Work

About

Play

Work

About

Play

Helping New University Students In Toronto Make Real Friends & Connections.

Helping New University Students In Toronto Make Real Friends & Connections.

Helping New University Students In Toronto Make Real Friends & Connections.

Type

Type

Type

University Class Project

University Class Project

University Class Project

Team

Team

Team

5 UX Design Students Including Me

5 UX Design Students Including Me

5 UX Design Students Including Me

Timeline

Timeline

Timeline

3 Months

3 Months

3 Months

The Problem

The Problem

In a University setting, new students often find it difficult to meet like-minded peers, especially when there’s no dedicated platform for socialising. This gap makes it harder to form meaningful connections during a time when community and support matter most.

In a University setting, new students often find it difficult to meet like-minded peers, especially when there’s no dedicated platform for socialising. This gap makes it harder to form meaningful connections during a time when community and support matter most.

Canada hosted over 1 million international students in 2023, many of them facing challenges in adjusting to their new environment. I explored the difficulties students encounter in building friendships and finding opportunities for social and professional growth. Through collaborative research, I discovered that many students feel isolated in a new city, struggling to connect with peers who share their interests or cultural backgrounds.

Canada hosted over 1 million international students in 2023, many of them facing challenges in adjusting to their new environment. I explored the difficulties students encounter in building friendships and finding opportunities for social and professional growth. Through collaborative research, I discovered that many students feel isolated in a new city, struggling to connect with peers who share their interests or cultural backgrounds.

Solution

Solution

UniConnect

UniConnect is an app made to help university students who are new to Toronto feel at home. It makes it easy for them to find events on campus, meet new people, join communities and build friendships. By offering tools like Event Discovery , Communities the app helps students connect with others, feel less alone, and settle into their new life in a supportive way.

UniConnect is an app made to help university students who are new to Toronto feel at home. It makes it easy for them to find events on campus, meet new people, join communities and build friendships. By offering tools like Event Discovery , Communities the app helps students connect with others, feel less alone, and settle into their new life in a supportive way.

UniConnect is an app made to help university students who are new to Toronto feel at home. It makes it easy for them to find events on campus, meet new people, join communities and build friendships. By offering tools like Event Discovery , Communities the app helps students connect with others, feel less alone, and settle into their new life in a supportive way.

My Role: I led the project's Interface design and helped the team to conceptualize the Important screens like Home Screen and Event details screen. I also helped my team members to speed up their process of learning prototyping.

My Role: I led the project's Interface design and helped the team to conceptualize the Important screens like Home Screen and Event details screen. I also helped my team members to speed up their process of learning prototyping.

My Role: I led the project's Interface design and helped the team to conceptualize the Important screens like Home Screen and Event details screen. I also helped my team members to speed up their process of learning prototyping.

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Effortless Event Participation and Social Connection

Makes it easy to join events and connect with like-minded people.

Play Prototype

Design Process

Design Process

We used Double Diamond Design process in this project which consists of typically 4 Phases: Discover , Define , Design and Deliver.

We used Double Diamond Design process in this project which consists of typically 4 Phases: Discover , Define , Design and Deliver.

Primary Research

Primary Research

We wanted to understand the challenges faced by international students in Toronto universities, their strategies for social integration, and the role of social media in fostering connections and building a sense of community so we conducted ,

We as a team conducted total

10

Interviews

I Personally conducted 2 of them

Demographics

University Students

Age : 18 - 26

Some Quotes from Participant 1

“How do I make friends in class when everyone is in hurry to get to the subway to avoid rush hour”

“I am really comfortable with someone who has same interests like me”

Some Quotes from Participant 2

“I cannot find any events other than the ones hosted by the university”

“I want to make meaningful connections not just small talk”

Quantitative Results

7 out of 10 participants struggled to break the ice during face to face interactions

8 out of 10 Participants made friends and meaningful connections through past events

Ideation

Affinity Mapping

With all our research findings , from secondary research, user interviews, and platform analysis , it was time to find patterns and make sense of everything.

To do this, we used affinity mapping, grouping similar insights together to uncover themes.

Key Insights

Our research and analysis led to 3 major findings,

Making new friends can be intimidating

People relocating to new cities or joining UofT from outside Toronto often struggle to initiate conversations. This challenge isn’t limited to introverts even extroverts can face similar difficulties.

Finding People with Similar Interests

People relocating to new cities or joining UofT from outside Toronto often struggle to initiate conversations. This challenge isn’t limited to introverts—even extroverts can face similar difficulties.

Events are Crucial to make new connections

People relocating to new cities or joining UofT from outside Toronto often struggle to initiate conversations. This challenge isn’t limited to introverts—even extroverts can face similar difficulties.

Persona

Emily Chen

23 Year old 1st Year PhD Scholar

Goals

Make new friends and build meaningful connections.
Find structured ways to meet people instead of relying on small talk.
Explore social events and city hotspots to feel more connected

Barriers

Feels uncertain about initiating conversations due to a different cultural background.
Struggles to navigate scattered event listings
Notices other students already forming groups, making it harder to break in

User Journey

We mapped out Emily’s experience as she tries to make friends at UofT.


  1. When she first arrives on campus, she moves into residence and makes an effort to connect with her roommates, but conflicting schedules make it difficult, leaving her feeling isolated.

  2. During orientation, she attends events and meets people, forming some initial connections; however, these interactions remain surface level because they require another event to meet again.

  3. Later, when Emily tries to make friends in class, she notices that most students already sit in pre formed groups, which makes her anxious about approaching new people.

  4. After a few unsuccessful attempts at connecting, she begins spending more time alone and eventually starts avoiding social events altogether, feeling discouraged and overwhelmed.


This pattern is common among students and highlights the need for a structured, university-specific platform to help students build genuine connections.

We mapped out Emily’s experience as she tries to make friends at UofT.


  1. When she first arrives on campus, she moves into residence and makes an effort to connect with her roommates, but conflicting schedules make it difficult, leaving her feeling isolated.

  2. During orientation, she attends events and meets people, forming some initial connections; however, these interactions remain surface level because they require another event to meet again.

  3. Later, when Emily tries to make friends in class, she notices that most students already sit in pre formed groups, which makes her anxious about approaching new people.

  4. After a few unsuccessful attempts at connecting, she begins spending more time alone and eventually starts avoiding social events altogether, feeling discouraged and overwhelmed.


This pattern is common among students and highlights the need for a structured, university-specific platform to help students build genuine connections.

Defining the Problem

After analyzing all these insights, we formulated our problem statement:

How might we create a digital platform that empowers new university students to make new connections with like-minded people within the university?

How might we create a digital platform that empowers new university students to make new connections with like-minded people within the university?

Design

Crazy 8's

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

Wireframes

Write something here bro

Testing

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

Write something here bro

User Interface

Lorem Ipsum asjfhakfd asfhakdsfhal dfhalshdfalksdhalksfhalsfhdlahflahsdalkfhsalfhalksfhalksfh kdfjbkfj ffsdf hjhhhjjjjj

Colour & Typography

Write something here bro