User research, interview and UIUX Design.
Akah Fu, Adeline Li, Ashlyn Luo, Cecilia Lu and Yubo Fan.
UI/UX, Wire framing, Prototyping, Personas and User Testing.
3 months
Overview
Azi serves as the ultimate time management companion for college students. Leveraging users' Canvas data, Azi streamlines schedules, prioritizes tasks, and provides personalized study plans. This ensures students can effectively balance academic commitments, personal goals, and recreational pursuits, thereby enhancing their university experience.
Let's delve deeper into our intelligent AI time management assistant: Azi!
The Probelm
University students often find it challenging to juggle a packed schedule of classes, homework, extracurricular activities, and job searches. In fact, 90% of college students procrastinate, which exacerbates these challenges. The manual task of scheduling and rescheduling, alongside the difficulty of prioritizing tasks without neglecting personal time, can lead to increased stress and inefficiency. This is where our product comes in, designed to help students streamline their tasks and manage their time more effectively, ultimately reducing procrastination and enhancing productivity.
How can we help university students manage their schedules effectively?
Solution
Product Highlights
We set three main objectives: calendar management, personalized assistance and goal setting. Azi is designed to be your go-to college companion, aiming to help students develop effective time management skills and balance their academic and personal lives.
Seamlessly Syncing Canvas Data & Easy Onboarding
Azi's fast log-in that connects to the student's university Canvas allows Azi to import the schedule and courses more efficiently and conveniently, helping Azi understand the student's daily routines. Also, once logged in, Azi will automatically initiate a tutorial to help students quickly learn how to use audio to create events.
Azi also offers a step-by-step onboarding tutorial, guiding students to effortlessly create his first personal schedule.
Resolving Conflicts
When there's an unexpected event a student wants to add, Azi can assist in rescheduling and also help in quickly creating a new schedule by providing different time slots for the student to choose from. Since Azi is intelligent, it can also predict the locations students are heading to based on their schedules.
Personal Time Protection & Heat Map
With a busy schedule and a desire for quality personal time, users discover Azi's Period Protection feature. It scouts for available free slots in their agenda, assessing activities that can be rescheduled and proposing optimal times for them. This feature carves out uninterrupted periods for users to unwind, rest or spend time with family.
Azi employs a heat map in the Monthly View to visually display the intensity of each day's schedule. This helps users achieve a holistic oversight of their personal planning, ensuring balanced time management.
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Meet the Users
To really understand our target users, we interviewed over 10 students to deepen our understanding of their needs and challenges. We created personas based on both undergraduate and graduate students. This helped us uncover their needs and prioritize features effectively.
Goals & Assignments Breakdown
Upon setting a goal, Azi can divide it into smaller and manageable tasks. It organizes these tasks based on the workload of the goal, current schedule and past work patterns. Users can swiftly adjust the workload and timing of these tasks using straightforward plus and minus icons.
Additionally, for assignments imported from systems like Canvas, Azi can break them down to help users complete them efficiently.
Scenarios, Steps & Stages
We outlined multiple situations in which our users may need to communicate with Azi. Based on these situations, we defined every action a user may take to reach goals, including 'Resolving Conflicted Plans' and 'Setting & Editing Goals.' We then divided comparable steps into stages, each with a distinct name.
For each step, we brainstormed potential features to meet the user's needs and held a vote to determine the most successful suggestions.
User Journey Map
We chose Jack as our user journey model, representing the typical student who frequently checks their phone for schedules, messages, and meetings.
Azi is designed to be your all-in-one assistant for these tasks.
Information Architecture
Wireframe
Future Outlook
In the future, Azi plans to become indispensable for university students globally. Initially focusing on refining algorithms and integrating with systems like Canvas, we aim to expand to colleges across the US, offering workshops and new features such as mental health tracking.
Our goal is to establish Azi as a global standard, adapting to diverse educational needs and enhancing student life worldwide through continuous innovation and strategic partnerships.
Press Release and
Frequently Asked Questions
My Takeways💡
More to explore!
