UniEvents

SIUC students often receive an overwhelming number of emails about campus events, leading to cluttered inboxes where important updates may get lost. Additionally, they struggle to stay informed about relevant events, register easily, and navigate event locations efficiently. “How might we design an intuitive app that centralizes event discovery, registration, and navigation, reducing email overload while ensuring students never miss out on important campus opportunities?”

Inspiration and Personal Experience

Navigating campus and staying informed about university events can be a challenge for students, especially newcomers notifications for event overwhelming volume of messages, information often gets lost, leading to missed opportunities. Additionally, locating event venues can be confusing, causing frustration and disengagement.

A common issue among students is thelack of a centralized platform for event discovery, registration, and navigation. The current system depends heavily on scattered emails and word-of-mouth communication, making it difficult to stay updated and plan ahead. To address this, Unievents was developed as a comprehensive event discovery app aimed at

Providing real-time event updates to ensure students stay informed.
Simplifying event registration without relying on email notifications.
Integrating navigation tools to help students locate venues effortlessly.
Reducing email clutter by consolidating event- related information in one place.

By streamlining event access and organization, Unievents enhances student engagement and improves the overall campus experience.

PROBLEM

Students at SIUC often face challenges in staying informed about campus events, registering for activities, and navigating event locations efficiently. The existing system heavily relies on email notifications, leading to overcrowded inboxes where important event details get lost. This results in students missing key opportunities to engage with the campus community.

There is no centralized platform that seamlessly integrates event discovery, registration, and navigation. Instead, students rely on fragmented sources such as emails, bulletin boards, and word-of-mouth, creating inefficiencies that hinder participation. Without a structured system, many students miss out on networking opportunities, academic workshops, and social gatherings that could enhance their university experience.

New students, in particular, face additional challenges in finding event locations across campus. The absence of a built-in navigation feature results in confusion, causing them to arrive late or avoid events altogether.

Despite a vibrant campus life with numerous events, the lack of a streamlined event management system prevents students from fully engaging with their university community. A comprehensive, user-friendly solution is essential to bridge this gap and enhance student participation.

Research: Competitive & SWOT Analyses

Email Notifications

Social Media & University Websites

The current primary method for event updates at SIUC is email notifications, where students receive announcements about upcoming events, registration details, and venue information. While emails provide direct communication, they often lead to overcrowdedinboxes, making it difficult for students to filter out relevant events from general universitycommunications. This information overload results in missed opportunities and disengagement from campus activities.

Many student organizations and event coordinators use social media platforms like Facebook groups, Instagram, and the university website to share event details. While these channels help reach a broad audience, they lack real-time event aggregation, structured registration processes, and integrated campus navigation, leaving students to rely onscattered sources for event information.

User Surveys & Interviews

To validate the need for a centralized campus event app and gain direct insights from students, I conducted user surveys and interviews with SIUC students and faculty members. The goal was to understand their current event discovery challenges, communication preferences, and potential interest in an app-based solution.

Using structured surveys and real-time feedback, we gathered both quantitative and qualitative data to refine the app’s functionality and design. Personalized interactions, including direct discussions with students, allowed us to uncover pain points beyond what the survey captured.

Key Survey Takeaway

Strong Interest in a Campus Event App – Out of 18 participants, 16 students expressed interest in using an app to stay updated on campus events, with no one marking “Not Interested.
Preference App-Based Notifications – 15 out of 18 students preferred receiving event updates via an app over traditional departmental emails, which often result in inbox clutter.
Need for a Centralized Platform – 15 students acknowledged that they have felt the need for a single platform to manage all campus events efficiently.
Event Management for Organizers – Among faculty/staff respondents, preferred using an app to create and share event announcements, rather than sending individual or mass emails.

Wireframes & Feature Development

During the exploration and ideation phase of Unievents, I focused on addressing key challenges faced by SIUC students— staying updated on campus events, managing event registrations, and navigating event locations efficiently.To ensure a seamless and intuitive user experience, I carefully mapped out the student journey, from discovering an event to registering and finding the venue. Essential features were conceptualized, including:

A real-time event feed for instant updates
Easy RSVP and registration options to eliminate reliance on emails
Integrated navigation tools to help students locate event venues effortlessly.

With these priorities in mind, initial sketches and wireframes were developed, outlining the app’s structure and functionality. These early designs served as a foundation for refining the user interface and interactions, ensuring that Unievents is both efficient and user-friendly for the SIUC student community.

User Interface Design

The vision for Unievents was to create a simple, intuitive, and highly accessible platform that enhances the student experience at SIUC. The name itself reflects its core purpose—seamlessly connecting students to campus events in a structured and engaging way.

Early UI concepts focused on clarity and ease of navigation, ensuring that users could quickly discover events, register, and find locations without unnecessary complexity. However, as feedback was gathered, it became evident that a more dynamic and student-friendly design was needed—one that was visually engaging yet functional across different user preferences.

Over multiple iterations, the design evolved into more than just an event listing tool. The final UI balances usability and aesthetics, making Unievents not just a resource for event information but an interactive hub where students can seamlessly integrate campus activities into their daily lives. The goal was clear: to create a platform that feels like a natural extension of the student experience, reducing confusion and fostering a more engaged campus community.

Usability Testing

To evaluate the effectiveness of Unievents, I developed an interactive prototype and conducted usability testing with a small group of SIUC students. The test aimed to assess ease of navigation, event discovery, and registration flow, ensuring that the app provides a seamless user experience.

Testing Scenario:
A student opens the Unievents app for the first time and wants to explore upcoming campus events, register for an activity, and find the event location.

Tasks:

Task 1: Navigate through the onboarding process and provide feedback on how well it explains the app’s purpose and features.
Task 2: Search for an upcoming event based on interests or categories.
Task 3: Register for the event and access venue details for navigation assistance.

This testing approach provided valuable insights into usability, interface design, and functionality, helping refine the app’s layout to ensure an intuitive and engaging experience for students.

Name: Bhavya Sri Billuri
Age: 24
Occupation: Computer Science Student
Location: Carbondale, Illinois, USA
Ease of Use: 1 (impossible) – 10 (effortless)
Rating: 8/10

Overall Impression:
The app provides a clean and structured experience for discovering campus events. Navigation feels intuitive, and the onboarding process effectively introduces the core functionalities.

Task 1:
Onboarding was smooth and engaging, offering a clear understanding of how to explore and register for events.

Task 2:
Easily browsed through event listings and found relevant details. The categorized sections made event discovery convenient, though additional refinement in event organization could enhance usability.

Task 3:
Registration was quick and seamless. Appreciated the direct RSVP process and event details page, which helped in planning attendance. Navigating to the event location was clear, but small enhancements in directions could further improve the experience.