2024 · Hackathon · MVP · AR Wayfinding · UX Design · Interaction Design
A Place to Go: Making inclusive spaces, easy to navigate for 10K students.
Quick Links
Idea
Providing women and gender minorities at RIT with a map of inclusive and safe spaces on campus, making navigation easier and more accessible.
Context
A Place to Go is a campus navigation concept that makes inclusive spaces like gender-neutral restrooms, lactation rooms, and low-sensory rooms, etc, easy to find across RIT’s (Rochester Institute of Technology) 91 building campus. Instead of guessing or asking around, students and staff can see what’s nearby and get clear, room-level directions.
In a 24-hour hackathon, I ran secondary research and unstructured interviews, mapped pain points, and co-designed the high-fidelity prototype for MVP.
Tools
Figjam
Figma
ARWay
Type
Hackathon
Role in a team of 4
Research
UX/UI Designer
Interaction Designer
Duration
24 hours (2024)
Impact based on Judges and Recognition
10K
Women and gender minor individuals impacted
Startup
Grind
Were invited to pitch this idea at Rochester chapter
Got featured at RIT
Day of Hackathon
What inspired us?
During desk research, we talked to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Resource Center at RIT about their experience serving students on campus. Below are the comments that really stood out -
What are the key problems?
1
Limited digital accessibility to safe spaces for gender minorities.
2
Lack of tailored solution for gender minority needs.
3
Inadequate effort to promote inclusivity across campus.
Empathizing with the users
Confused Fresher: Someone who isn't comfortable asking strangers for directions but finds it difficult to navigate places.
Goal
How might we help individuals discover and access inclusive spaces across the RIT campus?
Initial user flow
Following Hick’s Law, we simplified the user flow for our design to prioritize ease.
An interesting challenge
AR Feasibility and Scalability
AR feature looked promising, but while testing out the feature, navigation failed in tunnels and basements due to unreliable connectivity.
Solution
We added step-by-step directions and floor-plans which made this solution reliable, offline-friendly, and scalable. Floor plans already exist for university buildings, which makes it easy to adopt.
Visual Identity
Inspired by the rainbow colors representing gender diversity, we used shades of red, indigo, and yellow to guide our design, symbolizing healing, harmony, and brilliance.
Iteration to improve UX
Solution
Going around the auditorium
We presented the app to individuals (women and gender minorities) available in the room to know their thoughts and get feedback. Some individuals even tried out the prototype and their comments validated our idea.
10K
Women and gender minor individuals impacted
We were invited to pitch this at Startup Grind Rochester.
Business Opportunity
01
Boosts inclusivity
Aligns with DEI goals and improves student satisfaction.
02
Low-cost to adopt
Leverages existing floor plans which avoids expensive tech.
03
Retention
More accessible campus strengthen student experience.
04
Scalable model
Could extend to other universities or city-level spaces.
Reflection
1
Working under a 24-hour deadline taught me how to focus on what truly matters for MVP and let go of “nice to haves.”
2
I also learned that innovation is only meaningful if it is usable and scalable because a shiny solution is not enough.
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