AXIS
Turning exploration into clarity
Traditional education is structured around fixed paths, limiting how students explore beyond their immediate field of study. This case study explores how Axis can support early exploration without deciding on a path prematurely.
Mobile design
End-to-end experience
YEAR
Jun 2025 - Nov 2025
ROLE
Product Designer
Outcomes
→
88% adoption rate
Users expressed intent to adopt Axis if it were available.
→
42% boost in engagement
Increase in time spent exploring across multiple sectors from 1st to 2nd testing.
→
All users discovered new resources
All users discovered cross-disciplinary connections they hadn’t considered before.
Context
Why Axis exists
Most students choose a path shaped by exposure.
Limited exposure narrows your view of what’s possible, closing off careers that sit at the intersection of fields.
When disciplines collide, students become more than the sum of what they studied. They meet a version of themselves they couldn’t have predicted.
Strategic vision: Turning curiosity into signal
Axis is built on the belief that something electric happens when different worlds collide. Students find themselves.
System gap
Siloed by design
Exploration is split across two environments. Within institutions, it is structured through disciplines while outside them, it becomes mainly self-directed.
Education remains siloed, so students are asked to choose a direction before they understand how fields intersect.
As a result, students stall or settle for what feels safe.
“Knowing what’s happening in big industries can influence what you decide to do. As a student, this kind of exposure is so valuable because it opens your eyes to trends and industries you wouldn’t encounter in school.”
Usability tester,
Student
Opportunity
How Axis stands apart
Most education and career platforms assume students already know what they want to pursue. They’re built for execution, not exploration.
Axis operates earlier, before students have narrowed down their options.
How might we help students explore unexpected fields with clarity without settling too early on what feels safe?
Behavioral insights
The spark behind exploration
When people see unexpected but plausible connections, they lean in.
Early signals
Students found value in the cross-disciplinary connections they hadn’t encountered before, gaining new perspective on interests they already had.
A new approach to student growth
Meet Axis
Axis is an adaptive, discovery system for early exploration.
It reveals cross-disciplinary intersections between students’ interests and fields they wouldn’t discover on their own.
“I like how it guided me on what to read next and how fields connect. It made me want to keep exploring.”
Usability tester
Finding the right structure
Reframing the approach
We assumed discovery meant showing students more possibilities.
That assumption didn’t hold. When connections weren’t clear, more content added noise instead of clarity.
Exploration didn’t need more information, it needed structure.
1st MVP: Trusted starting point
Students didn’t know where to begin.
Instead of showing every possible path, Axis introduces a small set of clear starting points that connect students’ interests to fields they hadn’t considered.
That starting point activates exploration.
Recommendations backed by credible publications students already trust.
All participants
described recommendations as relevant and trustworthy.
2nd MVP: Structure and continuity
Exploration without structure generates noise, not clarity.
The experience is structured around familiar discovery patterns so students revisit and continue exploring.
Over time, signals accumulate and connections become recognizable.
Library was restructured around familiar content patterns.
Supported re-engagement by making saved content easier to revisit over time.
Powered by interests
Reinforcing layers
Axis maps students’ interests across disciplines, revealing the cross-disciplinary connections they were never exposed to early on.
CLEAR STARTING POINT
Exploration starts credibly
→
A small set of trusted topics defines the starting point
Reducing uncertainty around where to begin.
EMERGING CONNECTIONS
Discovery through connections
→
Connections across topics and formats are shown as students explore
Making unexpected connections visible as exploration unfolds.
PATTERN RECOGNITION
Cross-disciplinary patterns revealed
→
Axis identifies patterns across explored fields before students can articulate them
Guiding students across fields and beyond early, safe defaults.
From settling early to moving with clarity
Clarity through structured exploration
By anchoring students to a clear starting point and reinforcing how connections build, Axis guides them across fields so they don’t default early to what feels safe.
“I would have loved access to this platform when I was a student. I would still use it now.”
Usability tester, Recent graduate
Future facing
What’s next?
Axis is still a concept. Behavior over time hasn’t been tested yet, but what Axis needs to work at scale is now possible.
The north star metric is simple: did students leave with a connection they couldn’t articulate before they arrived? That’s the signal I’d want to track.
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Mobile design
End-to-end experience
View case study