All good things I promise :)
One app. Every question
a new student has on Day One.
One app. Every question
a new student has on Day One.
Role
Lead UX Designer & Researcher
Timeline
8 Weeks (Aug- Oct)
Team
Agrima · Agastya · Shwetha · Vivek
—
A QUICK LITTLE P.S.A
For the context of this project:
Students who have been in the US >1 year → Seniors
Students who have been in the US >1 year → Seniors
Incoming/Newcomers ← students who have been in the US < 1 year
Incoming/Newcomers ← students who have been in the US < 1 year
Incoming/Newcomers ← students who have been in the US < 1 year
—
THE PROBLEM
International students are drowning in questions. Seniors are drowning in DMs.🗨️
Despite contributing several billion $$ to the U.S. economy, international students arrive with no structured support system. Every practical question goes to WhatsApp, Reddit, Facebook groups creating a quiet crisis of burned-out "mentors" and isolated newcomers.
Despite contributing several billion $$ to the U.S. economy, international students arrive with no structured support system. Every practical question goes to WhatsApp, Reddit, Facebook groups creating a quiet crisis of burned-out "mentors" and isolated newcomers.
Billion
Annual contribution of international students to the U.S.
Annual contribution of international students
-Opendoors
-Opendoors
Unsure if they had enough funds to sustain themselves
Students Unsure if they had enough funds to sustain themselves
-ICEF Monitor
-ICEF Monitor
More likely to experience social isolation than peers
are more likely to experience social isolation than peers
-ICEF Monitor
-ICEF Monitor
Rely on part-time jobs to cover living expenses
students Rely on part-time jobs to cover living expenses
-ICEF Monitor
-ICEF Monitor
The information existed. It was just trapped. ℹ️
We came in thinking international students needed more resources. What the research actually showed: the resources were there. The seniors knew the answers. The problem was there was no infrastructure connecting them.
We came in thinking international students needed more resources. What the research actually showed: the resources were there. The seniors knew the answers. The problem was there was no infrastructure connecting them.
💬
Overload
💬
Overload
🛒
Cultural friction
at every turn
🛒
Cultural friction
at every turn
🔄
Mentorship
without structure
🔄
Mentorship
without structure
🧩
Fragmented
Tools
🧩
Fragmented
Tools
—
THE SOLUTION
Presenting…. EasyNest🕊️
Presenting…. EasyNest🕊️
We came in thinking international students needed more resources. What the research actually showed: the resources were there. The seniors knew the answers. The problem was there was no infrastructure connecting them.
We came in thinking international students needed more resources. What the research actually showed: the resources were there. The seniors knew the answers. The problem was there was no infrastructure connecting them.
Scroll a little .. or….. →
Scroll a little or …
Jump to Process Instead
Jump to Process Instead
FEATURE 01 • COMMUNITY
FEATURE 01 • COMMUNITY
The WhatsApp replacement they didn't know they needed.
A single, organized feed replacing scattered group chats. Students browse housing listings, rideshare offers, and open questions that are filtered by category, with key details surfaced upfront so relevance is instant, not buried.
A single, organized feed replacing scattered group chats. Students browse housing listings, rideshare offers, and open questions that are filtered by category, with key details surfaced upfront so relevance is instant, not buried.
FEATURE 02 • SMART QUERY
Intercept the duplicate before it's posted.
As students type a question, similar FAQs surface in real-time, catching redundant posts before they happen. If no match exists, they still proceed. Designed to reduce noise for seniors without ever blocking a student who genuinely needs help.
As students type a question, similar FAQs surface in real-time, catching redundant posts before they happen. If no match exists, they still proceed. Designed to reduce noise for seniors without ever blocking a student who genuinely needs help.
FEATURE 03 • IU DEALS
FEATURE 03 • IU DEALS
Financial relief. One tap.
IU Deals turns student discounts from a scattered, hard-to-find coupons across apps into a daily-use tool. Categorized by food, transport, and essentials, one tap generates a scannable barcode, redeemable in-store instantly.
IU Deals turns student discounts from a scattered, hard-to-find coupons across apps into a daily-use tool. Categorized by food, transport, and essentials, one tap generates a scannable barcode, redeemable in-store instantly.
FEATURE 04 • MARKETPLACE
Peer-to-peer, Circular Economy
A trusted campus marketplace for buying and selling between students. Listings surface key details upfront price, condition, pickup location, urgency reducing back-and-forth. Built-in messaging keeps everything in one place.
