CollegeBuddy
Industry
Education · Social Networking
· Mobile App Design
January - May 2024
Redesigned Aug 2025
Duration
Role
Sole Product Designer
& Brand Designer
Project Overview
A campus social network built by
a student, for students.
CollegeBuddy started as a senior project at CSUN - a solution to a problem I've seen firsthand. On a
commuter-heavy campus, finding study partners, discovering events, and making genuine connections
felt harder than it should. I designed CollegeBuddy to fix that. After graduating I redesigned it from the ground
up, refining the experience with fresh eyes and stronger design principles.
The Problem
Connections that felt out of reach.
On commuter-heavy campuses, students come for class and leave right after. The tools that existed - group
chats, flyers, social media - were scattered, unreliable, and not built for students. What was missing wasn't
more noise. It was one trusted place designed just for them.
Storyboard
Research & Insights
Campus life was happening, students
just couldn't find it.
To understand the problem I spoke directly with college students across different majors, and living situations -
commuters, on-campus resident, from all different grades. The pattern was consistent regardless of background.
Students weren't disengaged - they were disconnected. The tools available weren't built for them.
Define
Designing for the student who almost
gave up trying.
The research pointed to a clear portrait - not just a demographic, but a feeling. A student who wanted to be
part of campus life but kept hitting dead ends. I gave that feeling a face and a story before designing a single screen.
Ideation & Wireframing
From scattered ideas to a structured
campus experience.
Before designing a single hi-fi screen I mapped CollegeBuddy's full flow in wireframes - from sign up and profile
creation to the social feed, events, chat, and profile. Stripping away color and polish kept the focus purely on
structure and usability.
Bringing CollegeBuddy To Life
Where structure met warmth.
With the flows validated I moved into high fidelity - bringing CollegeBuddy's visual identity to life. A clean neutral
palette with blue accents highlighted key actions while keeping the experience approachable and friendly. Every
screen was designed to feel like it belonged to students, not a generic social platform.
Final Design Highlights
A campus built for connection.
CollegeBuddy brings verified students together in one trusted space - where finding study partners, discovering
events, and building real connections feels as natural as showing up to class. Every screen was designed
with warmth, clarity, and trust at the center.
Reflections & Learnings
Designing for students taught me to
never stop being one.
CollegeBuddy started as a college project and became something much more personal.
Redesigning it after graduation gave me the distance to see what the original was missing
- not features, but feeling. The first version solved the problem. The redesign made it feel like home.
This project taught me that designing for a community means becoming part of it first. Every
interview, every survey, every wireframe was grounded in something I lived through myself.
That proximity made the design better.
Most importantly I learned that trust is a design decision. Every choice — verified .edu
access, clean navigation, a focused feed — was in service of making students feel
safe enough to actually connect.
