UC Student
Conceptual | Figma
CONTEXT
Fragmented Campus Engagement
Students utilize 3 non-inclusive & inconsistent methods to connect students with campus organizations:
Club Fair
happens only once a year, leaving out international, commuter, and disabled students and serves more as a cultural showcase than a practical engagement tool.
School Website
outdate and underutilized with most clubs merely redirecting students to social media.
Social Media
inconsistent and unreliable algorithm that's not catered for students with information that's scattered.
The Question
How do students without social media and access to club fairs connect with clubs?
The Challenge
Lack of a centralized hub for campus engagement.
The Opportunity
What if there was a dedicated app for student engagement on campus?
PROBLEM
Limited Awareness & Accessibility
Many students stuggle to find relevant information about clubs or events in one place. A lack of centralized resources and timely updates impedes their ability to explore opportunities and build meaningful connections.
Outdated & Underutilized
Impractical & Non-inclusive
Inconsistent & Unreliable
Students lack a unified platform to efficiently explore, join & stay informed about campus clubs and activities.
Secondary Research
Literature on Loneliness & Belonging
Feel lonely
53.6%
Lack belonging
64.4%
ACHA-NCHA III (Spring 2022) – Among 54,204 students, 53.6% report feeling lonely, and 64.4% lack a sense of belonging on campus.
Primary Research
Survey
Biggest factor preventing meaningful connections:
Difficulty Finding
Compatible People
Lack of Time
All of the above
Limited Opportunities
Limited Knowledge of
Available Resources
Method of finding meaningful connections:
Joining to clubs
Connecting with
classmates
Social media
The survey confirmed that a significant portion of students feel lonely or isolated and I identified top barriers to connection including time constraints, inadequate information on campus opportunities, and trouble finding like-minded peers.
With new insights from the primary and secondary research, I wanted to further investigate exactly how students felt about the current methods of universities connecting students with campuses organizations. I talked to four students from UC campuses such as UCLA, UCI, and UC Berkley.
Qualitative Research
Interview
Jisu Chae
UCLA Senior
"[Club Fair] could be chaotic because there's too many people so it's hard to take time to look around and gather information about clubs you're interested in."
"I email clubs about [club details] since I don't have social media and the clubs don't update their events on the school's website.
Without social media, Jisu struggles to find organizations and relies on outdated school listings or direct outreach.
Similar to UCLA, UCI had a website listing of organizations; however, its poor organization makes it an impractical & inaccessible.
June Kim
UCI Senior
"We do have a website with list of campus organizations and their links and information but they aren't really sorted into categorize or able to be filtered by interest which means you would have to scroll through around 600 clubs to look for something you're interested in."
Clubs inactive from the 1990s are still on the school website, leading students astray.
Allison Lee
UC Berkley Senior
"I used to use the school website to find clubs but then there were so many times where I saw they’re inactive so I don’t use it anymore"
"People don’t update [club information on the website] so there might be clubs all the way back in the 90s that’s still in the list. So I don’t know if anymore uses it”
Kat expressed concerns about not being about to know about new clubs after the once-a-year club event.
Kat Kim
CSUF Senior
"I typically find out about clubs through my email or the big club events at the start of the semester."
"If there was a new club [in the middle of the school year], I would 90% probably not know about it unless my friends/classmates talked about it."
The research highlights a critical gap in how universities facilitate student engagement with campus organizations. While club listings exist, poor categorization, outdated information, and reliance on social media create significant barriers to meaningful connections. As a result, many students struggle to find opportunities that align with their interests, leading to feelings of isolation and disconnection. Addressing these challenges through improved accessibility, organization, and outreach methods could significantly enhance students’ sense of belonging and campus involvement.
RESEARCH
Insights from Students
Through surveys and interviews, the project revealed that students’ engagement with campus clubs foster students’ sense of belonging and overall happiness. Universities’ failure to engage students spoke to a greater issue of student loneliness which is a serious national ephidemic.
SOLUTION
Centralized Hub for Student Engagement
UC Student aggregates club information, event listings, and academic schedules. Students can easily filter clubs, receive notifications for meeting updates, message members directly, and integrate classes with extracurricular calendars—all from one accessible platform.
Through UC Student, students in the UC system will always stay in the loop.
No need for 3rd party apps.
Receive notifications for last-minute meeting changes, new club announcements, or event sign-ups.
Stay Informed
Discover Clubs & Events
Filter by interest, see top-rated or newly formed organizations, and track upcoming events.
Chat with club leaders/members, fostering real-time connections and faster responses.
Communicate Directly
Manage Schedules Integrate classes with extracurricular calendars, minimizing conflicts and boosting overall participation.
Manage Schedules
DESIGN
From Concept to Prototype
With a solid understanding of the problem space, I transitioned into the design phase, focusing on creating a user-friendly platform that encourages student engagement.
Site Mapping
Clear and intuitive navigation system
User flow
User flow for mockup reference
Low-fidelity wireframes
Simple blueprint of UC Student
Sketches
Brainstorming
Iterate
Keep refining
Innovate
Student Engagement Reimagined
Effective
Organization Filtering
Category-Based Search
This smart filtering system eliminates information overload and streamlines engagement, making it easier than ever for students to find and connect with the right communities on campus.
Event Integration with
Class Schedule
Smart Event Suggestions
To help students seamlessly balance academics and extracurricular activities, UC Student features an event integration system that syncs with their class schedules. This ensures that students can explore and add events without worrying about time conflicts.
Smart Club
Information Page
Comprehensive Organization Overview
The informational page gives students a detailed overview of each club, including its mission, upcoming events, meeting times, and how to join. It centralizes essential information so students can explore clubs more easily and decide which ones align with their interests.
Club Member
Management System
Organizing and Engaging Members Effectively
To streamline communication and engagement, UC Student provides a Club Member Management System that helps club leaders efficiently organize their members and interactions. This feature ensures seamless coordination, making it easier for both club leaders and members to stay informed and engaged.
PROTOTYPE
Innovate, Iterate, Elevate
To fully represent the imagination I had for this product, I continuously innovated and looked for possible improvements and unconsidered alternatives. This meant multiple iterations and an open-minded approach to design.
Elevate
Future of student engagement
REFLECTION
Grit & A Thousand Matcha Lattes
And just like that – my first design project was complete.
This was by far the most challenging project I've taken on in my life, and along the way, I learned invaluable lessons of grit and what it means to never give up. This particular project might've taken two months to complete; however, considering my earlier failed attempts, this project took about a whole year to fully render. Without learning how to try again a million times, this project would've been an impossible task.
This project is made of a thousand matcha lattes and a whole lotta grit. I'm thankful for this project as I got to discover the most amazing cafes in LA & OC, and books that guided me through the most challenging hours of being, sometimes, a clueless baby designer (most notably, Grit by Angela Duck Worth & Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
I'm excited to see what I can design next.
