Redesigning the way
students navigate
university life.

The University of Auckland had a student app. But informal surveys found most students used Safari to visit student.auckland.ac.nz instead — a desktop site viewed on mobile. When asked why, the answer was consistent: "The app is confusing and I can never find what I'm looking for."

This was a genuine UX failure, not a discoverability problem. The app had the information students needed. The architecture and interface made that information harder to find than it should have been.

Project brief: Research the problem, define what students actually need, and redesign the app to serve them better.

I conducted structured interviews with 10 UOA students across year groups and faculties. I also ran a card sorting exercise to understand how students mentally group university information — which revealed a significant mismatch with the app's existing information architecture.

The visual direction moved away from the institutional blue-and-white of the existing app toward a dark, modern aesthetic — acknowledging that students use their phones at night, in cafes, and in lectures. The UOA blue was retained as a brand anchor but used as an accent on a deep navy base.

The home screen shows only what's relevant today. Courses and deadlines are surfaced contextually. The four-item bottom navigation eliminates the "where is it?" problem entirely.