This journey has been incredible, and we've dedicated considerable effort to perfect the presentation of our three core concepts. Our goal is for our users to manage their time effortlessly and efficiently. We hope that by utilizing Azi, users can develop solid time management habits that will benefit them long after they've graduated from college.
The intuitive and organized nature of Azi's calendar, are designed to help students navigate their busy schedules with ease, ensuring they can make the most of their academic and personal lives. Here's to building a future where time management becomes a cornerstone of success, both in and out of college!
My job was to collaborate with the Sandbox Smart team, providing consulting for the Sandbox Smart R2 Coffee Roaster launch on the Kickstarter page. This included creating content for the Kickstarter page, managing Facebook posts, maintaining communication with the in-house graphic designer, and identifying user ambassadors through Reddit and working closely with them.
Cecilia Lu and Daisy Wei.
Project Manager, Scope Consulting, Communication, and Marketing Strategy Overview.
4 months
Overview
My Job: Crowdfunding Product Manager
As project manager getting the new device from the idea stage to over $100,000 USD raised, I specifically:
👉🏻 Studied how similar products convinced backers to pledge money.
👉🏻 Worked with our designer to highlight unique features male coffee lovers want.
👉🏻 Wrote convincing videos and emails showing the value being offered.
👉🏻 Found coffee experts to test it out early and create a positive buzz.
👉🏻 Tracked spending and results closely to guide the campaign's next steps.
Checklist for lunching on Kickstarter
Before launching on Kickstarter, here's my streamlined checklist to navigate the crowdfunding landscape:
✅ Competitive Analysis Review: Thoroughly evaluate and study competitors to refine our strategy.
✅ Budget Calculation: Accurately estimate all costs, both internal and external.
✅ Timeline Coordination: Develop a clear, internal timeline for team milestones.
✅ Team Sync-Ups: Hold weekly meetings to ensure alignment and progress.
✅ Collaboration Check: Regularly connect with our in-house designer and Ads Optimization Strategist on project developments.
✅ Kickstarter Coordination: Liaise with Kickstarter for page approval and optimization.
Newsletter Strategy for R2 Launch 📥
For R2's launch, we've set up a dedicated landing page. Interested users can sign up to receive the latest updates. Key newsletters will be dispatched at strategic countdown intervals: 5 days, 3 days, and 24 hours prior to launch, building excitement and engagement. Post-launch, we'll continue to engage our backers with updates and special offer reminders✨
Emphasizing Design in Project R2 🎨
Design plays a pivotal role in capturing audience attention for Project R2. Our collaboration with the in-house designer led to the creation of an aesthetically pleasing and functional website. Recognizing that our primary demographic is male, we chose orange as the main color to resonate more effectively with this audience. We also provided the designer with specific references and necessary text to ensure the design aligns perfectly with our vision.
Design Highlights 👀
Intuitive Icons: Small, user-friendly icons are incorporated to clearly indicate the quantity of beans being loaded, enhancing user understanding and interaction.
Addressing Pain Points: The design strategically emphasizes user pain points to capture attention, directing focus toward key features and benefits.
Finalizing Rewards and Special Offers for R2 🌟
Defining rewards and special offers is a crucial step. Our team is carefully crafting attractive packages and exclusive rewards for various backer tiers, with a special focus on offering exceptional deals for launch-day supporters.
For the R2 roasting machine, which weighs 12 kg, we are thoroughly considering shipping costs and target destinations. The Sandbox Team is dedicated to ensuring smooth delivery options. It’s essential to finalize these details before launch, as adjustments after launch are not possible.
R2 Ambassador Outreach 💬
Reaching out to the community has been a key part of our strategy. We've engaged with experienced users of our previous model, R1, on platforms like Reddit and Facebook, inviting them to share their roasting experiences.
This grassroots approach is supplemented by our collaboration with Ladder Coffee, who have shown keen interest in R2. We've arranged for them to test the R2 in Washington, broadening our feedback base and enhancing our product’s appeal.
We also got featured on Kickstarter’s“Project We Love” section 💚
What a surprise! Being featured on Kickstarter's homepage provide a significant boost to our campaign's visibility!
My Takeways💡
The devil is in the details.
