Personal growth
Study plans come first. Life plans rarely follow.
Students seek deeper self-understanding, but rarely plan for their broader life experiences.
Ciao
Campus social platform · Mobile app
2025 · Team project
- Main Role
- UX Researcher & Feature Designer
- Duration
- March – June 2025
- Project Type
- Team Product Design
- Tools
- Figma
Project overview
Making campus
activities easier
to join.
A campus social app designed to help college students discover relevant activities, plan their participation, and connect with others.
Goal
Understand what holds students back from participating, and make event information clearer and joining less uncertain.
My Role
I conducted user research, synthesized key insights, and defined and designed Ciao’s core features based on students’ needs.
Problem
Finding connection in an unfamiliar environment.
For college students—especially international students—cultural barriers and unfamiliar environments can make meaningful connections difficult.
Research Question: “What shapes the decision to join in?”
We combined surveys, interviews, shadowing, and cultural probes to explore students’ social routines and participation barriers.
Our research at a glance
- Survey responses
- 48
- User interviews
- 10
- Shadowing observations
- 9
- Cultural probes
- 8
Survey findings
Interest is there.
Getting started is harder.
- International respondents struggled to find activities during weekends and breaks.
- 83%
- Wanted spontaneous social activities, but didn’t know where to start.
- 76%
- Used smartphones as their main tool to find and coordinate social activities.
- 91%
- Would be more likely to try new experiences with companions who share their interests.
- 72%
Reported in our 2025 project summary. Response bases for individual questions were not specified.
In participants’ words
I’ve been interested in joining the jazz club, but I feel too shy and not good enough yet.
Most days I stay home, but if friends invite me, I’ll go out — I rely on them to let me know about events.
I’d join if the activities are fun or the projects seem helpful.
Research Synthesis
We used a Rainbow Sheet and affinity mapping to organize and compare research notes, group similar observations, and synthesize recurring patterns into four opportunity areas.
- Evidence notes
- 600+
- Initial clusters
- 114
- Synthesized findings
- 63
- Opportunity areas
- 4
Key insights
Social connection
Students value friends and want a wider circle.
They enjoy time with existing friends and are eager to expand their social circles.
Meaningful engagement
Daily routines feel repetitive. Students want more.
They seek balance beyond academics; club activities add purpose to their free time.
Club experience
Club information is hard to find. A warm welcome matters.
Accurate, timely information is difficult to access. Indoor activities remain meaningful, and students value friendly clubs.
How Might We
How might we help college students discover meaningful activities, feel confident joining, and connect with others?
Primary Persona
01 / Finding a place to belong
Lina
23International graduate student
A graphic design student navigating a new culture and looking for friendships beyond the classroom.
Goals
- Meet friends with shared interests and feel included.
- Make more room for social life alongside her studies.
Frustrations
- Language confidence and an unfamiliar culture make reaching out difficult.
- A heavy workload and hard-to-find activities limit her options.
Secondary Persona
02 / Bringing people together
Kevin
19Film student
An outgoing student who enjoys weekend adventures and wants to turn his ideas into shared experiences.
Goals
- Find like-minded friends to explore and spend time with.
- Balance schoolwork with a fulfilling life outside class.
Frustrations
- Finding the right companions is difficult.
- There is no clear way to share his ideas and initiate group activities.
Design Opportunity
Explore & create events
Make it easier to discover activities and turn an idea into a shared plan.
Location-based discovery
Help students find nearby activities that fit their time and travel options.
Personalized recommendations
Connect students with activities and people around shared interests.
Social skill training
Explore gentle guidance that helps students start conversations with more confidence.
Ideation
Crazy 8
We quickly sketched different feature ideas to explore more possibilities before choosing a direction.
Feature Prioritization
Information Architecture
Log In Page
Log InCreate An Account
HOME PAGE
- My Event
- Ongoing Events
- Event Overview
- Coming Events
- Event Overview
- Ongoing Events
- Chats
- Calender
- Recommendation Event
- Event Overview
EXPLORE
- Filter
- Event Category
- Social Event
- Hobby Events
- Grocery Events
- Career Events
- Therapy Events
- Long Trip
- Short Trip
- Group Size
- Small Group(3-5)
- Big Group(6-10 Up)
- Date
- Today
- Weekly Event
- Monthly Event
- Location
- Outdoor Event
- Indoor Events
- Event Category
- Search
- Chats
- Maps
- All Events
POST
- New Posts
- Image
- Event Link
- Thoughts
- Location
- Title
- Post
- Posts Draft
- New Events
- Event Information Brief
- Introduction
- Choose Category
- Choose Time
- Location
- Choose Group Size
- Upload Image
- Potential Cost
- Preview
- Publish Event
- Event Information Brief
- Events Draft
COMMUNITY
- Friend Posts
- Recommendation Posts
- My Posts
PROFILE
- Personal Information
- Name
- Major
- Following
- Follower
- Rewards
- Posted Events
- Modify
- Past Events
- Rate
- Liked Events
- Chats
- Hamburger Menu
- Events
- Posts
- Privacy
- Log Out
Mid-fidelity Wireframes
We developed key screens to explore how students discover, join, and create activities.
