CATHERINE HOWELL

Catherine Howell is a designer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her main interests are in identity and package design, but she loves how open-ended graphic design can be. She is interested in how design can grow and change with new information and technologies. Catherine’s degree project focuses on the lack of confidence that many high school students have when deciding what to do following high school. She believes that no matter what is decided, students deserve to feel supported and confident in this important decision.

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“FRANKLY, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT IN THEIR COLLEGE AND CAREER DECISIONS.” 

I began my research project with the desire to help high school students feel more confident in making a decision about their post-secondary education. Personally, I know how stressful it feels looking into multiple options and not knowing what is best for yourself. I remember Googling a million questions that I had during this time and rarely feeling as though I was getting a very transparent answer. While teachers and my family were very helpful in this process, what I really needed was to talk with someone that had made this particular decision. 

The intervention that I designed is a mobile app called Tassle. Tassle is a platform meant to educate students on the options that they have after high school and, even more importantly, put them in contact with a “mentor” who can help to guide them through their process. A “mentor” is someone who has signed up through Tassle to help guide high school students in potential post-secondary paths. The app looks at a variety of specific paths: two-year college, four-year college, trade school, military, gap year, and joining the workforce. 

Each mentor profile has information about which of these paths they chose and where it was located. Students are able to message these mentors through the app’s messaging system. This would be helpful for undecided students weighing their options. Additionally, students who have already made a decision and are uncertain of the next steps to take in this process would have access to someone who could guide them through each necessary step. Tassle aims to give high school students more transparency about their post-secondary options and what to expect from each one. Through Tassle, students are able to feel more confident in taking this next huge step in their lives.