Melike Kara

Designer

Explore selected work
About

I’m Melike Kara, a product and visual designer studying Arts and Entertainment Technologies at UT Austin. My work spans digital interfaces, game UI, graphic design, 3D, and animation.

I enjoy figuring out how something should work and how it should feel. Whether I’m designing a product screen or a game interface, I pay attention to the small choices—layout, type, color, and movement—that make an experience easier to understand and more enjoyable to use.

Selected Work

AI-Powered Data Integration Experience at IBM — production approval screen
01
Enterprise UX · IBM · 2026

AI-Powered Data Integration Experience

UX internship at IBM. Designed an incident-detection flow built around human-in-the-loop approval and transparent reasoning — informed by 11 enterprise interviews and a competitive analysis of 7 platforms.

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Guided job import wizard with explicit naming-conflict choices
02
Enterprise UX·IBM·2026

Guided Job
Import/Export

A guided workflow for moving pipeline jobs between environments, making naming conflicts and dependency decisions visible before anything is overwritten.

Read the case study
Longchamp interactive product page interface concept
03
Product Design·Interface Concept·2026

Longchamp —
Interactive Product Page

An interactive Le Pliage product page exploring color selection, product details, and transitions.

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Smart Mirror OS interface concept
04
Product Design·Interface Concept·2026

Smart Mirror OS

A wellness and home-management interface bringing daily routines into one ambient display.

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Games for Good pause menu UI
05
Game Design UI/UX·Games for Good·2026

Games for Good —
HUD & Pause UI

In-game guidance, progress feedback, and pause flows, with buttons, typography, and color designed as one interface system.

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Textured fire hydrant model from four angles
06
3D Modeling·2026

Fire Hydrant

Autodesk Fusion 360 · Autodesk Maya · Substance 3D Painter

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Folding Knife textured model
07
3D Modeling·2026

Folding Knife

Autodesk Fusion 360 · Autodesk Maya · Substance 3D Painter

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Stove Heater textured model
08
3D Modeling·2026

Stove Heater

Autodesk Maya · Substance 3D Painter

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NES Controller textured model
09
3D Modeling·2026

NES Controller

Autodesk Maya · Substance 3D Painter

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Hammer textured model
10
3D Modeling·2025–2026

Hammer

Autodesk Maya · Substance 3D Painter

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Stop Hunger design
11
Brand / Graphic Design·2026

Stop Hunger

A poster series using minimal shapes and repeating typography to explore food insecurity and fading public awareness.

View the project
Women in Type design
12
Brand / Graphic Design·2026

Women in Type

An editorial layout highlighting women in type-design history, pairing archival photography with a bold pink, black, and white palette.

View the project
Cosima von Bonin design
13
Brand / Graphic Design·2026

Cosima von Bonin

An artist poster combining Cosima von Bonin’s sculptural work within a silhouette, with typography reflecting humor in her art.

View the project
Punch Animation video still
14
Animation·2026

Punch Animation

Autodesk Maya

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Jump Animation video still
15
Animation·2026

Jump Animation

Autodesk Maya

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Idle Animation video still
16
Animation·2026

Idle Animation

Autodesk Maya

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Falling Animation video still
17
Animation·2026

Falling Animation

Procreate · Adobe After Effects

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Case Study · 01 / 2026

AI-Powered
Data Integration
Experience.

Role
UX Design Intern
Tools
Figma · Figma Make · Claude · Carbon
Focus
Enterprise UX · AI Trust
Production approval screen — AI agent hands a data-incident decision to a human for approval
7
Data-integration platforms benchmarked
11
Enterprise interviews synthesized
2
IBM concepts across this work and Guided Job Import/Export
3
Platforms researched in depth solo
The Problem

Enterprise data tools ask too much of people, in the wrong order.

