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UX Was Here: Eunoia Hackathon

The project aimed to create an inspiring space where designers could showcase their work and connect with fellow UX enthusiasts

During a one-week hackathon, my team of four redesigned the UX Was Here platform for client Matt Karadallic to boost user engagement. As lead UX researcher and designer, I guided efforts to create a space where designers could showcase work and connect. The project involved research, brainstorming, and mentor feedback, resulting in a refined, community-driven platform.

Timeline

March 2024

Role

UX designer and researcher

Tools

Figma and Figjam

The Client

Who is Ux Was Here?

A community-based platform that brings together UX enthusiasts from all walks of life

The client's brand values are to connect by networking with UX enthusiasts around the globe, inspire by voicing your thoughts and learning from others' stories, and share by tapping into others' experiences to spark your own creations.

The Brief

What are the pain points the client has identified?

There is a high turn rate but low usage rates. Users don’t stay for long in communities like this.

Retaining existing users and understanding their diverse needs and motivations is the primary pain point for UwH.

UwH strives to fulfil its mission of creating a vibrant and inclusive community for UX enthusiasts.

How Might We?

Defining the problem space based on user research

How might we create an inspirational space that fosters meaningful connections among designers with varied experience levels?

Our opportunity was to honour UwH’s focus on sharing and connecting by integrating both values in a space that engages communities/users through catalysed discussions.

User Research

Why focus on inspiration and fostering connections?

15% of the users leave the community after a short while due to a lack of relevant information, and 70% of users stay in communities for inspiration and connection.

We conducted a survey to understand the user demographic we were designing for, hoping to refine our focus to a specific user base.
Here is what we found:

The Solution

What we designed to engage more users

We created an inspiration page to encourage users to use projects as a catalyst to spark conversations with fellow designers.

Our goal was to create a space that encourages users to stay active and increases engagement over time, using our research as the foundation. Through conversations with users, we uncovered insights not captured in our surveys, particularly the challenge of starting conversations with designers on platforms, especially when their only knowledge of each other was limited.

The Prototype

check out the prototype

Video Pitch

Our design vision in action

We pitched our idea to the judges and client through a compelling video, showcasing the research behind our designs and highlighting the recommended features for the platform.

I took sole responsibility for creating the video and structuring the pitch for our presentation to the judges and client. From crafting the narrative to selecting visuals and structuring the flow, I ensured the pitch effectively communicated our vision and the value of our solution.

Research

Competitive Analysis

Learned the importance of a focused platform with strong branding, a specific user base and cohesive tone to create a casual yet professional space that fosters connection, learning, and user engagement.

Conducting competitive analysis was essential for our redesign, as it helped us inform our copywriting, UI design, user surveys, and feature concepts. It gave us insight into what exists and what our client's platform lacks currently in comparison.

comparison table and learnings

User Survey

Users seek a platform where they can find inspiration, learn from fellow designers, and build meaningful connections within the design community.

We conducted user surveys to understand how UX enthusiasts engage with online communities, exploring their needs, motivations, and expectations. We focused on what keeps them engaged and what they value most from these platforms.

screenshots of core datasets implemented to inform our design

Ideation and brainstorming

We aligned the client's needs with user preferences, refined our guiding statement, and collaborated to craft focused solutions, continuously improving through mentor feedback.

We began by defining our problem statement, aligning it with the client’s needs and user preferences, and refining our "How Might We" statement to guide the design process. Using this foundation, we brainstormed solutions as a team, discussing and narrowing down the ideas that best addressed the problem. Throughout the process, we held regular feedback sessions with our mentor to ensure we stayed on the right track and refined our approach.

organising our brainstorming

Key user flow

We created a user flow and information architecture to ensure the team stayed aligned on the focus and structure of our screens.

This is the user flow we created for the Inspiration page, emphasising key actions that encourage connections among users. It also highlights sections of the user flow that have been prototyped.

UI Design

Design Language System

Keeping the original UX Was Here style we added elements and brought in a cohesive UI with a strong branding.

This is the UI kit for the redesign that adheres to the existing style and components. It covers elements in the key interactions of the prototype, ensuring consistency throughout the redesign.

new UI Elements