Overview

Team CSI was developed as a long-term service and platform concept intended to support Purdue organizations that lack the technical resources, staffing, or experience needed to maintain modern websites and digital materials. Our team researched the problem space, conducted stakeholder interviews, analyzed existing solutions, developed user flows, created wireframes, and collaborated with web developers to produce a working prototype and operational framework.

 

Problem

Many Purdue student organizations struggle to maintain strong digital visibility despite being active and well-supported internally.

 

Common issues included:

• Limited access to developers or designers
• Outdated or inaccessible websites
• Difficulty promoting events and organizational identity
• No centralized process for requesting technical support
• Fragmented communication between organizations and students

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These gaps reduce visibility for smaller organizations and limit opportunities for students seeking practical experience.

 

My Role

Throughout the project, I contributed to multiple stages of research, planning, and concept development, including:

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• User and stakeholder initial research
• Competitive analysis of university and third-party platforms
• User flow creation and structure planning
• Wireframing and interface ideation
• UX artifact creation and iterative design feedback
• Collaboration with web developers during implementation and testing
• Documentation and user testing

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I also helped define how the platform would support both student collaborators and organization clients through separate workflows and account structures.

 

Key Insights

Our research identified several recurring themes:

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• Organizations needed long-term support systems, not isolated one-time projects
• Students valued opportunities that produced real portfolio and client experience
• Existing university solutions lacked strong discoverability and workflow clarity
• Third-party platforms offered flexibility but lacked institutional trust and credibility
• Accessibility and sustainability needed to be built into the system from the beginning rather than added later

 

Solution 

We designed a centralized service platform that connects Purdue organizations with CGT students through a structured project workflow. The system included:

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Client-Side Features
• Organization registration and project submission
• Communication and collaboration workflows
• Structured project handoff and review processes

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Student-Side Features
• Student profiles and portfolio integration
• Job-board style project discovery
• Resume, application, and communication tools

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Platform Features
• Resource libraries and professional development content
• Accessibility-focused design considerations
• Workflow documentation and operational standards for future cohorts
• Purdue-branded interface concepts and prototype pages

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The final prototype included homepage concepts, organization and student intake forms, student job boards, profile systems, and project posting workflows.

 

Impact

The project successfully produced a researched and tested prototype demonstrating the viability of the CSI platform concept. Key outcomes included:

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• Completion of comparative research and stakeholder analysis
• Defined user flows for organizations and students
• Creation of presentation-ready wireframes and interface concepts
• Development handoff to web developers for implementation
• Functional prototype demonstrating account systems, job boards, and project workflows

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The project established a foundation for future development and multi-semester continuation.

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Next Steps

Future work for this project would include:

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• Additional usability testing and iteration
• Purdue Brand Studio review and branding refinement
• Expansion of platform management workflows
• Recruitment of future student administrators
• Continued refinement of project posting and communication systems
• Long-term deployment and operational sustainability planning

 

Documentation

• Project Report
• Competitive Analysis
• User Flows & Wireframes
• UX Research & Testing Materials
• Operational Workflow Documentation
• Final Prototype & Presentation