactive AI experience. Along the way, questions began to arise like what kind of AI were we building? What information would it collect or require from the organization? These questions naturally led us to reflect on ethical design, transparency, and how to build user trust while being mindful of our own biases and assumptions around AI.

Organizations want deeper relationships with their alumni, but too often miss the mark with one-size-fits-all outreach. Emails get ignored, events go unattended, and valuable connections slip through the cracks.

How do we design for AI interaction perience that feels human and helpful?

How might Kindred offer alumni real value and give organizations the insight they need to foster smarter, deeper connections?

As I explored alumni platforms like Boardy, Hivebrite, TalkHiring, Prentus, and Protopia, a pattern emerged, many felt impersonal, with a fragmented interaction flow causing friction, cold tones, and confusing interfaces that made genuine connection hard.

Tools like Prentus and Protopia showed it doesn’t have to be that way; their clean navigation and more human centered design offered a glimpse of what’s possible. These insights helped shape Kindred’s vision: a platform that feels intuitive, warm, and truly supportive, where connection isn’t just functional, but meaningful.

"I find networking challenging and often struggle to make meaningful professional connection."

" I rely on AI tools for job applications, resume building, and interview preparation."

"I benefit significantly from sustainable mentorship and community support post-graduation."

Insights:

Most participants felt overwhelmed by traditional platforms like LinkedIn, describing them as “cold,” “performative,” and “not made for people like me.”
Many expressed wanting to stay connected with their alums but get lost with time.
The idea of “practice personas” and AI support was met with curiosity, especially if it could simulate real-life

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Affinity Mapping: The Journey is Colorful.

Primary Persona & Problem Statement

After synthesizing the research, this is how the Persona Sonia was defined. Sonia is a recent graduate of a coding bootcamp, determined to transition into a fulfilling career in tech. Feeling connected is something she deeply values she wants to learn from experienced professionals and boost her confidence to help her growth.

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"Networking has always felt like a struggle. I've looked for events in person, but I couldn't find the easily, so I gave up. It has to reach me, versus me searching."

FRUSTRATIONS

Struggles to find meaningful professional connection.
Networking feels exhausting, surface level and mentally tiring.
Hard to find networking events that feel valuable or accessible.

GOALS

Easier access to mentorship that fit with her goals.
Prefers guided, meaningful connections over casual or cold networking.
Needs deeper conversations, generic mentorship is not enough

Sonia Gul

32 years Coding Graduate

Looking through Sonia’s lens, I was able to refine the overall design strategy, synthesize user needs into actionable insights, and surface emotional touchpoints that aligned with key user flows.Sonia’s journey illuminated critical pain points in the networking space.

Journey Mapping

User Flow

We designed the flow to feel natural and supportive, starting with the welcome experience and a brief onboarding moment. From there, users are introduced to Smart Connections, where they can explore recommended alumni.

The Design

When it came to the visual design of Kindred, we had the creative freedom to shape its identity. We explored how we wanted the experience to feel, balancing warmth with intelligence.

Words like “clever,” “trustworthy,” and “welcoming” came up often in our conversations with the client as we aligned on tone and brand.

We also dove into the representation of the AI itself. Should it be animated? Should it have a personality maybe a friendly robot? Or would a more abstract, elegant presence like a glowing Siri-like symbol, better support the experience?

How it started

How it ended

Mid-Fidelity

At this stage, we were testing information architecture, refining user flows, and validating functionality to make sure the experience would truly support our users. Below are some of the initial wireframes that helped lay the foundation.

Figma File

Hi-Fidelity Prototype

Closer Look