Case study · Product design

Cal’s Career Quiz

A three minute story quiz that gets young people started on career discovery.

Role
Product designer
Team
Me (design, brand and story), a copywriter, a product manager, an engineer
Timeline
Jul 2025 to May 2026 (quiz shipped). Cal’s format still running through Oct 2026.
Context
Tallo, a career platform for people 13 to 30. Cal is built for its youngest members, ages 13 to 17.
Quiz welcome screen. Heading “Discover Your Career Path / Welcome Explorer!” above an illustration of Cal, a compass character, standing in a mountain valley. Caption “I’m Cal, your career navigator.” Body copy: “You find yourself standing at the edge of the Valley of Confusion, where fog clouds your vision and countless paths stretch out before you. But don’t worry, I’m here to guide you on your journey to the Peak of Clarity, where your true potential will shine as bright as the summit sun. Every great adventure begins with a single step. Ready to discover which path is truly yours?” A green button reads “Begin Expedition.”
Quiz question screen, path 3 of 9, set in a rainy forest with a frog hiker under a red umbrella. Cal’s avatar sits above a panel headed “A fellow hiker needs help! They seem lost and overwhelmed by the trail ahead. How do you support them?” Four unselected options: “Show practical techniques, Navigate difficult terrain”, “Research and share, Trail conditions knowledge”, “Offer emotional support, Listen to their concerns”, “Rally them forward, Conquer this together.” A green “Continue” button sits below.
Quiz reaction screen on the same rainy forest scene. Cal’s avatar now glows inside a purple halo above a speech panel reading: Cal’s voice softens: “The best trails are the ones where nobody gets left behind.” A green “Continue” button sits below.
Quiz result screen. A “COMPLETED” pill above the heading “Congratulations! You’ve reached the Peak of Clarity and discovered you’re...” An illustration shows Cal wearing a beret and holding a paintbrush on a mountain summit. The result is “The Creator.” Body copy: “You’re the imaginative visionary, the expressive artist, the innovative storyteller. You love bringing original ideas to life, thinking outside conventional boundaries, and sharing your unique perspective with the world. Whether through visual arts, writing, design, or performance, you thrive on creativity and self-expression. This reflects how you tend to approach challenges and it can evolve as you explore more.” A green button reads “Explore Creator Careers” with a “Retake Assessment” link below it.
Tallo’s Design & Media career hub: a banner of design photos under the breadcrumb “Career Navigator > Hubs,” a “My Interests” button, and a card headed “Careers in Design & Media” reading “Unleash your creativity! From visual art to writing, this hub covers design, communication, and broadcasting,” with a Career Interests Match of three of five dots, 33 careers and a “View all Careers in Design & Media” button. Below it, “Fastest growing careers in Design & Media,” starting with DJ / Announcer, Videographer and Media / Talent Director.

Step 1 of 5: Welcome

A short demo of one path. The real quiz has 9 questions.Take the real quiz
finished it in Typeform over six months
9,400+finished it in Typeform over six months
of people who start it in the product finish
72%of people who start it in the product finish
of finishers complete the full assessment
52%of finishers complete the full assessment
“Kai is deeply passionate about helping young people discover their future careers and that passion shows up in her work every day. [...] At Tallo, she led and contributed to multiple creative quizzes that made career exploration feel fun and approachable and helped drive meaningful engagement on our platform.”
Julia Domino, Product Manager at Tallo

TL;DR

Tallo’s career assessment is the most common first career action new members take. But 60 questions is a lot to ask of someone who just landed. We tested a smaller ask: could a three minute quiz on public pages pull new people into career discovery? I created Cal, a compass mascot, and a nine question story quiz that sorts you into one of six RIASEC types, a well-known career interest model, and sends you to a matching career hub, like construction or design. It ran in Typeform on our WordPress site first. Then product built it in.

See also: Tallo Brand System, how I made our brand guidelines readable by AI tools.

