My Universe City
My Role
Product Designer
Tools
Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Adobe After Effects
Timeframe
Winter 2023 (2 months)
Team
Me, Maryfrances Howard, Simon Gonzales, Jiwon Ki, Heejin Kim
The Objective
Our group has been tasked with creating an initiative that addresses the COVID-19 pandemic by connecting people through media, art, or cultural activities. Our project pitch aims to encourage group engagement and have the potential to become sustainable and profitable through the service it provides, the goods it produces, and the management of intellectual property.
We wanted foster collaboration within the university community and facilitate connections, especially for students encountering difficulties in building friendships. To realize this vision, we offer a comprehensive range of resources and tools in “My Universe City” to aid students in familiarizing themselves with their host countries and communities.
The Idea
As a team, most of us were composed of individuals who were not native to the Toronto area and whose primary language was not English. As TMU was the host school, we were responsible for assisting our international colleagues from South Korea to acclimate to their new surroundings. This served as the inspiration for the development of our mobile application.
We conducted our reasearch via online interviews and determined the common struggles faced by international and exchange students. These struggles include:
Being homesick, feeling out of place and alone (isolation)
Learning and navigating their university and its host city (navigation)
Socializing and meeting new people in person is daunting because of language barriers and the virtual normalities post-covid (limited support networks)
Product Features
Our app’s key features include:
International Reach: Offers a wide range of language options and diverse location support to facilitate connections between international students and locals.
Student Guides: Users can access verified student profiles or representatives from their university and send buddy requests for easy connections.
University Guides: Serving as a survival kit for incoming students, this feature highlights nearby eateries and study spots. It also provides information about upcoming university events.
Point System: Our app incorporates a rewards system, allowing students to earn points that can be exchanged for discounts at local vendors.
Prototype
I was responsible for creating the slide deck and leading the development of wireframes using Adobe Photoshop and Canva. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the scope of the project pitch, we were unable to conduct user testing on our prototype, as it fell outside the deliverables.
Prototype
Concept Ideation
I was responsible for developing a name and logo that truly represented our project’s mission, and I worked closely with my colleagues to create the wireframes and user experience screens.
Our team initially considered the name “Alien” to convey the idea of being a newcomer to either a place or the universe. However, after receiving feedback during our presentation, we recognized that “Alien” might have a negative connotation for others. As a result, we decided to adopt the clever pun “My Universe City,” blending the cosmic theme approach with the concept of a new city or university experience. We decided to stick with our original logo; and our UX design choices were inspired by old arcade games and popular apps such as Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Yelp. While our team was relatively new to the process of mobile application development, we brought a wealth of expertise in storytelling and product pitching to the table.
Reflection
As this project was more business focused than design practicality, our team prioritized how our product looked and needed more knowledge in how we should design a practical UX experience. We had so many ideas and wanted to include everything in one, including crazy map features like our “Snapchat maps meets twitch streams.” Our mentors helped us narrow down what is essential.
While our idea may be intriguing, this diagram illustrates our evaluations of potential areas where users may encounter negative interactions or perceptions of our interface. In the future, we may have to implement stricter guidelines to become a student guide. Being a student guide is responsible for carrying the university’s name and requires professionalism.
