When I joined Degreed, the product existed only as a desktop portal. I was hired to design the mobile app from the ground up and later led multiple iterations as the product matured.

Role: Lead designer

Timeline: 4 Months

Team: 1-2 developers

Challenge: Bring Degreed to mobile without duplicating the complexity of the web app

The desktop portal worked fine at a desk, but learners wanted to engage in shorter, more frequent moments throughout the day. Degreed needed a mobile experience that made learning lightweight, simple, and always accessible.

The first explorations leaned into interactive concepts, like swiping through cards in a carousel.

It felt fun and game-like in early testing.

Over time, the novelty wore off.

Engineering complexity made it difficult to scale.

Ultimately, this approach wasn’t the right long-term foundation.

We stepped back and designed around a vertical feed — a familiar, scalable interaction that users already understood.

• A daily feed of 5 items (~20–25 minutes of content)

• Save for Later

• Push notifications

• A basic profile

This gave learners just enough to make Degreed part of their daily routine.

One of the most valuable features was integrating with iOS share extensions. Learners could save content from Safari, YouTube, or podcasts directly into Degreed.It felt fun and game-like in early testing.

As adoption grew, customers wanted more functionality. We added features carefully, while protecting the app’s lightweight nature.

By 2019, Degreed refreshed its brand and redesigned the web Learner Home. Mobile needed to evolve alongside it.

We used the moment to both modernize the UI and simplify the experience:

• A daily feed of 5 items (~20–25 minutes of content)

• Save for Later

• Push notifications

• A basic profile