What started as a short, underpaid design sprint turned into a pivotal experience. Through a coaching program, user research, and a series of rapid-fire product engagements, I built the first version of Sentinel-16—an emotionally intelligent GPT system rooted in lived insight. This is the story of that transformation.

📍Project Overview

In 2024, I joined a cohort hosted by Black UX Labs, in partnership with Dscout, centered around empowering diverse UX talent and researching the gaps in digital job-hunting experiences. It was a hybrid space—part coaching, part research, part creation.

Over the span of a few short weeks, I contributed to:

  • The redesign of a coaching program landing page in Kajabi
  • A mobile-first UX sprint for a job-matching prototype
  • The Empowering Diverse UX Talent webinar, hosted by Dscout
  • And the creation of Sentinel-16, a reflective AI system that emerged from the insights we surfaced

It was a strategic barter. The compensation was minimal—but the opportunity, visibility, and trust were real.

🧠 UX Research Insights (Quant + Qual)

We ran a multi-phase study through Dscout, exploring a typical user’s job-hunting experience. Each phase revealed tangible UX breakdowns—and deeper emotional truths.

🧾 Quantitative Friction Points

  • Avg. onboarding time: ~2.5–3 minutes
  • Prompt relevance rating: 3.2 / 5
  • Click behavior on job listings: Varied widely—some explored 10+, others bounced after 3
  • Drop-off moments: Most frequent after job description evaluation

💬 Qualitative Patterns

  • Feedback themes: “clunky,” “generic,” “confusing,” “too long”
  • Emotional signals:
    → Hopeful but skeptical
    → Lost in the flow
    → Craving clarity and next-step structure
🧠 Insight: The UX wasn’t just inefficient—it was emotionally misaligned.
Job seekers wanted to feel seen, guided, and invited—not filtered, flooded, or forgotten.
Data Visualization created in Tableau. Raw data from Dscout research.

🧍🏾‍♂️ Enter: Career Chasing Chris

As a group, we developed a persona: Career Chasing Chris.

Chris was a late-20s career switcher trying to break into tech—overloaded by bootcamps, undercut by systemic barriers, and burnt out from hundreds of applications. His challenges weren’t just logistical—they were emotional and cognitive.

I recognized myself in Chris.

So I took the raw empathy map we developed and ran it through my custom GPT framework. Using my own methodologies, I restructured Chris into a live-use persona—mapped with decision loops, self-doubt spirals, and UX clarity needs.

That experiment became the first prototype of Sentinel-16.

Journey Mapping. Career Chasing Chris. Translated from Empathy Map.

⚙️ From Insight to Artifact

Each project in this engagement turned research into structure:

🛠 Helpful Hand AI (2-week design sprint)

  • Pivoted from desktop-first to mobile-first mid-sprint
  • Used GPT, Creatie, and Figma to build UI fast
  • Applied async UX principles + progressive disclosure
  • Reframed copy for low-bandwidth, high-stakes use

✍️ Design for Impact Landing Page

  • Built inside Kajabi (first time using the tool)
  • Delivered story-driven UX that supported a 5x price increase
  • Centered visual storytelling, trust signals, and emotional clarity

🤖 Sentinel-16 (v0 Prototype)

  • Used only custom GPT instructions—no knowledge base yet
  • Embedded empathy-modeled behavior and tone
  • Focused on reflection, emotional attunement, and co-regulation
  • Marked the beginning of a system that’s now in v9.5 and counting

🧱 Strategic Barter, Real Stakes, Lasting Impact

This was a strategic barter—not unpaid, but undervalued.
I accepted below-market compensation because I believed in the opportunity. The collaboration with Dscout felt promising. The coaching model was generous. The tools and visibility were meaningful.

And while I didn’t land a role at Dscout after two interviews, I don’t regret the choice. Because what I created instead was bigger:

A blueprint for reflective AI.
A GPT built not for speed—but for emotional intelligence.
A system that listens, mirrors, and gently guides.

So no, this wasn’t a high-paying project.
But it was the beginning of a body of work that now defines my creative practice.

🛠️ Improvising Under Pressure

Creative friction didn’t show up in the build—it showed up live.

During the Empowering Diverse UX Talent webinar, I wasn’t fully briefed on my segment. I had to improvise, answering the host’s questions in real time without prep. I wasn’t sure how it landed.

But people said it resonated.
And I’ve learned: sometimes the best work happens when you show up anyway.

🪞 Personal Legacy

What lives inside this case study is the simple, powerful truth:
Someone trusted me.

They handed me a small budget, a big opportunity, and a lane.
I returned with UI, strategy, empathy maps, and a working GPT prototype.

This case study is more than deliverables. It’s proof that:

  • You can be underpaid and still overdeliver
  • You can be overlooked and still build something unforgettable
  • You can design your way from survival to sovereignty
This engagement didn’t just shape my portfolio.
It sparked my system.
It activated my voice.
And it reminded me that UX isn’t just about usability—it’s about honoring the human behind the interface.