Boundless Immigration (formerly Bridge Legal)

Founding Designer → Acquisition

The Problem

Immigration is one of the most stressful life events a person can face. The stakes are high: careers, families, and futures are on the line. Yet for decades, the tools available to immigrants and employers were built for lawyers, not for the people living through the journey.

At Bridge Legal, we saw the same problems repeating across HR teams and foreign nationals:

• Opaque processes: Applicants didn’t know where they stood or what would happen next.
• Fragmented communication: Endless email threads between immigrants, HR, and attorneys.
• Reactive workflows: Immigration only became visible when something went wrong.
  

And then came COVID-19.

Overnight, immigration systems ground to a halt. Travel bans, government backlogs, and sudden policy shifts left immigrants and employers stranded. Uncertainty skyrocketed. Foreign nationals were anxious, companies feared losing employees, and attorneys were overwhelmed.

It was clear: immigration technology had to evolve from case tracking to human-centered clarity.

My Role

I joined Bridge in 2019 as the founding designer, responsible for building the product vision and design practice from the ground up. My responsibilities included:

• Research: Conducted interviews with immigrants, HR teams, and attorneys to uncover pain points and emotional needs.
• UX & UI Design: Crafted flows, prototypes, and final visuals for immigrant and HR dashboards.
• Brand & Design System: Built Bridge’s first consistent design language to scale across product surfaces.
• Cross-functional Partner: Collaborated closely with engineering and legal experts to validate feasibility and accuracy.
  

I was not just designing screens—I was defining how the immigrant experience would be represented digitally.

The Solution: A Timeline, Not a Case File

The breakthrough was the Foreign National Timeline Interface. Instead of static case files or spreadsheets, we designed a journey with milestones that made the immigration process clear, predictable, and human.

Key Features

• Visual Milestones: Filing, approvals, renewals, and deadlines displayed as a clear, horizontal timeline.
• Personalization: Tailored to visa type, ensuring users only saw what was relevant to their situation.
• Shared Transparency: Immigrants, HR, and attorneys viewed the same timeline—eliminating confusion and repetitive questions.
• Smart Alerts: Deadline reminders and missing document nudges reduced risk of missed filings.
  

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For the first time, immigrants could log in and see their future unfold.

Designing Through COVID

When the pandemic disrupted global mobility, the timeline became more than a feature—it became a lifeline.

• Immigrants could see exactly what was delayed by government policy versus what was still in their control.
• HR managers could track cases at scale without bombarding attorneys with questions.
• Attorneys were able to focus on high-value cases instead of constant status updates.
  

By designing for clarity during chaos, Bridge gave thousands of immigrants a sense of grounding in the middle of unprecedented disruption.

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Impact

Bridge’s design-first approach transformed how immigration was experienced:

• Engagement: The timeline became the most visited feature, driving repeat usage.
• Efficiency: HR questions dropped, freeing attorneys to focus on strategy over status.
• Trust: Immigrants reported greater confidence navigating their cases.
• Differentiation: Competitors still offered static case trackers—Bridge offered clarity, empathy, and transparency.
• Acquisition: In 2020, Boundless Immigration acquired Bridge, validating the company’s design-led approach to reimagining immigration.

Reflection

Designing for immigration required more than usability. It required empathy at scale. Every pixel carried emotional weight: the difference between anxiety and reassurance, between confusion and clarity.

By reframing immigration as a narrative journey instead of a pile of forms, we helped immigrants feel supported in one of the most uncertain moments of their lives.

This case study reminds me that design is not just about interaction—it’s about impact. At Bridge, good design didn’t just improve a product. It paved the way for acquisition and helped reshape how immigration technology could serve people with dignity and clarity.