Enterprise data integration platforms force users through dense technical workflows, unfamiliar terminology, and large volumes of information just to complete routine tasks. In a competitive analysis of seven platforms — Fivetran, Matillion, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, AWS Glue, Informatica, and FME — IBM’s WXDI trailed specifically in AI-assisted workflows, wizard-driven setup, and clear conflict resolution when something fails silently.

The Research

What the competition ships, and what users actually need.

I synthesized findings from 11 enterprise interviews — CIOs, data engineers, and ML engineers across banking, healthcare, and retail — and went deeper on Matillion to extract interaction patterns IBM could adapt. Two findings shaped every design decision that followed: agentic actions need a human approval checkpoint, and an agent’s output is only trustworthy if its reasoning is visible.

Competitive gap table comparing IBM WXDI against seven platforms
Feature-gap analysis · IBM WXDI vs. seven enterprise data-integration platforms — Fivetran, Matillion, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, AWS Glue, Informatica, and FME.
Affinity map of 17 themes across 11 enterprise interviews
Affinity-mapped synthesis across 11 interviews with enterprise data buyers, engineers, and data scientists.
Competitive analysis deep-dive on Matillion's AI copilot and pipeline canvas
Deep-dive competitive analysis: breaking down a competitor’s AI copilot, connectors, and pipeline canvas to extract patterns IBM could adapt.
Gartner Peer Insights overall ratings for Matillion, FME, and Informatica
Gartner Peer Insights overall ratings for the three platforms I researched in depth — Matillion (4.5/5, 83%), FME (4.7/5, 95%), and Informatica (4.3/5).
“People don’t want AI to just work autonomously. They want to see why it’s confident, and they want a moment to say yes before it touches production.” — Reframing that shaped the whole project
Designing an AI Experience

The Incident Agent

An AI agent detects a data-quality failure — a schema change silently corrupting records for hours — and has to walk a human through what happened, why it’s confident, and what it costs to wait, clearly enough that they can make a fast, informed call without becoming a data-forensics expert themselves.

01
Surface the failure without alarm fatigue.

A dashboard summary states what’s wrong and what’s already auto-remediated vs. what needs a decision — so attention goes only where it’s needed.

Operations dashboard showing an active critical issue requiring approval
02
Let the person ask, don’t force them to read a report.

A conversational panel answers “What changed?”, “Why did this happen?”, “Have we seen this before?” on demand — depth is available without being mandatory.

Chat interface showing schema comparison after asking what changed
03
Show the reasoning, not just the score.

A dedicated confidence-reasoning screen breaks a 94% score into its four contributing signals; a cost-of-waiting screen quantifies the risk of inaction.

Confidence reasoning screen breaking down 94 percent confidence into four sources Cost of waiting screen showing corruption rate and time to SLA breach
04
Make the handoff explicit.

A single approval screen states it in plain terms: “The AI owns the investigation. You own production.” Nothing executes without that click.

Production approval screen with 94 percent confidence and explicit approve action
05
Close the loop.

Once resolved, the agent proposes a monitoring rule so the same failure is caught hours earlier next time — turning one incident into a permanent improvement.

Incident resolved screen with AI monitoring recommendation
The Outcome

Designing disclosure sequencing, not just surface UI.

This project strengthened my ability to translate complex enterprise requirements into clear, user-centered experiences — specifically, the skill of designing disclosure sequencing for an AI system. I gained hands-on experience with IBM’s Carbon Design System, using AI tools to accelerate prototyping without skipping design rigor, and balancing transparency, trust, and usability in a high-stakes enterprise decision.

Next in Enterprise UXGuided Job Import/Export
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Case Study · 02 / 2026 · IBM

Guided Job
Import/Export.

Role
UX Design Intern
Context
IBM · Enterprise Data Integration
Focus
Guided Workflows · Conflict Resolution
The Problem

Moving a job should not mean losing control of its dependencies.

Moving pipeline jobs between environments can introduce naming conflicts and dependency issues. An import that fails without a clear explanation, or overwrites an existing connection without warning, leaves users uncertain about what changed.

