Will Linczer

Class of 2026-2027

University of Notre Dame
Industrial Design

Capstone Project Abstract

Josselyn is a nonprofit Community Mental Health Center providing outpatient behavioral health care across five clinics in the greater Chicago area, serving nearly 8,000 clients with a staff of roughly 300. As the organization grows, the operational knowledge its staff depends on has become spread across many disconnected systems, costing time and confidence. This capstone investigates whether that knowledge-access problem justifies an AI-enabled solution, and if so, what tool would serve which employees. Rather than assume an AI assistant is the answer, the project treats it as a hypothesis to test. The work centers on interviewing staff across departments and five clinics, observing how they search for answers today, and following behavioral evidence to find where the problem is most acute and for whom. The project aims to deliver a clear understanding of where Josselyn's knowledge-access costs truly lie, along with a Knowledge Repository Roadmap for centralizing the organization's information so that any tool built on top of it can be trusted.

Why did you choose ESTEEM?

I spent four years as a product designer helping startups turn research into real products, but I kept running into the same problem. I could shape a great experience, but the decisions that determined whether a venture lived or died sat one level up, in strategy and business development. I came to ESTEEM to close that gap, pairing my design background with technical and entrepreneurial skills, to solve harder problems with real stakes.

What do you hope to do after ESTEEM?

After ESTEEM, I'm seeking opportunities involving product strategy where I own the whole arc from problem validation to go-to-market. I'm especially drawn to teams solving meaningful operational problems in unflattering and often invisible industries, where careful research and excellent product implementation are the only way to improve outcomes for the people holding the foundations of our marketplace.

What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time I'm usually building something. Lately that's a video game I'm designing and vibe-coding, which has become my favorite way to learn new technical skills. Otherwise you'll find me cooking with my wife, responding to my family's tech questions and coworkers' requests for a product audit, or playing tabletop games with friends.