Brand Identity
LET’S MEET
Step out,
say ciao!
Ciao invites students to step out and find connection and belonging in everyday encounters.
Spontaneity · Connection · Belonging
TYPOGRAPHY
PoppinsAa
Poppins brings a lighthearted, friendly feel with its rounded geometric forms.
Bold32 px
Semibold20 px
Medium24 px
Regular18 / 16 px
Color palette
01Ciao purpleEasygoing · Expressive#7A5AF8
02Sun yellowWarm · Optimistic#F9E346
03Light blueCalm#A5CDFF
04Bright blueReassuring#3A9CFF
User Testing and Iteration
From feedback to refinement
What worked. What needed to change.
11 Participants4 Task flows3 Expert reviewers
Prototype testing, focus group conversations, and expert reviews highlighted a welcoming visual style, alongside unclear posting paths, ambiguous event labels, and hard-to-recognize icons.
Four task flows
Discover & join an event
- Browse activities from Home or Explore.
- Use filters or the map to narrow the options.
- Review an event and join its group chat.
Create an event
- Find the New Event entry.
- Add a title, location, time, group size, and event details.
- Review the event, then publish or save a draft.
Share with the community
- Browse a post and its comments.
- Find where to create a new post.
- Add a title, thoughts, and images; publish or save for later.
Revisit personal events
- Open Profile and locate personal event records.
- Switch between posted and past events.
- Open an event from the list.
Iteration 1
Make navigation and location easier to understand.
Before
After
Before
After
Iteration 2
Clarify the day’s plans and possibilities.
Before
After
BeforeToday Event (1)Events This Month (2)
AfterMy Events Today (1)All Events Today (3)
Iteration 3
Bring the selected activity into focus.
Before
After
Before
After
Updates & Outcomes
The updates clarify where to go, what is planned, and which activity is selected.
Clearer navigation
Updated icons and visible text labels make each destination explicit, without relying on icon recognition alone.
Location in context
Adding Savannah, GA connects the weather information to a specific city, so students know which location it describes.
Plans at a glance
A clearer selected date and separate “My Events Today” and “All Events Today” sections distinguish personal plans from other options.
A more focused map
Compact markers and one selected event card keep the activity’s time, distance, and address together with less competing information.
Final Design
Explore nearby activities
Browse events, narrow your options, and see what is happening nearby.
01Explore page 
02Filter events Find your fit
Narrow activities by date, location, and group size to find an event that fits your plans.
03Map view See what is nearby
View the selected activity’s time, distance, and address right on the map.
Join an event, meet your people
Find an activity, review the details, and connect with the group before you arrive.
01Home page 
02Event details Know before you join
Review the host, activity details, group size, and cost to understand what to expect.
03Joining confirmation 
04Event group chat Say hello before you arrive
Join the event conversation and start connecting with the people you will meet.
Keep the connection going
Explore community stories, join the conversation, and save your own story to share later.
01Community page Discover shared experiences
Browse students’ stories and linked places for ideas for your next activity.
02Post & comments 
03Create a post 
04Save a draft Share at your own pace
Keep an unfinished story as a draft and come back when you are ready.
Bring your own event to life
Start a new event, add the essentials, and review it before publishing.
01Create event entry 
02Event details form Turn an idea into a plan
Bring the location, time, group size, and details together so others know what you are organizing.
03Review & publish Check before sharing
Review how the event will appear to others before publishing it.
LET’S MEETStep out,
Step out,
say ciao!
Reflection
Ciao taught me that event discovery is only the visible part of the problem. The deeper challenge is helping people feel informed, expected, and welcome before they arrive.
Skills demonstrated
Mixed-method research, synthesis, and interaction design: translating students’ social hesitation into clearer event information and participation flows.
What I learned & what comes next
Designing for participation means addressing uncertainty before arrival. Next, I would test repeat participation across a semester and explore the feasibility of interest-based recommendations.