The Approach

Make each conflict an explicit decision.

I designed a guided workflow that surfaces naming conflicts and dependencies up front. Instead of resolving a conflict silently, the interface presents the available choices: keep the existing item, rename and add as new, or replace.

Job import wizard showing a naming conflict with explicit resolution choices
Guided job import: naming conflicts and dependencies are visible, with explicit resolution choices.
Design Decisions

Clear choices at the moment they matter.

The flow brings the conflict, the affected item, and its resolution into the same step. Keeping an existing item, creating a renamed copy, and replacing an item remain distinct choices so users can decide how to move their work between environments.

Reflection

Make the system’s next action understandable.

This concept applies the same emphasis on visibility and control as the Incident Agent to a focused enterprise workflow: making a potentially silent change visible and controllable before it happens.

Next in Enterprise UXAI-Powered Data Integration
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Interface Concept · 03 / 2026

Longchamp
Product Page.

Year
2026
Tools
Figma

An interactive product-page concept for Longchamp’s Le Pliage bag line. Color selection moves through a two-tone reveal into a focused product view, with a separate details page for dimensions and product information. Designed in Figma to reflect the brand’s minimal, elegant identity.

View Figma prototype
My Contribution

An interactive browsing flow, designed in Figma.

I designed the product view, color-selection states, and details screen, then connected them in an interactive prototype. The focus was on product presentation and the transitions between browsing and reading details.

Longchamp Le Pliage product-page concept in the Limette colorway
Product view · Limette
Interaction Design

Let color lead the experience.

Two-tone color reveals carry each selected colorway into the page. A separate details view gives dimensions and product information their own space, keeping the main view focused on the bag.

Bordeaux color selection in the Longchamp interactive product-page concept
Color selection · Bordeaux
Le Pliage details screen with product description, dimension lines, and back control
Details page
Tablet mockup showing the Longchamp product and details screens
Tablet mockup
View Figma prototype
Next in ProductSmart Mirror OS
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Interface Concept · 04 / 2026

Smart Mirror
OS.

Year
2026
Tools
Figma

An interactive mirror-interface concept for daily wellness and household routines. The dashboard brings together schedules, weather, nutrition, hydration, recipes, and food-expiration reminders. Designed in Figma, the interface develops from grayscale layouts into translucent panels shown within a home environment.

View Figma prototype
My Contribution

A shared dashboard for everyday routines.

I designed the dashboard and wellness screens in Figma, grouping schedules, weather, food reminders, and nutrition information into distinct panels. The prototype connects the overview with more detailed views.

Smart Mirror OS overview shown as a grayscale layout and in a home environment
Dashboard · Grayscale and final interface
Visual Development

From grayscale layouts to a mirror interface.

The interface develops from grayscale layouts into translucent panels shown in a home environment. The expanded nutrition screen brings calorie totals, nutrient progress, and meal entries together in one view.

Smart Mirror nutrition screen comparing the grayscale layout with the home-context presentation
Nutrition screen
Smart Mirror interface presented on a kitchen refrigerator display
Kitchen mockup
View Figma prototype
Next in ProductLongchamp
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3D Modeling

Fire
Hydrant.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Fusion 360
Autodesk Maya
Substance 3D Painter
Final textured fire hydrant model, four views
Final textured model
Fire hydrant geometry, wireframe, and UV layout
Model, wireframe & UV layout
Close-up fire hydrant views showing surface wear and bolts
Close-up details
Next in 3D ModelingFolding Knife
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3D Modeling

Folding
Knife.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Fusion 360
Autodesk Maya
Substance 3D Painter
Folding Knife — Final textured model
Final textured model
Folding Knife — High-poly model
High-poly model
Folding Knife — Wireframe & UV layout
Wireframe & UV layout
Folding Knife — Close-up details
Close-up details
Next in 3D ModelingStove Heater
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3D Modeling

Stove
Heater.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Maya
Substance 3D Painter
Stove Heater — Final textured model
Final textured model
Stove Heater — Model, wireframe & UV layout
Model, wireframe & UV layout
Next in 3D ModelingNES Controller
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3D Modeling

NES
Controller.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Maya
Substance 3D Painter
NES Controller — Final textured model
Final textured model
NES Controller — High-poly model
High-poly model
NES Controller — Wireframe & UV layout
Wireframe & UV layout
NES Controller — Material & surface details
Material & surface details
Next in 3D ModelingHammer
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3D Modeling

Hammer.

