Zotstellations

Every year, thousands of Anteaters graduate and take their stories with them. Every year, a new class arrives with no map. Zotstellations is what happens when those two groups finally find each other.

What inspired us: We're a team of three first years and one transfer and we built this because we've lived the problem. Some of us found community in the dorms but knew it wouldn't last. Others commuted in, went to class, and went home. UCI's social culture is hard to break into, and when you don't know anyone, reaching out feels impossible. We wished we had someone to ask. That's where Zotstellations came from.

What we learned: The ingredients for connection already exist at UCI. A2A coffee chats, Petr Runs drop culture, students sharing experiences on social media. The problem is activation energy. LinkedIn feels transactional. Cold emailing is intimidating. Instagram leads to surface-level follows, not real relationships. Students want connection. Nothing makes the first move feel safe and genuine at the same time.

How we built it: We designed Zotstellations in Figma as a mobile app grounded in our own experience as UCI students. The constellation map turns campus locations into anchors for real memories. Hand-drawn components and Peter the Anteater in different moods make it feel personal, not manufactured. Every feature, from memory drops to the advice jar to Connect the Zots, was designed to reduce intimidation and replace transactional outreach with something genuinely human.

Challenges we faced: Balancing warmth with professional utility was our biggest design challenge. We also had to make hard scoping decisions to keep the experience focused within the designathon timeline. As first-time designers on a team of developers, learning to think in flows and user journeys in real time was its own challenge and one we're proud of how we navigated.

Built With

• figma
• ibispaintx
• procreate