Duration
10 weeks
Role
UX Designer
Tools
Figma
Background
This project is my first solo project using Figma as my primary design tool!
I chose to focus on a very general redesign of UCSD's app homepage , I reimagined how students could better navigate and interact with essential campus resources
UCSD’s app was created to make campus navigation easier for students, but it encountered issues with slow performance and usability, causing many students to stop using it. In this project, my goal was to pinpoint critical usability problems and redesign key features to enhance the overall user experience
Problem
📌 Hard to navigate
📌 Too slow/glitches
📌 Non aesthetic layout
📌 Does not offer alot of features
📌 Users cant see certain features because of the design
Solution
📌 Personalize the app to each users experience (student ID, class schedule)
📌 Add a section with location services for ride shares and distance to class (option to reserve parking spaces)
📌 Home page is very overwhelming, make it more simple
📌 Amazon storefront/bookstore access for course materials
📌 Link to a separate page/button for campus police access
📌 Wallet for dining dollars, bus pass, and Apple Pay for dining hall
My Process 📝
Initial Research
Research Goals
📌 Identify the target audience for the UCSD app
📌 Understand the role of campus resources in student life
📌 Explore user experiences with existing campus applications
📌 Discover user’s goals, needs and frustrations related to campus navigation and resource accessibility
Target Audience
John is a freshman at UCSD his main goals for using the app are:
📌 Finding parking on campus
📌 Using the campus map to find his classes
📌 Ordering food
Sam is a senior at UCSD her main goals for using the app are:
📌 Ordering food
📌 Looking up her class schedule
📌 Accessing wallet to use her dining dollars and apple pay
To better understand the actual users of the UCSD app and their personal experiences, I conducted 15-minute user interviews with five UCSD students (ages 18-25) to understand their app experiences, pain points, and feature preferences, providing insights to guide a user-friendly redesign.
User Interviews
I identified common pain points encountered by users :
3/3 users had difficulty navigating the main page because of glitchiness
2/5 users weren’t happy with the non aesthetic layout of the app
5/5 users opted to rely on apps like Google Maps to meet their needs, bypassing the app’s built-in map due to its lack of functionality and user-friendliness
4/ 5 users rarely use the app due to the limited resources it provides
User Persona
Using what I learned from both my research, I created a user persona that accurately represented who I am designing for. This persona helped guide my decisions along the design process to make sure the solution I am designing is centered on our user. Meet Arushi:
Her Goals:
I want to navigate the app easily to quickly access my class schedule, check dining wait times, and see nearby ride share options.Find her classes and parking easier
I want to personalize the app so that my most-used features, like reserving library spots or checking campus events, are right at my fingertips
I want a smooth, glitch-free experience, allowing me to get things done without delays or issues, saving me time and frustration.
Her Frustrations:
I never know what's happening on campus, and it’s hard to keep track of events or activities
I can never find parking, and reserving a spot feels impossible when I need it the most.
I don’t have time to wait in line for food, so I’d rather order ahead on the app and just pick up my meal without wasting time.
📌 Our main question is how can we help Arushi’s experience at UCSD?
Before
After
Before
After
My Takeaways
Thorough Research Opportunities
Throughout this project, I have been able to do a lot of cross functional research that directly impacted my design deliveries. I had the opportunity to apply concepts from school that I've learned which was particularly helpful. Being able to understand the importance of small scale icons and buttons that have big impacts on the user's experience was also something that I was lucky to learn and drive throughout my designs
Design!!!
The most exciting part of this project was seeing the changes I made and bringing it to life! Updating the app with all the changes that I can see releasing in the next phase of the mobile application updates was extremely satisfying and encouraging. At the end of the day, these changes will affect a user's interaction and perception of the application and will make navigating around campus easier!