PENN PINS gamifies campus exploration through location-based notifications and live bulletin boards for social engagement that make unfamiliar buildings and campus events easier to find.
FALL 2024
PENN SPARK
PRODUCT DESIGNER
CONTEXT
Penn Pins was designed for a semester-long project for Penn Spark, a club at UPenn that delivers digital products for the school community.
I worked alongside a co-designer, and a team of talented developers who would bring the app to life.
PROBLEM
Penn hosts over 10+ events a day, but not everyone is aware of what, where, and when it is.
Many students are unaware of campus events that happen unless they're plugged into outside club circles, from friends, or from the occasional flyer posted around campus.
RESEARCH
To understand students, we talked to them.
We created a survey targeting UPenn students. The following three numbers informed our design:::
From this, we leaned into:::
👩💻
PENN STUDENTS NEED TO BE ENTICED
There needs to be a gain in attending these events. Either the speaker is influential, the event is fun, or they're serving free lunch.
🔎
PLAY INTO THE "SOCIAL IVY" REPUTATION
Socials play a significant part in the "Penn experience." How can we incorporate this into the app to engage students further?
🖼️
LOCATION PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN ATTENDANCE
Location affected attendance. How can we streamline the location of events seamlessly and learn from navigation apps students already use?
DESIGN GOALS
SOLUTIONS
Color palette & pastel/retro aesthetic
Taking inspiration from playful apps on Pinterest, we created a design system that reflected a colorful palette and playful elements. We chose a mostly 2D and flat design to reflect a cuter vibe.
Map with event markers
See all events happening soon or now near you, as well as further details of the events by clicking on each marker.
Bulletin boards for each event
Each event has its own live bulletin board that students can post their thoughts, opinions, or photos. This was heavily inspired by the post-it notes students leave in the study-cubicles in libraries.
Customize your bulletin board!
Stickers are available for users to customize and personalize each bulletin board. It'll show up for all users (assuming users won't abuse this feature…).
Why pivot?
Before our playful UI, we worked on a design that was dark mode and had a more corporate feel. We realized this didn't resonate with our target audience, which were young adults.
It felt lack luster and boring. We knew we had to pivot.
REFLECTIONS
Shipping an MVP meant being okay with showing the rough edges in public.
Cutting features mid-process taught me to treat the roadmap as a hypothesis and an experiment.
↩️
IT'S OKAY TO PIVOT
I felt nervous pivoting halfway through, especially when we already were 90% finished the hi-fi designs, but pivoting also taught me how to be adaptive, when to take leadership, and to trust my team.
🧮
FAILURE IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
Pivoting made me feel like I had failed my team and failed the product. It's okay to diverge from the process, and design isn't a set formula.
