“ Ctrl+Z ”
A collaborative platform built for the design community, using AI to connect senior and junior designers for real-world project collaborations.
Date
Jun 2025
Project Type
UX Master’s Final Project
*
THE OPPORTUNITY
Competitive research revealed a broken pattern: on platforms like LinkedIn and Behance, users spent more time searching and filtering than actually collaborating.
This led us to ask …
What if the platform did the matchmaking?
From that point, we designed CTRL+Z with AI at the core .
Not as a gimmick, but as infrastructure that evaluates skills, availability, and project goals to generate ranked matches.
*
USER RESEARCH
We interviewed emerging and established designers to understand what's blocking creative collaboration.
💡
The pattern:
What if the platform did the matchmaking?
From that point, we designed CTRL+Z with AI at the core .
Not as a gimmick, but as infrastructure that evaluates skills, availability, and project goals to generate ranked matches.
💭
"I'd love help. But I don't have time to search and 'teach.'"
— Senior Designer
💭
"It's hard to prove what I can do without someone trusting me first."
— Junior Designer
💡
The insight:
Both groups wanted to work together, but were held back by trust gaps, unclear roles, and mentorship burnout.
*
PROBLEM DEFINITION
Three core tensions emerged:
1. Access
Juniors lacked visible entry points. Seniors struggled to find trusted collaborators without heavy vetting.
2. Clarity
Ambiguous roles created anxiety. Users needed clear cues for progress, ownership, and expectations.
3. Feedback
Juniors wanted actionable input. Seniors wanted to support growth without draining their time and energy.
Journey Map:
Discovery
Laura discovers the Collab Hub.
Mark posts a project brief.
Matching & Onboarding
AI matches based on skills and goals.
Mark shortlists and selects a junior.
Collaboration
Laura receives structured deliverables and starts working.
Mark reviews output at his convenience.
Reflection
Mark leaves quick feedback.
Laura reflects and documents the project for her portfolio.
*
MARKET VALIDATION
TAM
30M+ global creative roles tied to growth and collaboration
SAM
8.7M creatives in Europe in project-based contexts
SOM
800K+ professionals and juniors actively seeking mentorship, portfolio reviews, or collaborators
*
DESIGN DIRECTION
💭
Juniors
need real-world, low-barrier projects to gain experience and grow their portfolios.
💭
Seniors
need efficient ways to delegate creative tasks, without the time drain of traditional mentorship.
From our research, we identified what users actually need:
How might we help juniors build confidence through real work?
How might we reduce effort for seniors to delegate tasks?
How might we make experience more accessible?
“ Ctrl+Z ”
A collaborative platform built for the design community, using AI to connect senior and junior designers for real-world project collaborations.
Date
Jun 2025
Project Type
UX Master’s Final Project
*
THE OPPORTUNITY
Competitive research revealed a broken pattern: on platforms like LinkedIn and Behance, users spent more time searching and filtering than actually collaborating.
This led us to ask …
What if the platform did the matchmaking?
From that point, we designed CTRL+Z with AI at the core .
Not as a gimmick, but as infrastructure that evaluates skills, availability, and project goals to generate ranked matches.
*
USER RESEARCH
We interviewed emerging and established designers to understand what's blocking creative collaboration.
💡
The pattern:
What if the platform did the matchmaking?
From that point, we designed CTRL+Z with AI at the core .
Not as a gimmick, but as infrastructure that evaluates skills, availability, and project goals to generate ranked matches.
💭
"I'd love help. But I don't have time to search and 'teach.'"
— Senior Designer
💭
"It's hard to prove what I can do without someone trusting me first."
— Junior Designer
💡
The insight:
Both groups wanted to work together, but were held back by trust gaps, unclear roles, and mentorship burnout.
*
PROBLEM DEFINITION
Three core tensions emerged:
1. Access
Juniors lacked visible entry points. Seniors struggled to find trusted collaborators without heavy vetting.
2. Clarity
Ambiguous roles created anxiety. Users needed clear cues for progress, ownership, and expectations.
3. Feedback
Juniors wanted actionable input. Seniors wanted to support growth without draining their time and energy.
Journey Map:
Discovery
Laura discovers the Collab Hub.
Mark posts a project brief.
Matching & Onboarding
AI matches based on skills and goals.
Mark shortlists and selects a junior.
Collaboration
Laura receives structured deliverables and starts working.
Mark reviews output at his convenience.
Reflection
Mark leaves quick feedback.
Laura reflects and documents the project for her portfolio.
*
MARKET VALIDATION
TAM
30M+ global creative roles tied to growth and collaboration
SAM
8.7M creatives in Europe in project-based contexts
SOM
800K+ professionals and juniors actively seeking mentorship, portfolio reviews, or collaborators
*
DESIGN DIRECTION
💭
Juniors
need real-world, low-barrier projects to gain experience and grow their portfolios.
💭
Seniors
need efficient ways to delegate creative tasks, without the time drain of traditional mentorship.
From our research, we identified what users actually need:
How might we help juniors build confidence through real work?
How might we reduce effort for seniors to delegate tasks?
How might we make experience more accessible?