Designing Student Experience at
New Columbia Engineering Building
Human-Centered Design
The Problem
Graduate students at Columbia often experience campus life as transient and disconnected. This lack of belonging impacts both learning outcomes and long-term relationships with the university.
Motivated by visible pain points within my own cohort, Lions’ Connect is an interactive system brought to life through an app, designed to bridge this emotional gap.
The Project
This project allowed me to practice end-to-end design process, where I focused on user research, rapid prototyping, and evaluating multiple iterations to arrive at informed design decisions.
I developed UX design skills including Figma, video prototyping, and journey mapping.
My background in Research helped me ground ideation in real user needs, while my Engineering training enabled me to translate human problems into solutions with technical feasibility.
My Impact
User Research
Through user interviews, we found that their sense of disconnection was not caused by a lack of space or activity, but by emotional invisibility.
Students don't feel seen and part of an ongoing feedback loop.
Design Impact
Rather than treating spaces as isolated rooms, we used digital systems to dissolve their boundaries.
Dining halls, study commons, and creative spaces evolved into a living network shaped by collective participation.
Mentorship
The prototype’s strong reception led to my selection as a TA, where I mentored 50+ students in applying human-centered design to improve emotional engagement and user experience outcomes.
