CU Denver College of Arts & Media Showcase

CAM Online Showcase, a way for students and alumni from the Digital Design Program to express themselves.

Role

UX/UI Designer

Industry

Education

Duration

3 Months

Project Brief:

The Digital Design Program for CU Denver's College of Arts & media is seeking a centralized online showcase for current students and alumni. The demand for current students and alumni is high for a way to express their creative work. Students, alumni, and faculty need a centralized, professional digital showcase for their work because it is critical for gaining public visibility, connecting with industry professionals, and attracting prospective students to the program.

Problem:

The Digital Design program and the broader College of Arts and Media currently lack a centralized, cohesive digital presence to showcase the exceptional work of their students and alumni. This limits the program's ability to gain public visibility, attract prospective students, and connect students and alumni with industry professionals. Despite the wealth of talent within the program, this lack of public visibility means missed opportunities to promote student work, foster alumni connections, and enhance the college’s reputation in a competitive arts and design landscape.

Context:

Target Users: Current art and design students/alumni seeking to showcase their work to peers, instructors, and the broader community. Instructors looking to assess and promote student work. Employers, recruiters, and industry leaders seeking to discover emerging talent.
User Needs: Students/alumni need a way to gain exposure to industry professionals and recruiters by showcasing their digital portfolios. Users need a feeling of online engagement and a sense of community. Users want a smooth digital experience through responsive design, user interaction, and clear organization of the navigation bar.
User Goals: Helping students gain exposure to industry professionals and to learn about the impact of the CAM program, showcasing the curriculum and the effects of the digital design program.
Constraints: Users feel annoyed when searching for parking in general, creating a lack of demand for the need of a mobile parking app.
Role: UX/UI Designer — responsible for research, user flows, visual design, and interaction design.

Process:

Research: Students, educators, and employers need an outlet to display and view online showcases through responsive and accessible design. A study from Pratt Institute used a rubric to indicate that 80% of participants stated that the user experience on websites were not unique.
Competitive Analysis: Audited numerous online gallery showcases and websites.
User Flow Mapping: Created simplified flows for landing pages, student portal, and "Current Works" tab.
Wireframing: Sketched and prototyped screens (Home, Artists, About, Student Portal)
Visual Design: Developed a bold UI system that focuses on hierarchy to improve website navigation, especially for first-time visitors, in Figma.

Proposal:

Following user research, assumptions, and testing, our prototype for an online showcase will feature a cohesive and minimal interface that allows recognition for students, alumni, and faculty by implementing a "current works" tab on the homepage with filter options ranging from most recent, popularity, and by department. A student portal allows for each user's unique identity, catering their profile and displayed works to their desire. Connecting with each individual allows for a curated online community and recognition through users inside and outside of the platform. Lastly, a quick access tab bar throughout the page makes sure no single project lost, allowing for a quick and user-friendly navigation.

Summary:

The Digital Design Program at CU Denver’s College of Arts & Media identified the need for a centralized online showcase to highlight the creative work of its students, alumni, and faculty. Without a cohesive digital presence, the program faces challenges in gaining public visibility, fostering alumni connections, and attracting prospective students, despite the wealth of talent within the community. To address this, a prototype was developed for an online platform with a minimal, professional interface that emphasizes accessibility and recognition. Key features include a “current works” tab with filters for discovery, personalized student portals for showcasing unique creative identities, and a streamlined navigation system to ensure projects are easily accessible. This online showcase not only provides visibility and networking opportunities but also strengthens the program’s reputation and sense of community in the competitive arts and design landscape.

Verdict:

Our competitive analysis indicates that a simple but immersive website will create uniqueness in the interface. Elements such as imagery, video, and animations can create a positive user experience. Additional desk research has indicated a lack of uniqueness can create disassociation within a website. A popular reason why users visit other online showcases and collections is for both intellectual and inspiration purposes, either for a visitor’s own research or inspiration.

Credibility is also a huge factor, as we are showcasing other people's work and contact information. The goal of this interface is to make sure that it has a purpose and that it accomplishes its goal of user interaction.

Being able to avoid frustrations, whether it comes from the user or the people being displayed, a set of guidelines and ideas should be laid out. Our main goal is to showcase student work, then our main question is, how can we do that effectively, etc.