Uni-Connect

Turning surface-level encounters into genuine campus friendships

Role

UX/UI Designer

Team

Queene C., Lisa H., Suyao L.

Timeline

April 2025 (GBDA 210)

Tools

Figma, Paper Prototyping, Usability Testing

Context & Problem

At the University of Waterloo, many students especially commuters struggle to build meaningful social connections. Key issues include: shyness, packed schedules, and fragmented event information across platforms like Instagram and WUSA. Research showed that 1 in 5 upper-year students lacks a “real friend.” Our challenge was to design a solution that helps both commuters and residents discover events and transition from online connections to genuine, in-person friendships.

Ran a Crazy 8 sprint (24 ideas) and validated the concept with external data—1 in 5 upper-year students report having no “real friend.” Defined the guiding question:

How might we let shy commuters and residents discover events and start conversations effortlessly?

We conducted 15 user interviews (commuters, residents, introverts, extroverts) and synthesized 20+ sticky notes into an affinity diagram.

Initiating social interaction is difficult: “I typically don’t initiate conversations… I wait until someone else initiates first.”
Event awareness is low: Students miss events because information is scattered across too many platforms.
Desire for deeper connections: Many feel drained by surface-level friendships and want more emotional depth.
Social media has limits: Instagram and TikTok help discover events but feel awkward for building real-life connections.

Mike — commuter, introvert, struggle with scattered information and need a centralized source.
Carine — commuter, extrovert, seeking for deeper connections.