Salona
Reimagining Professional Networking for Creatives
Connection over credentials — a more human alternative to LinkedIn
Salona is a professional networking platform for emerging creative professionals navigating isolation and ambiguity in early-career transitions. Initially conceived as a goal-tracking app, it evolved into a networking ecosystem prioritizing connection over credentials — a more human alternative to LinkedIn.
Core Challenge
How might we help young creative professionals feel more supported, visible, and connected during their career transitions?
The Insight
A human-centered networking platform emphasizing process over performance, vulnerability over credentials, and creative kinship over transactional relationships.
The Final Experience
Before we dive into the journey, let me show you where we ended up…
Profile Setup: Prompts, Not Résumés
Instead of uploading CVs and job titles, users answer thoughtful prompts:
- “What kind of projects are you currently working on?”
- “What's something that challenges you lately?”
- “What kind of people or ideas are you drawn to right now?”
One-at-a-Time Discovery
Users discover one person at a time—intentionally slowing down the experience to encourage real engagement over superficial browsing.
The Playground
An open space for daily creative prompts, spontaneous reflections, and serendipitous connections—no pressure to perform.
The Thesis Pop-Up: Making the Invisible Visible
For my thesis exhibition, I'm creating a data visualization that maps the network of human connections Salona creates. Instead of showing follower counts or engagement metrics, it reveals something more profound: the possibility of human interaction. Every dot represents a person in process. Every line shows potential connection. Together, they form a living system of creative kinship. This visualization embodies what Salona ultimately stands for—not who performs, but who is present.
400 applications, 3 interviews
As a graduate student with two degrees, I sent out 400+ job applications. Three interviews. That's it.
I wasn't alone. My friends were living the same reality. Our casual hangouts slowly transformed into therapy sessions about rejection, burnout, and self-doubt. We were stuck in the same loop—comforting each other but all looking through the same lens.
This raw confession from a user interview cut through everything.
It just feels like a dating app now. The recruiters are like these unreachable girls… I feel like I have no power in this market.
— Research participant
Moment of Clarity
Late one night, after another friend called to vent about their job search, I realized something fundamental: This isn't just about finding jobs. It's about feeling seen, supported, and human during one of life's most vulnerable transitions.
The Research Deep Dive
No milestones, no momentum
Unlike academics, which provide clear structure and feedback, career development lacks defined milestones, making it easy for both students and professionals to deprioritize job hunting amid daily responsibilities. Without deadlines or accountability, progress often stalls.
13 job seekers, three pain points
I interviewed 13 job seekers (10 graduate students, 3 early-career professionals) and discovered three critical pain points:
But the real insights came from what people felt, not just what they did.
A shifting, uncertain landscape
- U.S. unemployment at 4.0% — but job creation is lagging
- Mass layoffs across tech and media
- AI is redefining qualifications
- Young professionals moving from structured academics into an uncertain professional landscape
Research confirmed what we suspected
- Co-rumination study: discussing job concerns with peers actually sustains job-seeking behavior
- Accountability research: a specific accountability partner makes you 95% likely to achieve a goal
- Social cognitive theory: supportive environments directly influence career self-efficacy
Competitive Research: Two Phases
While Salona's direction evolved over time, each iteration was grounded in targeted competitor research. These two phases helped identify market gaps, define user expectations, and uncover emotional undercurrents that traditional platforms failed to address.
Phase 1: Accountability Apps & Tools
In the early stage, Salona began as an accountability app to help job-seekers stay consistent and motivated. I analyzed tools that supported individual productivity and peer support.
Insights
- Users want structure but resist feeling like they're under surveillance.
- Emotional support matters as much as logistics.
- Tools without human interaction often become invisible.
I know what I need to do… I just can't seem to do it consistently alone.
— Research participant
This phase shaped the first MVP experiments, but also revealed a deeper need — not just accountability, but visibility and connection.
Phase 2: Professional Networking Platforms
In the early stage, Salona began as an accountability app to help job-seekers stay consistent and motivated. I analyzed tools that supported individual productivity and peer support.
Insights
- There is no space for creative professionals to show who they are becoming, not just what they've done.
- Most platforms cater to performance, not process.
- Users crave casual, human-first interaction around shared struggles and inspiration — not just opportunities.
I wish there was a place where I could meet people figuring it out like me—not just those who've already made it.
— Research participant
Strategic Takeaway
These two layers of competitor research helped me articulate Salona's white space: a platform that supports early-career creatives emotionally and socially, not just functionally.
Salona is neither a tracker nor a showcase. It's a relational tool—where people in progress find each other, not just people who've arrived.
The Design Journey: Four Iterations Toward Connection
Experiment 1: The Google Forms Hack
I created a basic check-in system for 3 friends using Google Forms:
- Morning: Set your goal
- Evening: Reflect on progress
- Me: Manual follow-ups all day
- The magic: Public goal declaration created real commitment. People felt seen and supported.