My time at Sandbox Smart was all about getting the details right. As the lead writer, I jumped into learning everything about coffee roasting - something totally new to me. All that hard work paid off when we hit our $100,000 fundraising goal! Working closely with our design and marketing team was fantastic.
We stayed on top of our budget with weekly check-ups and kept everyone updated with clear reports. This role really helped me level up in three ways:
1️⃣ Better communication
2️⃣ Sharper attention to detail
3️⃣ Smarter time management
Interested at the R2?
Check it out ➡ Sandbox Smart R2 Coffee Roaster ☕️
Working closely with Alphalytics' founding data scientists and designers for an intense 3-month period, I assisted on:
👉🏻 Pitch deck visuals are distilling our platform's competitive differentiation.
👉🏻 Mapping out our go-to-market embedding strategy with partners.
👉🏻 Improving token data charts through user-centric design thinking.
👉🏻 Expanding social media graphics educating crypto newcomers.
Cecilia Lu and Mai.
UI/UX and User Testing.
3 months
Overview
Why Alphalytics?
The inability to trace on-chain behavior and capital flow hamstrings every crypto participant:
👉🏻 Developers - Waste hours hunting token holder types to spread awareness.
👉🏻 Investors - Risk assets unable to track concentration risk and dominant cohorts.
👉🏻 Enterprises - Fumble without tracing how competitors deploy treasury or engineering talent.
Pitch Deck
Together with our talented in-house designer, we've crafted a compelling pitch deck specifically tailored for industry professionals and prospective investors. This presentation is the culmination of our innovative vision and strategic expertise in on-chain analytics.
It's designed not only to showcase Alphalytics' cutting-edge capabilities but also to vividly illustrate our unique value proposition in the market. Our goal with this pitch deck is to effectively communicate the groundbreaking potential of Alphalytics and ignite interest among key stakeholders in the blockchain industry.
🥳 Now, here is the Token Page, which I contributed to through
UX design thinking and testing 🪙
Problem Identification
👉🏻 Misleading Color Usage: The use of red for the Circulating Supply token could potentially mislead users.
👉🏻 Ambiguity in Elite Entity Cohorts: The values presented under this category lack clarity.
👉🏻 Confusion with Labels: The terms 'Concentrating' and 'Strongly Concentrating' may be misinterpreted by users as representing the same concept.
Proposed Solutions
👉🏻 Enhanced Tooltip Clarity: Implementing informative tooltips upon hovering over the info icon beside titles. This will provide users with clear, accessible explanations of graph data.
👉🏻 Consistent Color Coding: Harmonizing the color scheme for 'Concentrating' and its rate changes. Using a consistent color will reinforce the understanding that they represent the same rate.
👉🏻 Interactive Date Range Indicator: Modifying the number indicator chart to reflect data chosen by the user's selected date range, compared with the past 24 hours. This ensures the pointer accurately displays the time range selected by the user, enhancing the intuitive nature of data interaction.
My Takeways💡
Absorb and learn!
Working at Alphalytics taught me the real-world side of crypto. From diving into market analytics to building clear, data-driven dashboards, I've grown from a complete newcomer to someone who can spot market trends and turn complex data into useful insights. Being part of the founding team has been incredible - we're building tools that'll help shape blockchain's future.
During my internship at Soca, I redesigned the InterviewPro feature to improve user experience. I also conducted comprehensive user flow and usability testing to identify pain points, alongside contributing to marketing efforts to enhance the platform’s reach.
Cecilia Lu and design lead Tiffany Lin.
UI/UX, User Flow, Prototyping and User Testing.
2 months
Overview
The Probelm
❌ Time-consuming manual job applications across multiple platforms
❌ Difficulty crafting compelling resumes and cover letters that stand out
❌ Overwhelming number of irrelevant job postings to sort through
❌ Missing application deadlines due to complex submission processes
So, how can we improve the job hunting journey?
Solution
✅ Smart Application Management
✅ AI-Powered Resume Optimization
✅ Intelligent Job MatchingIntelligent
✅ Smart Interview Preparation
InterviewPro Current Version Analysis
The existing InterviewPro interface presents several usability challenges:
1️⃣ Scattered Layout: Filters and search functions are inconsistently placed across the page, lacking a clear visual hierarchy.
