UTD offers many resources, including free attorney services and 3d printing. Students face problems because these resources aren't marketed well enough and are scattered across various web pages. utdfree.com is a venture to centralize all the resources and give the students a one-stop shop for all things utd offers, free & discounted.
PROBLEM SPACE
Students aren't aware about the different types of free services UTD offers, due to poor visibility.
Although UTD offers a wide variety of free services, softwares and subscriptions to it's students. Many of these go overlooked due to the poor visibility of their webpages, and the lack of marketing surrounding these resources. After speaking with 8 different students, here were some of the pain points I was able to understand from them
EMPATHY MAPPING
What are the students thoughts & emotions while finding resources?
RESEARCH METHODS + FINDINGS
How might we aid students in finding and utilizing free & discounted resources?
The best way to gain insights on how UTD student used (or didn't use) these resources was by going directly to the source, the students themselves. I conducted 8 different interviews with 6 current UTD students and 2 UTD alum, to gain an understanding of their experiences.
SITE MAP
What are essential parts of this site, and what is the information architecture?
WIREFRAMING
Sketching out lo-fi ideas and designs
The Home page & the structure for the multiple find pages
The About & Contact pages as well as the contact form
VISUAL IDENTITY
How do we make this website look like part of a brand / product?
Using a variation of the signature UT system orange, as well as a beautiful open source typeface, "Spline Sans," created by the Sorkin Foundry, I was able to create a visual system that complimented the simple user interface while also creating a unique brand identity for social platforms.
THE SOLUTION
Final Designs & the anatomy of The Card
DEVELOPMENT
Building and deploying an open source webpage
In the span of two months, I was able to craft an open source website using Javascript and Html, intricately styled with the Tailwind framework. Leveraging the convenience of GitHub Pages for deployment, the project was a great showcase of efficient development from research to product.