01 What I owned

One mascot, one quiz, one handoff

  1. 01Cal: character, six persona variants (one per career type), usage rules
  2. 02The quiz: story arc, trail scenarios, and the Typeform build (scoring, result routing, logic jumps), embedded on WordPress pages
  3. 03The handoff: dev-ready specs, production copy, analytics launch checklist

02 The problem

60 questions is a big first ask

The career assessment is the most common first career action new members take. It works for people who already came looking for it. But it’s 60 questions about tasks like “keep inventory records,” a lot to ask of a 15 year old who just landed and doesn’t know yet why they should care.

So we tested a smaller ask on public pages anyone could land on: nine questions, each a moment on a trail. If teens would finish that, a short quiz could do something the assessment couldn’t. It could pull new people in.

How might we make the first step of career discovery something a teenager wants to do the first time they land on Tallo?

03 Finding Cal

A compass doesn’t work in space

Cal started as a compass in space, named after a constellation, with a full set of space scenarios. Then the logic broke. A compass doesn’t work in space, because there’s no north to point to. The theme was off too. Space says “reach for the stars,” and Tallo stays away from dream careers. Young people want the next real step. So the compass came down to earth. On a trail, a compass makes sense, and careers are trails you walk. I sketched Cal by hand, chose the styles for a mascot test our product manager ran (a retro sticker look shaped the final texture), and used AI to develop the final character and six persona variants.

  1. a scrappy idea

  2. a sketch of the space compass

  3. the space compass, rendered with AI

  4. Cal, retro and down to Earth

A scrappy first drawing: a round dark navy compass face with a purple star and a small smile, stick arms raised, stick legs, and a glowing orange lightbulb above its head.
a scrappy idea

04 Cal’s rules

Cal doesn’t pick your path

  • Cal looking worried, gloved hands clasped under a frown.

    The trailhead looks scarier than the trail.Drove: 9 questions, told as a story.

  • Cal pondering, one glove at the chin, eyes looking up.

    Cal doesn’t pick your path. Cal helps you find it.Drove: every result ends on a button into a career hub, a cluster of related careers, so people keep exploring.

  • Cal as the Researcher, grinning in a fedora and trench coat, holding up a magnifying glass.

    Your result can change.Drove: no percent match, which felt too definitive for a short intro quiz, and every result page ends with “it can evolve as you explore more.”

05 The quiz

60 survey questions became 9 moments on a trail

I rewrote each RIASEC item as a moment on the trail from the Valley of Confusion to the Peak of Clarity. When we tried it out at an all-hands, people said six options per question was too many, so we cut it to four. Each type still shows up exactly six times across the nine questions, so no path gets a head start. If your top types tie, a tenth question breaks the tie. Cal reacts between questions like an older friend, so the quiz feels like a hike.

  1. the flagship survey

    rating scale

  2. the space version

    scenario with options

  3. Cal, on the trail

    scenario with options

Tallo’s career assessment, question 16 of 60: “You would like to... Study the movement of planets.” Five answers from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree.
the flagship surveyrating scale

06 The test

9,400+ finished it in Typeform

The test worked. In six months, 9,400+ people finished Cal in Typeform, and 76% of people who started it finished. I can’t say how many went on to make an account.

07 Into the product

The Typeform got a permanent home

Product adopted the Typeform, and my job changed from building the quiz to getting it built well: dev-ready specs, production copy, and a launch checklist asking for the analytics we’d need.

In the product, we could see what happened next. 72% of people who start Cal finish it, and about half of those who finish go on to complete the full assessment. Without a comparison group, I can’t say how many would have taken it anyway.

  1. Started Cal100%
  2. Finished72%
  3. Finished and completed the full assessment38%
Share of people who started Cal. What happened, not what Cal caused.

08 What it led to

Cal outgrew the quiz

A kit. I turned Cal into a kit, so Cal could leave the quiz too: community posts, social, even Cal’s first birthday.

Cal Kit

Every outfit, pose and phrase has a name, so anyone on the team can use Cal without redrawing Cal.

  • Cal as the Builder, in a yellow hard hat, flannel and overalls, holding a wrench.

    The Builder

    Realistic

  • Cal as the Researcher, in a fedora and trench coat, holding a magnifying glass.

    The Researcher

    Investigative

  • Cal as the Creator, in a beret and striped sweater, holding a paintbrush.