2️⃣ Poor Navigation Flow: Users need to scroll extensively to locate basic information, creating an inefficient search experience.
3️⃣ Confusing Visual Elements:
• Company icons are disproportionately large and overwhelming.
• Progress bars lack clear labels or context.
• "I have seen this" indicators provide unclear feedback.
4️⃣ Unnecessary UI Elements: The 'Add Post' display could be streamlined for better user focus.
Original User Journey
The current version of the InterviewPro feature has several unclear steps in its user flow. Our goal for this feature is to encourage user engagement by enabling them to share their interview experiences, particularly when applying for software engineering positions. Additionally, users can seek help when practicing LeetCode problems—if they encounter a question they can’t solve or have further inquiries, they can post in InterviewPro and get assistance from other users!
Current User Views in InterviewPro
Current User Engagement in InterviewPro
Pain Points
1️⃣ All filters are not aligned within the same section, causing confusion for users about the intended usage order.
2️⃣ Users find it difficult to locate the questions they have saved.
3️⃣ When users search for questions based on the company, they may not see the question in InterviewPro if the content isn’t up to date.
4️⃣ When a user shares a question, the post may lack a data validation process, which could affect the accuracy of the information.
Ideal Version User Flow
For the ideal version, we aimed to make the user flow more engaging and playful, transforming it from a typical interview experience-sharing platform. We introduced a feature where, if users want to view answers, they need to top up coins or share their own interview experience to earn coins. This encourages user engagement and community building. As we improved the user flow, we addressed all the pain points from the current version.
1️⃣ We organized the filters to be more intuitive, making it easier for users to select options.
2️⃣ The “Show saved only” feature is now more prominent and easy to find.
3️⃣ All submitted questions and answers go directly to Soca’s back-end for review.
4️⃣ Soca reviews the data points on the back-end, and once approved, updates the question’s data points accordingly.
Improved User Views in InterviewPro
Improved User Engagement in InterviewPro
Sketches
Insights for Low-Fidelity Prototype: Our goal is to enable users to easily find their desired results. The filter needs to collect as much information as possible to ensure accuracy and relevance. Additionally, wording and layout require further refinement for greater clarity!
Result
Homepage
The redesigned homepage is organized with clear sections, allowing users to easily navigate and locate key features. The streamlined layout improves usability and ensures a smoother experience.
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Homepage (Hover)
When users hover over a question, a “Mark as seen” button appears, making it simpler for users to track which questions they’ve already viewed. This replaces the previous “I have seen this” label, enhancing both usability and clarity through direct interaction.
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Homepage (Saved)
To improve visibility of saved questions, the “Show saved only” checkbox is conveniently placed next to the total question count. This allows users to quickly filter and view only their saved items, making it easy to access important content while browsing.
Share Interview Experience
A user-friendly form that encourages community participation by allowing users to share their interview experiences. Each field (like Company, Role, Level of Experience) is clearly labeled to guide input efficiently.
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Question Page (Locked Content)
If a user lacks the balance to unlock content, this screen presents two options—top-up or contribute their interview experience—adding both a monetization aspect and encouraging community growth.
Mark as Seen
A form allowing users to confirm that they have seen or used the provided question. This card helps in tracking question usage and relevance, contributing to community insights.
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Question Page (Unlock)
The unlocked view of a question, showing detailed answers, comments, and related resources. Users can engage further by adding their comments to the discussion.
Add Your Comment
An intuitive form for users to contribute their thoughts and feedback on a question or answer, fostering a supportive community.
My Takeways💡
Solving problem is important than designing!
Working on this project was exciting, especially since I’m also part of the target audience. Job hunting can be exhausting and frustrating, so improving the journey with a user-friendly flow and design felt really meaningful.
I approached the project as both a designer and a user, putting myself in the shoes of someone actively searching for jobs. Throughout usability testing, I discovered areas where the layout and filters could be clarified, making it easier for users to find exactly what they need!
