Format: no restrictions

Design Challenge

This is not a traditional design challenge. There is no client brief, no wireframe spec, no predefined product. You own every decision from the first pixel. Here's the prompt: Pick an activity you're passionate about — biking, painting, cooking, climbing, birdwatching, anything. Now design a mobile app for people who share that passion. Identify a real problem this audience faces, design a solution, and prototype it. That's it. The rest is yours. Make as many assumptions as you need. There are no wrong answers to the domain question — we care about how you think through the problem, not which hobby you pick. A cooking app and a rock climbing app are on equal footing.

Constraints

These keep the exercise grounded. Honor them as you work:

• Time-box: Spend no more than 60 minutes total (roughly 30–35 on the prototype, 10–15 on the README, 8–10 on the video). We're evaluating what you can ship under real constraints, not what you can produce with unlimited time.
• Mobile-first: Design for a mobile app experience. You can reference web or other surfaces, but the core solution should be mobile.
• MVP scope: Your prototype should show one core user journey end-to-end. We'd rather see one complete flow than five half-finished screens. Scope aggressively.
• Real audience: Your user should be specific. "People who cook" is too broad. "Home cooks who meal prep for the week on Sundays" gives you a real design target. The more specific your audience, the sharper your design decisions will be.

Format: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt, .md

A short written document with three sections:

Section A — Design Rationale (300–500 words)

Walk us through your thinking. Cover:

• Who is the user and what problem are you solving? Why does it matter?
• What solution directions did you consider? Why did you pick this one?
• What assumptions did you make? Which are highest-risk (i.e., which would you validate first)?
• How would you define success for this product? What would you measure and when?
• What did you intentionally cut for this MVP? What would v2 include?

Section B — Design Decisions & Next Steps

Go deeper on 2–3 specific design decisions you made:

• For each decision, explain the trade-off. What did you gain? What did you give up?
• If you had another 30 minutes, what would you refine or add? Be specific.
• How would you approach user research to validate your core assumption?

Section C — AI Usage Log (Mandatory)

This is not a trick. We want to see how you work with AI — not whether you used it.

In a short section of your README, document your AI collaboration process. For each significant interaction with an AI tool, briefly note:

• What you asked the AI to help with
• What it gave you
• What you kept, changed, or rejected — and why

Three interactions documented is sufficient. The log does not need to be exhaustive.

Format: .mp4, .mov, .webm

Record yourself walking through your work. You own the structure — present it however makes sense to you. We're watching for how you think through design problems, not presentation polish.

Your video should cover:

• The problem you identified and why it matters to this audience (1–2 min)
• Your prototype: walk us through the core user journey and explain your key design decisions (3–4 min)
• Success metrics: how would you know if this is working? (1 min)
• What you'd do next — what's v2? What would you validate first? (1 min)
• Mandatory AI question: "Walk me through one moment where you disagreed with, pushed back on, or redirected what the AI gave you — and what you did instead. Name the specific moment. Explain what the AI produced that didn't meet the bar, what you did differently, and why." (1–2 min)

Record your walkthrough as an MP4 or MOV file and upload it directly on the Provn platform as a separate file.

Speak naturally. Communication is assessed on clarity of design rationale and ability to articulate trade-offs — not verbal polish, accent, or filler words.