- The problem: I was basically a human notification system. Unsustainable.
Experiment 2: The No-Code MVP
Built a functional prototype using Glide (Google Sheets → mobile app):
- Daily goal-setting interface
- Community progress dashboard
- Gamification with points
- Shared reflections
Testing with 10 users over 2 weeks revealed:
- Centralized tracking was appreciated
- Community dashboard fostered connection
- Point system felt tone-deaf ("My job search isn't a game")
- Interface lacked emotional intelligence
- Users disengaged after a few days
The realization: Automation without humanity is just another productivity tool.
Experiment 3: The High-Fidelity Prototype
Created a polished Figma prototype with:
- Accountability partner matching
- Private/public reflection options
- Community challenges
- Interest-based groups
User testing revealed new barriers:
- App required too much intentionality when users were already depleted
- The friction of staying engaged became its own burden
- Hesitation about partnering with strangers
Final Design: From Features to Feelings
Key Elements
- Profile Prompts, Not Resumés — foster reflection and vulnerability
- One-at-a-Time Discovery — reduce overwhelm and encourage attention
- The Playground — center spontaneous expression and process-sharing
- Interest-Based Groups — normalize support, not just success
A Living, Breathing Prototype
To bring Salona off the screen and into lived experience, I created an interactive pop-up at my MFA thesis show at Parsons. This wasn’t just a demo — it was a prototype for a social moment.
The Setup
- A looping projection of Salona’s UI on a full wall
- Interactive iPad stations for visitors to explore profiles
- A participatory prompt wall: “What are you currently working through?”
- A network visualization showing live connections forming between participants
- Printed Salona profile cards shared and swapped like analog social tokens
The Response
Over 30+ people engaged with the live experience during the exhibition. Visitors browsed each other’s prompts, wrote vulnerable notes, and even struck up in-person conversations based on digital reflections.
I feel like I finally met people at a thesis show, not just looked at their work.
— MFA attendee
I want this app to exist now. It feels like LinkedIn’s empathetic sibling.
— Recent grad, creative tech
The Community-Driven Development
Design Justice in Action
This project embodied its own values through:
- Continuous user dialogue and feedback
- Participatory design approach
- Co-creation rather than top-down design
- Centering voices typically marginalized in professional spaces
The Iteration Loop
Every prototype was shaped by real conversations with real people facing real challenges. The design emerged through dialogue, not in isolation.
Real People, Real Shifts
Real People, Real Shifts
During our pop-up pilot and user interviews, Salona didn't just test well — it changed how people felt about themselves and each other.
I stopped thinking of networking as a performance. It felt like showing up to a creative jam session instead of a pitch.
— Beta user, interdisciplinary artist
This is the first time I've seen a platform that actually makes me feel okay with not having it all figured out.
— International grad, UX design
Participants reported:
- Feeling less isolated during job searches
- A stronger sense of identity-in-progress, not just outcomes
- Willingness to share WIPs, emotional roadblocks, and doubts without fear of judgment
One user even used Salona to find a collaborator for a personal project — something they said they'd never attempt on LinkedIn.
For Creatives in Transition
Salona provided what many platforms miss: emotional scaffolding during uncertain transitions — especially for:
- International students navigating identity and career
- First-gen professionals without industry connections
- Creatives shifting disciplines or rebuilding after burnout
Salona is not just about who you know. It's about who you're becoming — together.
Looking Ahead: Building with Care, Scaling with Integrity
Salona is still in its early stage, but the vision is clear:
- Phase 1: Closed beta with underrepresented creative communities
- Phase 2: Lightweight web MVP with scalable, modular architecture
- Phase 3: Expand features like “Creative Moments” feed and peer prompts
Designing for Creative Becoming
Salona isn't just a networking platform — it's a design proposition that asks: How might technology better support the psychosocial dimensions of creativity, labor, and becoming?
Through this journey, I learned that the most impactful design solutions often emerge not from initial assumptions, but from deep listening and remaining open to fundamental pivots.
When you design with genuine empathy, you don't just solve the problem you started with — you discover the problem that really matters.
The transformation from accountability tool to creative kinship platform demonstrates something powerful: that vulnerability, held with care, can be the foundation for genuine connection.
Designing for the Space Between
As I write this case study, I still haven't landed a job offer. But I'm not discouraged. This project taught me that the most meaningful work happens in the spaces between certainty and possibility, between individual struggle and collective support.
Salona represents my belief that we can build technology that makes us more human, not less. That professional growth doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. That vulnerability, when held with care, becomes the foundation for genuine connection.
The journey continues…
This case study represents my MFA thesis project at Parsons School of Design. The full thesis document contains detailed research methodology, literature review, and technical implementation details.
