Design Your First UX Case Study: Applying Bluesky’s Live and Tag Features to a Student Project

Hook: Turn a trending product update into a portfolio-winning UX case study

Struggling to make your resume and portfolio stand out? Youre not alone. Many students and early-career designers have strong skills but weak case studies: vague goals, no measurable outcomes, and no evidence of product thinking. Use Blueskys 202526 feature updates—LIVE badges for streaming and cashtags for market conversationsas a realistic, time-bound UX case-study prompt that showcases research, design, prototyping, and usability testing.

Why this prompt matters in 2026

In late 2025 and early 2026, Bluesky saw a sharp increase in installs after major platform controversies on competing social networks. Reports from TechCrunch and market data from Appfigures showed daily downloads jumping nearly 50% in the U.S. That surge makes this an excellent real-world context for a student project: product teams are experimenting with discoverability, safety, and creator tooling right now. Designing for live streaming UX and tagged financial conversations (cashtags) touches content policy, identity signals, discovery, and monetizationall high-value topics to employers.

Project brief: Design a UX case study around Bluesky LIVE and cashtags

Below is a compact, portfolio-ready brief you can adapt for a 24 week student project.

1. Problem: Bluesky users need a safe, discoverable workflow to go live, indicate their stream source (e.g., Twitch), and tag financial topics with cashtags without enabling spam or misinformation.
2. Goal: Improve live stream discoverability and cashtag accuracy while maintaining safety and low friction for creators.
3. Success metrics: Increase live stream discoverability by 20% (search impressions or internal event metrics), reduce cashtag misclassification by 30%, and achieve an average usability score above 80 on a prototype test.
4. Deliverables: Research summary, user personas, user journey maps, wireframes, high-fidelity prototype, usability testing report, and a final case-study write-up for your portfolio.

Step 1 — Scoping & competitive research (23 days)

Start with product and industry context. In 2026, social platforms face elevated scrutiny for safety and authenticity. Your research should capture that urgency and tie it to measurable design constraints.

• Collect 68 competitor flows: Twitch, YouTube Live, X (if applicable), Mastodon communities, and feature write-ups for Blueskys own updates.
• Map where LIVE badges and cashtags appear: profile, post, search results, notifications.
• Note moderation flows and account signals: verification badges, source links, and trust indicators.

Reference: Use public reports (TechCrunch, Appfigures) to justify the project's timeliness in a portfolio intro.

Step 2 — Define users and jobs-to-be-done (12 days)

Identify 2 primary user groups and 1 secondary stakeholder group. Keep personas lean and research-backed.

• Persona A — Student streamer (creator): Ages 1824, streams study sessions and game play, needs quick setup and cross-platform linkage (Twitch). Wants discoverability and simple monetization.
• Persona B — Market-curious user (consumer): 2235, follows stock and crypto conversations, wants reliable cashtag context and filters to avoid noise and misinformation.
• Stakeholder — Platform trust & safety analyst: Needs signals to prioritize moderation and reduce amplification of harmful content.

Step 3 — Map the end-to-end experience

Create two journey maps: one for going live and one for tagging a post with a cashtag. Focus on friction points such as verification of stream source, clear labeling, discovery, and reporting.

Live-stream journey highlights

• Entry: "Start stream" button from profile or composer.
• Setup: Select stream source; optional OAuth with Twitch; preview and set title and tags.
• Activation: Badge placement (LIVE) and metadata visible in timeline and search.
• Discovery: Live content surfaced in a Live tab and search results with filters.
• End: Post-stream summary with clips and engagement analytics.

Cashtag journey highlights

• Entry: Composer supports $TICKER input and autocompletes company names and warnings for unverified tickers.
• Context: Inline cards show market data snapshot and source links to reputable finance APIs.
• Moderation: Flags when a post mixes financial info with manipulative calls to action; enable user reporting.

Step 4 — Ideation & low-fidelity design (23 days)

Run a quick 30-minute design sprint with these focus areas: trust signals, frictionless creator setup, and consumer filters. Produce 68 sketches and converge on 2 concept directions:

1. Verified source model: Emphasize OAuth linking and a "source verified" microcopy that reduces impersonation risk.
2. Context-first model: Small inline market cards for cashtags that show a one-line sanity check and source link; combined with a content warning system.

Step 5 — Prototype (Figma recommended) (35 days)

Build interactive flows for the two key journeys. Tools in 2026 to consider: Figma for UI, Framer for richer interactions, and StreamYard or OBS for demonstration capture if you need a live demo video in your portfolio.

• OAuth flow mock for linking Twitch (simulate success/failure states).
• Composer with $cashtag autocomplete, inline card, and warning state.
• Live badge placement logic across profile, timeline, and search.
• Contextual moderation flags with remediation suggestions for creators.

Step 6 — Usability testing plan (12 days prep, 35 days testing)

Design a testing matrix that mixes moderated remote sessions and unmoderated quantitative tests. In 2026, employers expect familiarity with remote testing and product analytics integration.

Recruitment

• 6 creators (students who stream occasionally) and 10 consumers (market-curious users).
• Screen for basic familiarity with social apps and one financial interest segment for consumers.

Tasks (example)

1. As a creator: Link your Twitch account, start a live session, and set a title. (Measure: success rate, time on task.)
2. As a consumer: Find live streams about "college finance" using filters and identify a post with a cashtag that cites a credible source. (Measure: task completion, accuracy of identification.)
3. Error recovery: For a misconfigured cashtag, show the inline warning and ask users to decide whether to proceed or edit the post. (Measure: decisions and qualitative rationale.)