A trusted campus marketplace for buying and selling between students. Listings surface key details upfront price, condition, pickup location, urgency reducing back-and-forth. Built-in messaging keeps everything in one place.
—
HOW MIGHT WE
" Empower newcomers to navigate campus life independently while reducing burnout for the seniors who've been carrying them? "
" Empower newcomers to navigate campus life independently while reducing burnout for the seniors who've been carrying them? "
—
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
We talked to both sides. The picture was messier than expected.
For many, everything was new. We began with in-depth Interviews with incoming and experienced students, because behind every statistic was a student learning how to live.
For many, everything was new. We began with in-depth Interviews with incoming and experienced students, because behind every statistic was a student learning how to live.
8 incoming & experienced students
4 incoming + 4 experienced students
This is where the two-sided nature of the problem became undeniable. Any real solution had to serve both groups simultaneously. We also carried out some "in-the-wild" observations at student hotspots like Kroger and Fashion Mall to capture the lived experiences of both newcomers and seniors.
This is where the two-sided nature of the problem became undeniable. Any real solution had to serve both groups simultaneously. We also carried out some "in-the-wild" observations at student hotspots like Kroger and Fashion Mall to capture the lived experiences of both newcomers and seniors.
Kroger
Fashion Mall
Empathy Maps
(hover! )
hover!!
—
WHO ARE WE DESIGNING FOR ?
Two users. One app that had to work for both.
Ryan arrives overwhelmed. Tanner is exhausted. EasyNest had to serve both without compromising either.
Ryan arrives overwhelmed. Tanner is exhausted. EasyNest had to serve both without compromising either.
Incoming/Newcomer
Experienced/Senior
—
HOW DO WE DESIGN FOR THEM ?
Brainstorming. A lot of it.
We ran three rounds of brainstorming. First with our own team and then with an external team who only saw our personas, not our prior work, then solo. The external session was different. They came in without our assumptions and without the ideas we'd quietly ruled out in round one.
We ran three rounds of brainstorming. First with our own team and then with an external team who only saw our personas, not our prior work, then solo. The external session was different. They came in without our assumptions and without the ideas we'd quietly ruled out in round one.
Brainstorm
The Whiteboard
Some more
(hover again!! )
hover!!
—
RESULTS
We tested it. Here's the honest truth.
We ran two rounds of evaluation to stress-test EasyNest. Five participants completed tasks while thinking aloud (retrospective). Separately, we conducted a peer heuristic evaluation using Nielsen's heuristics to surface issues that live testing alone tends to miss.
We ran two rounds of evaluation to stress-test EasyNest. Five participants completed tasks while thinking aloud (retrospective). Separately, we conducted a peer heuristic evaluation using Nielsen's heuristics to surface issues that live testing alone tends to miss.
—
OUTCOME
What actually changed. Before → After
Scattered DMs and burnout → One stop app where a community, housing, deals, and FAQs actually live together. New users don't result in added exhaustion.
Scattered DMs and burnout → One stop app where a community, housing, deals, and FAQs actually live together. New users don't result in added exhaustion.
—
Reflection
What I learnt
This one was personal. I've been on both sides of this problem — the overwhelmed newcomer scouring the internet, and the experienced student watching the same questions flood in every August like clockwork.
What I'm most proud of isn't the prototype, it's the process. We changed direction when the research told us to, brought in outside voices when our thinking got too comfortable, and held two evaluation methods up against each other instead of settling for one.
If I could go back and change one thing, I'd protect more time for iteration — because V2 was meaningfully better than V1 in ways that only became obvious after we watched real people use it. That's the whole lesson, really: You don't know what's broken until someone else touches it.
This one was personal. I've been on both sides of this problem — the overwhelmed newcomer scouring the internet, and the experienced student watching the same questions flood in every August like clockwork.
What I'm most proud of isn't the prototype, it's the process. We changed direction when the research told us to, brought in outside voices when our thinking got too comfortable, and held two evaluation methods up against each other instead of settling for one.
If I could go back and change one thing, I'd protect more time for iteration — because V2 was meaningfully better than V1 in ways that only became obvious after we watched real people use it. That's the whole lesson, really: You don't know what's broken until someone else touches it.
Check it out!!!!
Check it out!!!!
