Share, inspire and connect with
UX enthusiasts around the globe.
Enriching University Life Together.
A dedicated platform designed for UX Enthusiasts
– by UX Enthusiasts. No design experience is required.
A community app connecting
students on campus through
valued voices and
genuine stories.
UX Was Here(UxH) is a dynamic community-based platform that brings together UX enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds under one virtual roof. The platform was created to foster meaningful connections and take on existing problems and build solutions as a community.
3 days
Hackathon Project
Figma, Illustrator, AfterEffect, Cinema4D
UX Was Here (UwH) strives to understand and meet the diverse needs of its user base, from students to professionals. The platform aims to enhance the user experience to foster a more vibrant and engaging community. This includes refining its website and features to be more user-friendly and appealing. By addressing these aspects, UwH aims to stand out in the competitive landscape and provide a valuable platform for UX enthusiasts to connect and grow.
In exploring the problem space, we focused on understanding why individuals disengage and fail to maintain consistent usage of the platform. To grasp this issue from the user's perspective, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the BetaWeb UX. By thoroughly exploring BetaWeb, we aimed to uncover the reasons behind user attrition compared to the number of users who join the community.
Drawing from our experience with UX Was Here BetaWeb, we developed a user journey map to understand users' needs and pain points. Our analysis revealed several design challenges: UX Was Here lacks distinctive visual branding and needs crucial features to distinguish itself from competitors. Addressing these challenges is essential for improving user engagement and retention.
To retain users and boost engagement from students to professionals, we introduced a key feature called "Coffee Chat." This feature focuses on career support, allowing users to find ideal coffee chat partners, receive portfolio feedback from industry experts, and get detailed resume reviews. By offering these unique, user-centric features, UwH aims to stand out among competitors, enhance user experiences, and create a vibrant, engaging community for UX enthusiasts.
To understand the unique selling points and distinguishing features of other competitors, we conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis. We examined numerous competitors and scrutinized their primary features. However, many competitors shared similar features. This led us to ponder: 'How can they achieve success when their features are so alike?’
Following the competitive analysis, we became intrigued by users' genuine needs. The survey aimed to understand what UX enthusiasts seek in a community and identify their current needs, as well as ascertain the motivating factors driving their decision to join a community, and uncover the deterrents preventing them from joining. Ten UX enthusiasts participated in this survey.
✦ Top 3 reasons participants joined UX design communities :
Job opportunities / Mentorship / Networking
✦ 6 participants commented that the career support will make a UX design community stand out
✦ People felt unmet needs you have encountered within UX design communities.
Student 01- "Hard to open up and start conversations
Graduate 03- "Connecting with people you don’t know is really challenging
Junior Designer 08- "Need more career support
27 | Recent Graduate
Status : Job Searching
Based on the survey, we created a persona. Gabriel, a recent graduate from Peru, encounters networking challenges as he embarks on his career journey as a UX designer. He feels anxious to attend local networking events and struggles initiating conversations online to connect with professionals globally. His goal is to feel more comfortable networking within the UX was Here community and successfully secure a job.
✧ Finding networking events intimidating
✧ Facing limitations in connecting with global UX professionals
✧ Being anxious about stepping out of his comfort zone
✦ To find a less daunting platform for connecting with other professionals
✦ To access a network that spans globally
✦ To connect with professionals with whom he can forge deep connections
Develop a tool for communication that goes beyond just posting feeds to enhance networking
Create sub-forums for different countries, portfolios, clubs, and other ice-breaking topics
Make a feature that will make deeper connection with other professionals
Make less daunting feature for connecting with other professionals
⇢ Develop a networking tool that alleviates users' feelings of intimidation and anxiety when connecting with other professionals.
Essential, teachable abilities that career professionals possess, making them valuable in online meetings where the digital environment and resources enhance learning + collaboration.
The tendency for individuals to interact mainly with familiar contacts at events, which can limit opportunities for forming new connections.
Personal, direct interactions in an online setting that provide a relaxed environment, fostering deeper conversations and stronger connections.
We incorporate a feature specifically crafted to ease the networking experience for newcomers, ensuring they can meet all their needs within the UX was Here community.
Coffee Chat
Coffee Chat offers users the opportunity to engage in 1:1 meetings with professionals from around the globe, fostering connections without inducing feelings of intimidation or nervousness.
Here, users can discover their ideal coffee chat partners by filtering and sorting through recommendations based on career stage, concerns, and personal preferences to ensure the perfect match.
This system seamlessly pairs UX professionals for engaging coffee chats, utilizing AI to ensure compatibility and supply conversation starters, enhancing the networking experience.
Participating in the Eunoia UX Hackathon at SFU has been a profoundly meaningful journey. We worked on UX Was Here (UwH), focusing on 1:1 Online Coffee Chat and Rebranding. The Coffee Chat feature, powered by AI, facilitated personalized connections with UX professionals worldwide, while the Rebranding initiative highlighted the digital core of UX. My main role in this hackathon was UX research, suggesting solution ideas (coffee chat) based on insights from interviews and surveys, rebranding, creating the landing page prototype, and the presentation video.
I was happy to discover creative solutions by continuously communicating with my team members during the ideation and solution-thinking process. While rebranding, I asked for feedback from those around me - thankfully, ongoing feedback and continuous support helped me keep my spirits up. It was not an easy journey to finish in 3 days, but thanks to my team members (Melody Chong, Melissa Chung, Xindy Yang and our mentor Leo), we could finish our final submission almost at the last moment of the 10 am deadline, in an encouraging, energetic, and positive atmosphere.
The journey has not only allowed me to meet lovely team members and mentors but also provided the opportunity to connect with other talented designer friends and seniors, enriching my experience even further✨. Lastly, I’m grateful for the gift of being alive at this moment, for the opportunity to set new goals, and to diligently work towards my dreams. Deep thanks for enabling me to broaden my horizons, strengthen bonds, and forge new connections💙.
