Problem For many students, the internship search is a long and uncertain process. While a few might land positions early, most are still applying, waiting, and navigating rejection. Yet, this part of the journey often goes unnoticed as social media often highlights the wins, but not the effort or setbacks that come before.
As a result, it’s easy for students to feel like they’re the only ones struggling, even when that’s far from true.
Solution By using interactive visualizations and relatable reflections, the project creates a space where students can:
See that they’re not alone
Reflect on their own experience
Understand the shared challenges of their peers
“This Is Where We At” is a digital story journal that brings visibility to a more complete picture of what students are going through the internship search from a student’s perspective — not just the outcomes, but the process itself.
“I thought finding an internship would be exciting — like checking off a milestone on the path to becoming a real designer.”
But it didn’t feel like that.
This isn’t about success stories, or perfect portfolios. It’s about the middle.
The trying.
Key Features
An Emotional Journey The homepage is meant to feel like the mental space of someone mid-search — a bit lost, reflective, and emotionally full. Its dark background and scattered layout reflect how disorienting and scattered the process can feel.
The light blobs on hover represent fleeting thoughts or feelings — they appear and fade, just like doubt, hope, or burnout. There's no need for words — just interaction, space, and atmosphere.
Easy Navigation Designed as a digital storybook, including a side menu with a chapter index and buttons to navigate to the next page or return to the homepage.
Each Chapter tells a continuous story Every chapter continues the narrative, featuring interactive elements like GIFs, sounds, and dynamic cursor effects that encourage users to actively explore the storybook experience.
Based on Real Data This interactive book includes creative data visuals built from real survey numeric data responses by third-year Interaction Design students at Sheridan College.
You can check out the full survey results website, hand-coded by me here :)
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