How strategic design and user research transformed a campus organization's digital presence, increasing applicants by 165%
CONTEXT
Role & Impact
UX Designer | 7 Months, May - Dec 2022 | Chicago, IL
The Transformation: 165% increase in applicants (189 → 312), Startup-level brand identity, Scalable design system
THE PROBLEM
Student Org Website Didn't Match Their Cutting-Edge Work
Disruption Lab partners with Fortune 500 companies to build experimental tech and runs an Incubator Program teaching students product design, PM, and computer science. But their website didn't reflect that caliber of work.
What was broken:
No visual hierarchy or clear navigation
Weak brand presence
No design system, just isolated design choices
Only receiving 10-70 views during offseason, 150-200 during recruitment
The goal: Create a website that felt like a high-growth tech startup, not a student org. Attract top student talent and signal credibility to external partners.
THE CHALLENGE
Solo Designer Working With Non-Design Stakeholders Moving Fast
As the solo designer, I had to:
Execute design decisions while advocating for UX fundamentals
Facilitate alignment across marketing leads, directors, and developers
Communicate trade-offs across functions
Balance tight timelines with high-quality experience
Like many early-stage organizations, Disruption Lab was moving fast with evolving content and rapid marketing pushes.
THE APPROACH
Started With User Research to Understand What Makes Orgs Desirable
Before designing, I surveyed 20 students asking: "What makes an organization seem desirable and, almost, unattainable to students?"
What I discovered:
45% said successful alumni/current members in their careers
20% said successful client companies of the org
The insight: Students wanted reassurance that joining Disruption Lab would boost their career success, not just add a line to their resume.
This theme guided all my design and content decisions.
RESEARCH & STRATEGY
Studied Startup Brands to Understand How They Convey Innovation
After establishing the org's core values with stakeholders, I researched companies with similar values to understand their brand and design patterns.
Common patterns I found:
Seamless transitions
Parallax scroll
Gradients and motion (fluidity)
Overlapping components (continuity)
Brand direction we aligned on:
Startup-inspired: bold but credible, dynamic yet clean
Prioritize storytelling: highlight real projects and students
Multi-audience structure: prospective students, partners, alumni
Created a shared visual language guide (color, typography, spacing, components) so future updates wouldn't disrupt the core brand identity.
PROCESS
Weekly Sprints With Real-Time Stakeholder Feedback
I worked in weekly sprints, presenting to directors and marketing head every Friday. This cadence allowed for real-time feedback and decision-making across different opinions and interests.
Iterative Design Journey
Low-Fidelity Sketches:
Kept main aspects of old website
Used diagonal background blocks for seamless scrolling
Designed foundational style guide (fonts, colors, spacing, grids)
Mid-Fidelity Iteration: This is where most evolution happened. I incorporated gradients to soften harsh lines and experimented with mosaic layouts for a friendlier, dimensional feel.
Key decisions:
Restructured past projects into filterable archive (instead of overwhelming scroll)
Highlight leadership on "About Us" page
Create "Our Members" page for everyone else
Show LinkedIn and class year on hover
Add GitHub button for project repositories
Create dedicated page for newsletters and blog posts
These changes balanced visibility, hierarchy, and respect for all members.
DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
Solved Key UX Challenges Through Iteration
Challenge 1: How Should Past Projects Be Organized?
Explored solutions:
Keep current semester static, past semesters compact
Keep all semesters static with current emphasized
Various layout approaches
The solution: All semesters displayed cleanly with filtering capability when they accumulate, instead of tedious searching.
Challenge 2: How Can The Brand Feel Friendly But Professional?
Explored solutions: Experimented with colorful graphics, gradients, patterns for playfulness. But these made the brand feel childish when stakeholders wanted professional tech startup vibes.
The solution: Created new graphics that feel friendly while emphasizing technical projects and growth opportunities. Mirrored real software tools that could be used in Disruption Lab projects.
FINAL DESIGN
Captured Startup Polish While Staying Approachable
The final designs achieved the startup-like polish Disruption Lab was aiming for while still feeling approachable and student-driven.
What I ensured:
Visual consistency and layout grids maintained across pages
Background design elements supportive, not distracting
Mobile versions preserving key usability principles
Mobile strategy: Most applicants search for orgs on their phones first, so mobile wasn't optional—it was essential.
IMPACT
165% Increase in Applicants and Stronger Campus Presence
The site deployed during the next recruitment cycle and resulted in:
Applicants increased 165% (189 → 312 applicants)
Overall increase in org recognition on campus
Startup-level brand identity that matched the quality of work
Scalable design system for future web contributions
LEARNINGS
How I Learned to Balance Stakeholders, Brand, and User Needs
Facilitating feedback across non-designers I learned how to gather input from people with different visions and help them align on shared goals through clear communication and visual examples.
Defending design rationale respectfully Weekly presentations taught me when to push back on feedback with data and when to be flexible based on stakeholder priorities.
Staying flexible while maintaining vision Working with evolving content and tight timelines required me to iterate quickly without losing sight of the core brand direction.
Small decisions matter From rounded vs. sharp corners to text sizes on real devices—every detail contributes to the overall experience and credibility.
TAKEAWAYS
This project taught me to balance stakeholder needs, visual branding, and user experience in a real-world setting with long timelines and evolving goals.
I'm deeply grateful to have been trusted with this opportunity to help shape the face of Disruption Lab and to work alongside such passionate and visionary teammates.