Year
2025–2026
Tools
Autodesk Maya
Substance 3D Painter
Hammer — Final textured model · 2026
Final textured model · 2026
Hammer — High-poly model · 2025
High-poly model · 2025
Hammer — Wireframe & UV layout
Wireframe & UV layout
Next in 3D ModelingFire Hydrant
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Brand / Graphic Design

Stop
Hunger.

Year
2026
Tools
Adobe Photoshop · Adobe InDesign

A poster series using minimal shapes and repeating typography to explore food insecurity and fading public awareness.

Stop Hunger poster
Stop Hunger
Fading repetition poster
Fading repetition
Next in Brand / Graphic DesignWomen in Type
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Brand / Graphic Design

Women
in Type.

Year
2026
Tools
Figma · Adobe InDesign · Adobe Photoshop

An editorial layout highlighting women in type-design history, pairing archival photography with a bold pink, black, and white palette.

Cover · 1 / 5

Women in Type — Cover
Next in Brand / Graphic DesignCosima von Bonin
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Brand / Graphic Design

Cosima
von Bonin.

Year
2026
Tools
Adobe Photoshop · Adobe InDesign

An artist poster combining Cosima von Bonin’s sculptural work within a silhouette, with typography reflecting humor in her art.

Cosima von Bonin artist poster
Artist poster
Next in Brand / Graphic DesignStop Hunger
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Animation

Punch
Animation.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Maya
Contribution
Character animation

A punch animation created in Maya using a Mixamo rig, with a focus on timing and motion.

Character reference showing shaded and wireframe views in a T-pose
Character reference · Wireframe / T-pose
Next in AnimationJump Animation
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Animation

Jump
Animation.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Maya
Contribution
Character animation

A jump animation created in Maya using a Mixamo rig, with a focus on timing and motion.

Character reference showing shaded and wireframe views in a T-pose
Character reference · Wireframe / T-pose
Next in AnimationIdle Animation
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Animation

Idle
Animation.

Year
2026
Tools
Autodesk Maya
Contribution
Character animation

An idle animation created in Maya using a pre-built rig, focusing on subtle timing and motion.

Next in AnimationFalling Animation
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Animation

Falling
Animation.

Year
2026
Tools
Procreate · Adobe After Effects
Contribution
Hand-drawn animation

A hand-drawn morph animation where joy, falling, and rebirth flow into one continuous transformation.

Next in AnimationPunch Animation
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Game Design UI/UX · Games for Good

Games for Good
HUD & Pause UI.

Year
2026
Tools
Figma
Role
UI/UX Designer

For a collaborative game project, I designed the in-game HUD and pause screens, including buttons, typography, and the color palette. The work covers movement prompts, catch feedback, pausing, taking a break, and confirming an exit.

My contribution

HUD and pause-screen design · Buttons and icons · Typography · Color palette

Pause menu · 1 / 6

Games for Good — Pause menu

Interface mockups shown over an illustrated reference background. My contribution is the UI design.

Design decisions

A consistent visual language across play and pause.

Rounded controls, white typography, and a cool blue palette carry across the HUD and menus. Movement instructions and catch feedback form distinct HUD states; the pause flow gives separate screens to resting and confirming an exit.

View early wireframes & navigation

Early navigation map showing how home, calibration, the hub, minigames, and pause states connect.

Early game navigation map showing calibration, home, hub, pause, and minigame screens
← Game Design UI/UX collection