A daily cockpit that always answers "what do we do next?"
01 — The challenge
How to simplify my
immigration process?
Canadian immigration is one of the most complex bureaucratic journeys a family can face. Multiple pathways with different requirements, CRS scores that change monthly, documents that expire, language tests with specific benchmarks per program — and laws that tighten without warning.
Consultancies charge thousands but run closed back-offices: you pay, you wait, and you never actually know where you stand. There was no self-service product that guided a family through it — showing the score, ranking the pathways, tracking every document, and telling you exactly what to do today.
Real family needs
Documents, deadlines and decisions that affect your entire life
Complex journey
9 phases, 27 steps, multiple pathways with different risks
Constantly changing laws
Immigration rules shift monthly — every week without a plan is a week lost
Zero visibility
No tool shows where you are, what's next, or who's the stronger applicant
02 — The solution
MapleTrack is a full product — not a prototype, not a dashboard. A responsive SaaS platform with 9 integrated sections covering every aspect of the immigration journey: profile analysis, CRS simulation, pathway ranking, multi-plan strategy, document management, language tracking, job search, gamification, and household management.
How it was built
6+ months of work.
Shipped in 2 weeks.
Using Claude Codeas a design partner — ideation, content strategy, UX writing, frontend and backend code. Every design decision was mine; Claude executed. The result: a complete squad's output from one designer.
03 — Define the profile
Everything downstream — the score, the ranked programs, the plans — rests on one thing: a profile that truly reflects the applicant. A guided 10-step onboarding walks each person through age, education, work history, language, family, finances and goals — so MapleTrack can recommend the right pathways from the very first session.
04 — Score the profile
The Comprehensive Ranking System decides who gets invited. MapleTrack scores Rafael and Luana separately across the full 1,200-point model — age, education, language, experience — then layers in spouse factors to surface the strongest principal applicant. Change one input and the whole breakdown recalculates live.
05 — Map the path
The entire route — research and eligibility, language tests, documents, application, landing — broken into 9 phases and 27 tracked steps. Each task is assigned to Rafael or Luana, tagged to a plan, and checked off as the couple advances. The progress bar runs the whole way from Início to Cidadania.
06 — Choose the route
Express Entry (FSWP, CEC, FST), category-based draws, every major Provincial Nominee Program, family sponsorship — 13 programs in the knowledge base, each with processing time, CRS cut-off, required funds and language minimums. Compare them side by side, then open any one for the full breakdown.
07 — Hedge the bet
Immigration law changes without warning, so the strategy never rests on one path. Plan A is the Atlantic Immigration Program; Plan B, Express Entry FSWP; Plan C, a Study Permit → PGWP → PR route. Each carries its own timeline, costs and language targets — and the couple can promote any plan to primary at any time.
Atlantic Immigration Program
Express Entry — FSWP
Study Permit → PGWP → PR
08 — Hit the targets
Language is the biggest CRS lever, so it gets its own cockpit. Each applicant's CELPIP/IELTS scores are tracked skill by skill against the exact benchmark every plan requires — "Plano A: atingido", "Plano B: faltam 1 pt" — with test dates counting down to the booking.
09 — Stay ready
A document hub organised by category — identity, education, language, finances, legal — that tracks status (submitted, translation pending), flags what's expired, and keeps the couple's paperwork audit-ready for whichever plan goes live first.
10 — Keep the momentum
Immigration takes years, so MapleTrack is built to keep a couple moving — XP and achievements for each milestone, gentle nudges and notifications, and a household where Rafael and Luana share one journey under separate logins.
11 — The craft
The whole product runs on a single token set — the MapleTrack rose, Airbnb-grade spacing and type — with shadcn/ui primitives, keyboard and contrast accessibility, and layouts that hold from a 390px phone to a widescreen desktop. The same product, everywhere.
12 — Where it stands
Live MVP · in daily use by the household
13 — What I learned
Designing for yourself is the ultimate brief.
Being user zero meant every gap in the experience was a gap in my own life. The feedback loop was instant and ruthless — the best research I've ever had.
A designer can ship production code now.
Pair-programming with Claude Code, I took this from Figma thinking to a deployed, database-backed product — solo. The design-to-build handoff simply disappeared.
A design system pays off even at n=1.
One token set and a small component library made ten feature areas feel like one product — and let me move at two-week speed without the UI drifting.
Guidance beats information.
Consultancies hand you data and a bill. The unlock wasn't more information — it was always showing the single next step. Direction is the product.