What’s the BUZZ?
Event discovery website for UT Austin students.
00 THE ASSIGNMENT
This project was part of my fellowship as member of the Texas Product Engineering Organization (TPEO). Our team was tasked with identifying a challenge UT Austin students face and designing a product to address it. After initial user interviews, we discovered that many students struggled with finding and keeping track of on-campus events, ranging from social to career opportunities.
THE TEAM
One product manager, two engineers, and one product designer collaborating to build a product
THE TIMELINE
From user interviews to final designs to fully functioning website in a semester long project
01 THE PROBLEM
Findings of 8 User Interviews
Students are missing out on valuable campus events because there is no centralized platform for event discovery.
Unlike career-focused tools such as Handshake or informal sources like Instagram, flyers, and word-of-mouth, there isn’t a single place that consolidates academic, professional, cultural, and social opportunities
Students struggle with:
Scattered information across multiple channels
Missed opportunities due to limited visibility outside their social circles
Event overload or neglect since existing platforms are underused or poorly designed
02 THE PROCESS
DEFINING THE DESIGN GOALS
1
Centralize event discovery into one hub
2
Make events easier to browse and personalize by interests
3
Help clubs and organizations promote events more efficiently
4
Encourage student engagement and participation
LO-FI
MID-FI
HI-FI
03 THE SOLUTION
BUZZ : a centralized, personalized platform for discovering and promoting UT Austin events.
Buzz brings all student events into one place, helping students explore opportunities that match their interests and organizations effectively promote their activities
The new design introduced a personalized dashboard with trending and recommended events, a search and filter system to easily browse by category or organization, and a My Events hub where students can save, RSVP, and manage events
This reduced the fragmentation of event discovery, improved visibility for organizations, and created a seamless way for students to stay engaged with campus life
MY EVENTS
Save events of interest to revisit later
RSVP to events directly through the platform
Manage and track all upcoming events in one centralized hub
MY FRIENDS
Connect with classmates and friends on the platform
See which events your friends are attending
View friends’ profiles and shared interests to discover new opportunities
MY POSTS
Post events on behalf of your organization
Add required interest tags to improve discoverability
04 THE REFLECTION
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
Pivoting problem space: Our initial idea didn’t resonate with users, so we had to quickly reframe the project around event discovery
Time constraints & scope management: With limited time, we had to prioritize core features for the MVP and set aside “nice-to-haves” for later
LEARNINGS & KEY TAKEAWAYS
Value of user research: Early interviews revealed the true problem worth solving and guided our design decisions
Cross-collaboration: Working with a PM and two engineers taught me how to align design with technical feasibility and product priorities
Creating components: Building reusable UI components helped maintain consistency, speed up iteration, and prototype interactions