    The Creator

    Artistic

  • Cal as the Guide, in round glasses and a plaid scarf, holding an open book.

    The Guide

    Social

  • Cal as the Leader, in a white shirt and tie, gesturing forward with one hand.

    The Leader

    Enterprising

  • Cal as the Organizer, in a grey blazer, holding a clipboard and waving.

    The Organizer

    Conventional

1.1x
Welcome, Explorer!
Adamina · headlines
1.3x
the best trails are the ones where
Hubballi · Cal’s voice
1.3x
nobody gets left behind
Speech bubbles only
1.6x
Every great adventure begins with a single step.
Inter · story + body
1.6x
Ready to discover which path is truly yours?
160% leading

Expressions

named in the quiz spec

  • Cal, worried

    worried

  • Cal, confused

    confused

  • Cal, ponder

    ponder

  • Cal, appreciative

    appreciative

  • Cal, laughing

    laughing

  • Cal, default

    default

Props

12 objects

  • Anchor
  • Chain links
  • Clipboard
  • Star map
  • Round glasses
  • Lightbulb
  • Magnifying glass
  • Megaphone
  • Striped tie
  • Paintbrush
  • Snorkel mask
  • Wrench

Palette

Purple over corporate blue, lime for the moment something good happens

  • Dial#F8EFCC
  • Rim#79679B
  • Pack#8F9F7B
  • Boots#E29B47
  • Win#BDF184
  • Ink#201F1F

In use

Same kit, outside the quiz: a community recap, and a Minecraft build by our intern.

Community recap header: an “August recap” tag above the headline “Cal’s Birthday Challenge: Community Roundup,” beside Cal laughing in a striped party hat.
Happy Birthday, Cal!

A monthly format. Cal’s quiz became the template for the community’s challenge quizzes, one a month from July through October.

Stamps in Tallo. A Cal challenge with passport stamps was the test run. I art directed the stamps a product designer built into the platform, and earning them teaches you how to use it. The trail homepage I pitched next hasn’t shipped.

  • Shipped, in Tallo

    Tallo’s Stamps page on a phone: “Collect stamps by completing activities on Tallo.” Getting Started, 5 of 5 collected, each with an illustrated stamp and date: Account Created, First Step (complete the career assessment), Update Your Profile, Join a Group and First Post.

    Built in Tallo by Jennifer Stout, product designer.

  • Exploration, not shipped

    Career Passport exploration: “Collect stamps as you explore. Every trailhead you explore, every milestone you hit, marked in your Career Passport.” Six stamp cards, Trail Starter and Arts Explorer earned; Career Compass, First Steps, Gear Check and Pathfinder not yet earned.
“I designed the stamps, but Kai shaped the vision behind them. She set the creative direction, gave thoughtful feedback, and helped me use AI prompting as a real creative tool rather than a shortcut.”
Jennifer Stout, Product Designer at Tallo

09 Reflection

A 15 year old told us we got it wrong

A quiz is only half the design. The other half is where it lives. In Typeform, Cal reached thousands of people, but I couldn’t see what any of them did next. In the product, I could.

A quiz result is a mere draft of a person, and people tell you whether it fits. One member wrote “It really sounds like me.” A 15 year old wrote “All work wise nothing to apply to life im 15 no job.” Our questions assumed a job they didn’t have, so some of October’s questions now ask about things like group projects and favorite classes.

  1. Build Style, question 1

  2. Build Style, question 4

Build Style quiz, question 1: “A group project starts. Nobody assigns roles. You end up...” over a photo of students crowding around a laptop. Four answers: “Doing the part where something actually gets built” (picked), “Figuring out the thing nobody can get to work,” “Mapping out what has to happen and in what order,” “Making sure everyone knows what they’re doing.”
Build Style, question 1

Final takeaway

Plenty of kids find their path because one adult puts something in front of them. I wanted Cal to be that mentor for the kids who don’t have one. Cal taught me to start where people are. This is an approach I take to heart in every design decision I make.
Kai in headphones, smiling, with Cal making a heart and two badges: I Won The Tallies 2025, Voice of the User Award, and Mentor of the Year Award.
The Tallies 2025, Tallo’s team awards: Voice of the User and Mentor of the Year.