Problem: Students struggled to discover university events scattered across various platforms, leading to low event attendance and engagement.
My contribution: Product Designer; owned end-to-end design from discovery to launch.
Impact: Increased student event engagement from zero to 380 DAU, measured through app analytics.
My contribution: Product Designer; owned end-to-end design from discovery to launch.
Impact: Increased student event engagement from zero to 380 DAU, measured through app analytics.
TL;DR
A centralized mobile platform where students can discover all upcoming events hosted by university event organizers, clubs and societies.
University Social Calendar
Josh is just looking for someone to have a beer with
on the weekend
on the weekend
However, the project faced constraints as a strict six-month timeline and a limited budget. This forced us to adopt a MVP approach using the MoSCoW method (Must, Should, Could, Would) to prioritize key features. Early on, the project was also challenged by constant changes in business requirements and frequent scope creep, complicating initial progress. Fortunately, through clearing communication and forcing structuring prioritization, we overcame these issues and brought the process back on track.
The core objective of this project was to centralize event management at universities to drive student participation and simplify ticket sales. Our target audience is not only students seeking activities and social connections but also clubs and event organizers requiring robust administrative tools.
1 · Context & Constraints
North-Star Metric
Increase daily active users (DAU) and overall event attendance.
Supporting Metrics
Ticket sales, club membership growth, and user satisfaction (NPS).
2 · Success Criteria
The first batch of interviewed on the client's side (Australia)
- Students felt overwhelmed navigating multiple event platforms (78% survey respondents).
- Club organizers struggled with administrative tasks like member approvals and ticket management (quote: "Ticket selling through multiple platforms is boring + we're making mistakes")
- Students desired an easy, integrated purchasing experience (70% indicated preference for in-app ticket purchases).
Top Insights:
- User Interviews (8 students, 3 club organizers);
- Surveys (100+ respondents);
- Competitor analysis (Eventbrite, Facebook Events, Locals).
Methods:
3 · Discovery & Research
Synthesized insights into the Job-to-be-Done:
👨🎓: When I want to engage in campus life, I need a single, reliable source to discover and attend events, so I can maximize my university experience.
Playing with Instagram feed. The stakeholder's first hypothesis was to use the familiar UI patterns of the target audience
Final Concept (MoSCoW prioritized):
- Must: Feed, Integrated university calendar, in-app ticketing;
- Should: Clubs, Societies, discussions;
- Could: Social event sharing features;
- Would: Advanced analytics and personalized recommendations, Memories (planned for later iterations).
Selected concept prioritized essential features ensuring early value delivery within tight budget constraints.
4 · Ideation & Concept Selection
Second round of prototype
I created a high-fidelity interactive prototype using Figma, conducting two comprehensive rounds of usability testing with diverse student groups. Early tests revealed complexities in the ticket purchasing process, prompting us to simplify it significantly – from six steps to three.
Additional refinements improved the discoverability and filtering of events. These iterative improvements boosted usability considerably, with task completion rates increasing from 65% initially to 92% after refinements.
Also I created a UI kit, ensuring consistent user experiences and development process.
5 · Prototype & Validation
- Phased rollout starting with beta testers (50 users), then expanding university-wide;
- A/B testing variations of onboarding experience.
Roll-out Strategy:
6 · Launch & Measurement
- Daily Active Users increased from 50 to 380 by two months;
- Event attendance grew by approximately 40%;
- There were in-app ticket sales, which we didn't expect with such a low number of users :) Our stakeholder manually double-checked all transactions at night to ensure that users' attendance of their very first events seamless.
Metrics (Post-launch):
Achieved core goal
centralized event experience
DAU increased by 660%
exceeding initial projections 🥳
Significant improvement
in student engagement metrics
7 · Impact
Reflecting on the project, there are opportunities to enhance social side of the app (messages, comments and stories) and introduce personalized event recommendations. The primary lesson learned was the critical importance of structured prioritization methods (like MoSCoW) to manage evolving requirements and avoid scope creep.
Today, the app has been acquired by an investor, who recognized its potential and is currently expanding its implementation across multiple Australian universities.
Today, the app has been acquired by an investor, who recognized its potential and is currently expanding its implementation across multiple Australian universities.
