Project overview
You are designing one vocational path on a low-end phone with offline lessons. Certificate and progress matter more than a huge course library.
- Platform
- Mobile app · Android-first · portrait
- Screens
- 11 screens + 1 unhappy path (12 frames)
- Features
- 3 core features
- Bottom navigation
- Bottom navigation with 4 items: Learn · My Courses · Progress · Profile
- Prototype
- 4 linked flows
Build order: Auth (screens 1–4) → nav tabs (5–8) → core flow (9–11) → unhappy path → link prototypes.
Problem & primary user
Millions of Nigerian youth aged 18 to 25 are unemployed or underemployed. Formal education does not teach practical income-generating skills like phone repair, tailoring, plumbing, or baking. Vocational training centres exist but are expensive or too far away. Practical knowledge is inaccessible.
Primary user
"Chisom, a 21-year-old with an SSCE certificate living in Aba who wants to learn phone repair but cannot afford trade school and has nowhere to start."
Geographic scope: National-level
Goals
User goal: Learn a practical skill through short video lessons he can access and watch offline on his phone.
Business goal: Build Nigeria's largest vocational learning platform and connect certified graduates to gig job opportunities.
Success: In a quick test, someone enrols, watches or downloads one lesson, and finds their progress / certificate screen.
Market context
- Question
- Answer
- Who pays
- Chisom pays if certificate leads to income; NGOs, state skills programs, or employers may subsidize (assumption).
- Why not WhatsApp
- YouTube teaches skills but has no progress, offline lesson, or employable certificate in one path.
- Design focus
- Pick one trade (phone repair). Design offline download + certificate screen for low-end Android.
Competitors to check:
- YouTube, TikTok (free skill videos; no certificate path)
- AltSchool, Decagon (paid tech bootcamps, not phone repair)
- State / NGO vocational programmes (in-person; episodic)
- TVET colleges (e.g. GTC-style GSM repair; far and long)
Validate before you design
Interview 3–5 people who match your primary user. Update this brief if interviews contradict it. Do not start hi-fi until you complete the confirmation below.
- Validated user (name, age, city)
- Problem in one sentence
- One interview quote
- Success metric for your test
- Primary colour and tone
- One competitor you checked
Interview prompts
- "Walk me through the last time this happened."
- "What did you use instead? WhatsApp, paper, or nothing?"
- "What would make you trust this on a cheap Android phone?"
- "What would stop you from using this every week?"
Features & scope
v1 · three features
- Short video-based skill courses (phone repair, tailoring, baking, plumbing) with offline download
- Progress tracker showing lessons completed and percentage done
- A completion certificate that can be downloaded and shared
Out of scope
- Job placement guarantee
- Ten trades in v1
- Live classes or coding bootcamp content
Screens
Design every row in wireframe, high-fidelity UI, and prototype (where the flow applies).
| # | Layer | Screen | What to show |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auth | Splash Screen | App name and a bold illustration of a person learning a trade. |
| 2 | Auth | Onboarding (2 screens) | Screen 1: 'Learn a skill, earn a living. Practical courses for real jobs.' Screen 2: Pick up to 3 skills you are interested in. |
| 3 | Auth | Sign Up Screen | Name, phone number, state, and PIN. |
| 4 | Auth | Sign In Screen | Phone number and PIN. |
| 5 | App shell | Learn (tab) | Grid of skill cards (icon, name, number of lessons, duration). A 'Continue Learning' card at the top if the user has an active course. |
| 6 | App shell | My Courses (tab) | Course title, instructor name, total lessons, estimated time, a brief description, and an 'Enrol' or 'Continue' button. Show a progress bar if already started. |
| 7 | App shell | Progress (tab) | Video player taking up the top 60% of screen. Lesson title and notes below. 'Next Lesson' button at the bottom. Offline download toggle. |
| 8 | App shell | Profile (tab) | A styled certificate with the user's name, skill earned, and completion date. 'Download' and 'Share' buttons. |
| 9 | Core flow | Course detail | Lessons count, Enrol/Continue button. Show bottom nav on post-sign-in screens. |
| 10 | Core flow | Lesson player | Video area, notes, Next lesson. Show bottom nav on post-sign-in screens. |
| 11 | Core flow | Certificate ready | Download/share certificate after completion. Show bottom nav on post-sign-in screens. |
Layers: Auth = 1–4 · App shell = 5–8 · Core flow = 9–11
Prototype flows
Link these in Figma. Examiners should click through without your voice-over.
Flow 1 · App entry
Flow 2 · Core task (all three features)
Core flow screens: Course detail · Lesson player · Certificate ready
Flow 3 · Navigation
Link every nav tab so examiners can tap each bottom nav item. Tabs: Bottom navigation with 4 items: Learn · My Courses · Progress · Profile
Flow 4 · Unhappy path
Trigger the unhappy path edge case and link to that screen.
Unhappy path
Design this as its own screen state (frame 12):
User's phone storage is full and they cannot download a lesson. Show: 'Not enough storage for this download. You can watch it online instead.' Offer a streaming button.
Link in Flow 4.
Design system
- Colour
- You choose. Keep it simple and readable.
- Type
- You choose. Keep body text easy to read on a phone.
- Tone
- Design for your user, not for a tech audience.
Reuse on every screen:
- Primary button (active and disabled states)
- Input field (empty, filled, and error states)
- Card or list item used across the app
- Navigation bar with correct labels and icons
- Empty state: what the screen looks like with no data
Submit & defense
Deliverables
| # | Deliverable | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wireframes | Every screen in this brief, plus the unhappy path. Layout and labels clear. |
| 2 | High-fidelity UI | Same frames polished. You choose colour and type. Bottom nav on every post-sign-in screen. |
| 3 | Prototype | Four linked flows (entry, core task, navigation, unhappy path). Examiners can use the app without your voice-over. |
| 4 | AI prototype | Figma Make: at least 2 screens. Share link. |
| 5 | Case study (1 page) | Problem · User · Who pays · Competitors · Solution · One design decision |
| 6 | Presentation (6–8 slides) | Name · Problem · User · Solution · Key screens · Flow demo · One decision |
Before you present
- Every screen designed in wireframe and hi-fi
- Unhappy path screen designed and linked in the prototype
- Four prototype flows linked end to end
- At least one empty state on a list tab
- Shared components reused: button, input, card or row, bottom nav
- Case study names who pays and one competitor you checked
- You can explain one design decision in critique (why, not what)
- Completed 5 user interviews or 1 usability test
- Checked at least one competitor listed under Market context