Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY)
Nonprofit Client
Mobile App
Team Project
A coaching app that helps justice-impacted youth navigate the justice system and stay connected with the coaches who support them. When my team inherited the product, much of the core experience was already in place. I helped guide its next stage by leading a team of designers, building a scalable design system, and redesigning key features.
00
Introduction
About FLY
Meeting youth where they are
FLY is a Bay Area nonprofit that supports justice-impacted youth as they navigate the justice system and build toward meaningful personal and professional opportunities.
The FLY coaching app extends that support beyond in-person sessions, giving youth a place to check in, set goals, access resources, and stay connected with their coach.
Context
Starting with an existing product
When we inherited the project, much of the core experience had already been designed and engineering was starting to build from it. A major redesign would have disrupted work that was already underway, so instead we stepped back and asked where design could make the biggest difference.
Opportunity
The problem and our solution
We identified two key gaps: an inconsistent foundation and opportunities to better support youth in their day-to-day lives while strengthening trust and connection between youth, their coaches, and the app.
To address them, we focused on building a scalable design system and creating + refining key experiences through design and testing.
01
Design system
Creating a system for what came next
The previous cohort had created a design library, but it was limited and did not provide enough consistency or flexibility for the product to grow. I built a new library using Figma's Simple Design System as a starting point, and then adapted it to FLY's needs.
I used a WCAG 2.2 AA audit of the existing designs to inform the new system, refining the color palette, establishing typography guidelines, creating semantic tokens, and building reusable components and patterns.
Designing for scale
I wanted the system to be useful beyond the screens we were designing. Our cohort was only one part of a longer project, so I focused on creating a foundation that future designers and engineers could continue building from rather than a collection of one-off components.
02
Quick guides
Initial designs
First iterations
FLY had been compiling mini guides for situations where youth might need information quickly, such as being stopped by police. Our initial approach placed them inside the existing Resource Hub alongside other educational information. The structure made sense based on the content, but we wanted to see whether it made sense to the people using it.
User Testing
I ran a recorded interaction test where each participant was given a scenario and asked to find the guide that could help them. This included situations involving alcohol at a party, being stopped by a police officer, and encountering ICE.
Most participants struggled to find the feature or selected the wrong category because the labels and organization did not match how they were thinking about the situation. The information existed, but the path to it was not clear enough.
Insights
Learning about your rights is different from needing help right now
The testing helped me recognize that these were two different user needs. Someone browsing to learn about their rights has time to explore, while someone in a stressful situation needs to quickly recognize where to go.
That meant Quick Guides could not be nested layers deep within a broader resource library. They needed to be easier to recognize and reach in the moment.
Redesign
Bringing the right information closer
Based on what we learned, I moved Quick Guides out of the Resource Hub. I also gave each situation a clearer label, renamed categories that caused confusion, and got rid of unnecessary details.
The final structure was designed around what a young person might actually be thinking in that moment: recognize the situation, find the guide, and get the information they need.
03
Chats, streaks, and development
Product Direction
Guiding the broader experience
While I worked hands-on on the design system and Quick Guides, I also helped guide the direction and scope of several other experiences. As Design Manager, I worked with the client and design team to clarify goals, make product decisions, and keep the work aligned with the broader experience.
Chats
Balancing connection with accountability
The chat experience gave youth and coaches a space to communicate freely, but we also needed to consider how the product could handle inappropriate language. I helped guide a flagging system that could alert both the youth and coach when certain language was detected.
One important decision was keeping the final action in the coach's hands. A typo or misunderstanding should not automatically become a permanent part of a young person's record. Instead, coaches could use their judgment to determine whether a flagged interaction needed to be documented or escalated.
Streaks
Encouraging engagement without creating pressure
The inherited streak experience celebrated a user's progress but did not clearly explain how to maintain it. Working with FLY, I helped define which actions could contribute to a streak and how often users would need to engage.
The updated experience expanded the flow and included a checklist showing what counted toward a streak, progress indicators, and Streak Restores so that an unexpected circumstance would not erase someone's progress. The goal was to encourage consistent engagement without creating unnecessary pressure.
Supporting Development
Designing for what the team needed to build
Throughout the project, we also completed work that assisted the development team and gave them the resources they needed to build a working MVP. This included updating onboarding user flows to better match the feasibility of authentication and verification.
We also created a dedicated admin webpage view so information about users, events, and youth/coach pairings could be updated more easily and important metrics could be viewed. Not every part of our work was user-facing, but these tools helped make the product easier to build and manage.
04
Prototype
Youth
Coach
05
Impact
For FLY
While the app has not launched yet, our impact is in the foundation we left behind: a more scalable design system, a Quick Guides experience reshaped through user testing, and stronger product experiences across the youth and coach sides of the app.
More importantly, the work was designed to continue beyond our cohort. We built on what the previous team left behind and aimed to give the next team a stronger place to start.
“They’ve left us with both a stronger product and a foundation we’re genuinely excited to keep building on.”
Kassa Belay, Vice President of Programs and Impact, Fresh Lifelines for Youth
Looking back
Key takeaways
Test assumptions earlier
User testing completely changed how I approached Quick Guides. It reminded me that something can make perfect sense to the person designing it and still feel confusing to the person using it. If I had more time, I would have built in more opportunities to keep test and learning throughout the project.
Design for what happens after you leave
I inherited work from a previous cohort, built on what they had created, and helped prepare the product for the teams that would continue it after us. That experience changed how I think about impact.
I realized that sometimes good design isn't about changing everything. It's about understanding what already works, improving what doesn't, and leaving the next person with a stronger place to start.