Metrics to collect

• Task completion rate, time on task, and System Usability Scale (SUS) score.
• Success vs. failure states for OAuth linking and cashtag autocomplete accuracy.
• Qualitative themes: trust signals, perceived safety, and discoverability clarity.

Step 7 — Analyze results and iterate (23 days)

Synthesize test data into clear design decisions. Use the p-a-c-e format (Problems, Approach, Changes, Evidence) in your final case-study write-up.

• Problem: Creators abandoned OAuth linking 40% of the time due to unclear permission language.
• Approach: Clarify permission copy and add a compact benefits statement: "Link for verified stream badges and cross-platform clips."
• Changes: Move verification to an opt-in step post-first stream and show a non-blocking banner explaining benefits.
• Evidence: After iteration, expected increase in successful linking from 60% to 82% and improved SUS scores.

Step 8 — Write the UX case study for your portfolio

Employers read case studies for product thinking, not pixel design. Structure your narrative to emphasize decisions and outcomes. Use these sections:

1. Context: Briefly mention Blueskys 202526 feature updates and why the prompt is timely (cite Appfigures/TechCrunch).
2. Problem & goal: What you solved and why it matters.
3. Constraints: Platform safety, low friction for creators, and regulatory sensitivity around financial discussions.
4. Research insights: Key quotes and quantitative findings from your tests.
5. Design solution: Show the final flows with annotations. Use before/after comparisons and call out trade-offs.
6. Results & metrics: Concrete improvements and next steps.
7. Reflection: What you learned and how this work would scale in a real product org.

Include screenshots, short video demos, and links to your Figma prototype. If you ran remote tests, embed top quotes or a short Loom/Lookback highlight reel to show stakeholder-ready artifacts.

Advanced strategies to impress hiring managers (2026-focused)

Apply these higher-level moves to make your case study stand out in 2026:

• Data integration mock: Show how lightweight analytics events (e.g., live_start, cashtag_insert, cashtag_flag) would feed dashboards for product and trust teams.
• Policy-aware design: Propose a tiered trust signal system that combines OAuth verification, community endorsements, and time-based trust decay. Tie your approach back to the ethics of automated moderation and why human-in-the-loop design matters.
• Accessibility: Demonstrate live captions support, ARIA labeling for stream controls, and keyboard access for discovery filters.
• Localization: Anticipate global market differences in financial terminology and add expansion notes for non-US markets.
• Ethics & safety: Outline a rapid-response moderation workflow and user remediation options for harmful contentcritical for hiring teams post-2025 controversies.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Vague metrics: Avoid non-actionable goals like "increase engagement." Instead, define measurable KPIs such as "live starts per 1,000 MAU."
• No evidence: Dont show designs without testing. Even 8 moderated sessions and a small unmoderated test can provide meaningful evidence; consider linking to a persona & testing tools review when you list your methods.
• Over-optimistic scope: Focus on two flows deeply rather than surface-level coverage of the entire app.
• Ignoring moderation: In 2026, platform trust is front and center. Include safety flows and trade-offs in your narrative.

Example portfolio outline (copy-paste friendly)

Use this scaffold to populate your portfolio page. Keep sections short and visually scannable.

1. One-line project summary: "Redesigned Bluesky LIVE onboarding and cashtag UX to improve discoverability and safety."
2. Timeline & team role: "2 weeks, solo project: Product design + usability testing."
3. Problem & goal (23 bullets).
4. Top insights (3 bullets, with data points).
5. Final solution visuals (annotated screenshots + prototype link).
6. Results: quantitative & qualitative outcomes.
7. Next steps and learnings.

Sample usability test script (short)

"You are a student creator who wants to start a live stream about study techniques and link to your Twitch channel. Please think aloud while you attempt to link the channel and go live."

Follow-up probes: "What made you trust or not trust the link step?" "Was the cashtag suggestion helpful? Why or why not?"

How to present this project on your resume and LinkedIn

Keep bullets impact-driven and metric-focused. Examples:

• Designed and tested Bluesky LIVE onboarding and cashtag composer features; improved OAuth linking success from 60% to 82% in prototype testing.
• Led 16 usability sessions and produced a prioritized roadmap to reduce cashtag misclassification by 30%.

Future predictions: Why this work will still matter in 2027

As platforms mature, live streaming and topic tagging will converge with commerce, identity verification, and short-form creation. Employers will value designers who can balance discovery, safety, and hybrid trust signals. Demonstrating that you understood these tensions and produced testable outcomes in 2026 increases your hireability in 2027.

Quick checklist before you publish

• Include a short, engaging project summary with context and dates.
• Show 3 evidence types: research quotes/data, prototype interactions, and usability outcomes.
• Export a shareable Figma link and a 6090 second demo video for recruiters.
• Write a 23 sentence reflection on what you would do with more time or real data.

Final takeaway: Convert a trending update into demonstrable product skill

Using Blueskys LIVE and cashtag features as a UX case-study prompt gives you a rich, timely narrative to show product thinking, prototyping chops, and usability testing rigor. Recruiters want evidence of impact and thoughtful trade-offsnot perfect visuals. Deliver readable artifacts, clear metrics, and a short demo, and youll transform a current event into a career-making portfolio piece.

Call to action

Ready to build this case study? Start today: pick a 12 week sprint, draft the brief from this article, and publish a lean case study. If you want a template, download our step-by-step case-study checklist and Figma starter file at online-jobs.pro/ux-templates (student discount available). Share your draft with our community for feedback and get ATS-ready resume bullets tailored to your project.

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