Platform for Student Orgs @ UMich
Streamlining club discovery and involvement for University of Michigan students
Navigating university clubs is crucial for a successful college experience, but existing resources are limited and inaccessible, especially for such a large university.
MClubs is a centralized platform for students to explore, connect with, and stay updated on clubs and activities.
I worked closely with developers on a 2 week timeline.
I conducted the research, concept development, and usability testing. I collaborated with another designer in all other stages of the process, including feature refinement, wireframes, and UI design.
Timeline:
August 2024
Role
Product Designer
Tools & Skills
Figma, Research
With
1 Other Designer
2 Engineers
Research & Discovery Findings
Understanding the club discovery and involvement experience for students and club leadership
I conducted expert interviews with 2 student club leaders and collected survey responses from 20 students, ranging all grades with varying levels of club involvement.
Affinity diagraming these responses revealed patterns affecting club discovery, sign up processes, and event participation.
Juggling multiple scattered platforms complicates club processes
Clubs struggle to promote events and communicate to students beyond their current members.
Students want to attend more club events, but have no reliable way to discover them.
Students mainly rely on word of mouth for clubs, current tools are ineffective for club search.
Concept Development
Designing features to fully address student and club needs
Testing Feedback & Changes
Final Design
Reflections
Learning from engineers, a short timeline, and research
Research is valuable
Developers thought the initial lack of interest was due was poor UI but the real problem was that the developers were only guessing at what students wanted. By conducting research and testing, I was able to design features tailored to current processes and real needs.
No need to reinvent the wheel
With an existing user journey of club involvement, I learned to design a solution that fits seamlessly into current processes, instead of trying to rebuild everything in the solution.