StudiVerse

StudiVerse App Logo

Inspiration

StudiVerse draws inspiration from the public CU Boulder class Snapchat stories, which features a diverse array of posts. These included roommate searches, event promotions, and item sales. Users frequently reported lost items and shared finds. However, the platform became cluttered as users complained about inappropriate postings, such as random items for sale. With no viable alternatives, students resorted to this decentralized space for connection. Our team sees an opportunity for StudiVerse to address these challenges and provide a more organized solution.

What it does

StudiVerse consolidates essential features. It allows users to seamlessly manage lost and found items, explore campus events, and search for housing. Students can also engage in a campus marketplace. By offering a unified platform, StudiVerse eliminates the need for students to navigate through multiple apps, saving time and reducing the hassle this can bring. The app's integration with school emails ensures a secure and verified user base, enhancing community and growth for students.

How we built it

We initiated the project by collaboratively brainstorming ideas on a Notion page, organizing concepts and enabling collaborative feedback on each other's proposals. After conceptualizing our app, we formulated a comprehensive schedule on Notion. This delineated tasks to be accomplished daily. We later transitioned to Figma to streamline our workflow, construct user personas, and develop our logo. We also produced preliminary, low-fidelity wireframes. Upon reaching a high level of confidence in our concept, we proceeded to finalize the entire mockup and design using Figma.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was avoiding feature creep. During the brainstorming stage, we came up with several concepts we wanted to include in our design. However, we quickly found ourselves overwhelmed as we drew prototypes and discussed how to implement all of these features. We realized we needed to narrow the scope of our app’s features to maintain a streamlined experience for the user. The next challenge was prioritizing 3-4 of the features we thought were the most essential. We chose to focus our efforts on a directory of events, a marketplace for students to list and sell items, and a housing platform to allow students to easily find housing. A lost and found section was also created, enabling students to report items within the app. Another obstacle we faced was team organizing in regard to in-person meetings. The second day of the Design-A-Thon was in person, with several schedule conflicts. We overcame this challenge by communicating on Discord and determining common times of availability via Notion.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The journey of bringing our idea to life was a long, and arduous process. However, our team is deeply satisfied with our final product. The user interface (UI) of the design is very sleek and blends in seamlessly with the Apple ecosystem. The Figma mock-up is very thorough, effectively communicating the functionality of our application. Navigating the home page, settings, and app functionality is incredibly intuitive as a result of the hours of effort we put into designing the user experience (UX).

What we learned

Throughout the developmental process of StudiVerse, our team learned several pivotal insights. Efficient schedule organization emerged as a critical factor with our limited time frame, emphasizing the importance of adhering to set deadlines. Our members have now acquired the skill of creating prototypes in Figma, which will be fundamental for future product design.

What's next for StudiVerse

Despite the short amount of time given to design such a large project, the next goal for StudiVerse is implementing a proof of concept. User testing would be very important after that phase of time, reaching out to college students from all backgrounds and universities. To introduce users to our app, we hope to launch digital marketing campaigns on social media platforms popular among college students, partner with online college-life influencers, and work with Colleges and Universities.