Task cards didn't say what to do next.
"After I select the checkbox, what should I do?"Usability test, task list
"I don't understand what the Link button is."Usability test, task list
Emigreat, Nov 2024 to Jul 2025
A live relocation platform that grew faster than its design.
Emigreat helps people and companies get through immigration paperwork. I joined as digital product designer when the product was live and shipping weekly, with flows and patterns scattered across three roles. Nine months later: one user flow, one design system, six flows tested with real immigrants.
RoleDigital product designer
TeamDevelopers, UX designers, marketers
ClientEmigreat, Gothenburg
Time9 months
ToolsFigma, Miro, Notion, Lovable
The product in three numbers
3user roles with no shared journey: individuals, company HR, admins
6flows tested after launch: onboarding, task lists, compliance, marketplace and more
8immigrants interviewed, 6 nationalities, 4 visa types
The platform worked. It was hard to say where a task started, what "Pathway" meant, or which button did what. That is what I stepped into.
What the users told us
A first quick usability round, then a full study with eight immigrants across six flows. Four things kept coming back.
Filters looked like a list.
"Ohh, I didn't realize these were filters. I thought it was a list."Wireframe test, immigration history
Most people never touched the "All" dropdowns until prompted.
"Pathway" meant nothing to a newcomer.
Testers couldn't connect the word to their own tasks, and several said the side panel felt disconnected from the list it controlled.
What they wanted most was clarity and someone to trust.
Top requested features, in order: expert consultation, an eligibility check, priority support, an immigration timeline, reminders.
Nine months, six steps
Live, growing, and hard to explain to a newcomer.
The full flow is below, with a filter per role.
The draft and the rebuild are compared further down.
Every color pair checked before handoff. The live version is below.
What they asked for, in order: expert consultation, eligibility check, priority support, timeline, reminders.
Three of the fixes are shown below, before and after.
The user flow, redrawn from my original map. Tap a role to follow its path.
Three fixes, before and after
"After I select the checkbox, what should I do?"
"I don't understand what the Link button is."
"Link" became "Read more".
A three-dot menu holds mark as done, edit and delete.
Two "All" dropdowns. "I thought it was a list."
Add event at the top, export hidden far below.
One filter icon by search opens type, status, date, country.
Export history moved next to Add event.
Smaller cards, more entries per screen.
"Pathway" meant nothing to newcomers.
The selector sat on the right, cut off from the list.
Renamed to "Process".
"Add a process" makes it clear you can run several.
Click a process and its tasks and progress open in the list.
From AI layout to shipped system
One long headline, no promise, no search.
A blank map with a few grey dots.
"Ready for your next move?" and a search box first.
Purpose chips: work, study, entrepreneur, nomad.
Country cards with cost, languages and popular processes.
The design system, live
Brand green#0d8385AA4.56 on white
Brand orange#e76e50AA large3.11 on white, 4.81 on titles
Titles, active text#042c2cAAA14.98 on white
Body text#334155AAA10.35 on white
Hint text#64738bAA4.81 on white
Disabled#f1f5f9AAA13.67 under titles
AaBb
Poppins, 400 and 600. Titles in #042c2c, body in #334155.
SearchAdd to my listDisabledWorkStudyDigital nomad
Ratios computed from the hex values above (WCAG 2.1). Rebuilt here in code from my Figma library.
Where it ended
Every screen shipped with documentation and I reviewed the live build against the designs. The task cards, filters and process pages above are in the product. No adoption numbers to share: the company has since paused new services.
What I'd change: build the design system in month one, not month three. In a startup that ships weekly, it is what makes speed survivable.