Enhancing Student Life with a Real-Time, Human-Centred App

The Best You: Enhancing Student Life with a Real-Time, Human-Centred App

Background

Leeds University Union (LUU) aimed to transform its digital landscape, shifting away from static, disconnected platforms toward a more engaging, student-focused experience. Previous efforts had resulted in a fragmented ecosystem, with multiple standalone websites and an outdated central hub. Students were left navigating various platforms to access events, services, and campus information, leading to disengagement and missed opportunities.

The challenge

LUU needed a cohesive, dynamic solution that reflected modern student behaviours—an experience that felt as seamless and engaging as the digital platforms students use daily, like Netflix, TikTok, and Amazon. The key challenges were:

• Disjointed User Journeys: Multiple websites led to fragmented information.
• Low Engagement: The website was too static, with content often outdated or buried.
• Inaccessibility: Students found the interface overwhelming, especially on mobile.
• Lack of Real-Time Content: Students couldn’t easily discover what was happening on campus in the moment.

The Solution – Supporting The Best You

We took a human-centred design approach, focusing on what students truly wanted from their campus experience. Through student stakeholder workshops and faculty input sessions, we identified key needs: immediacy, relevance, and ease of use.

The result? A dynamic, real-time app designed to sit right alongside the apps students use every day. It blends into their daily digital routines, offering instant access to what’s happening at the Union—right now—empowering students to become The Best You during their time at Leeds.

Key Features:

• Real-Time Content:
  The app updates based on the time of day.
  1pm? It shows live menus across campus eateries.
  6pm? It highlights evening events—gigs, meetups, and student socials.
• Interactive Maps:
  New to campus? Tap any event or venue and get step-by-step directions.
• Social Integration:
  Share events directly with friends or set up meetups—bringing the social side of campus to life.
• Personalised Experience:
  The app curates content based on preferences, helping students discover societies, deals, and events that align with their interests.

The Process

• Stakeholder Workshops:
  We engaged diverse student groups to identify pain points and priorities, ensuring the app was shaped by the people using it.
• Faculty Collaboration:
  Faculty insights helped align the app with academic resources and campus-wide goals.
• Iterative Design Sprints:
  Prototypes were tested with students, refining features like navigation flow, accessibility, and content hierarchy.

The Impact of Design – Empowering The Best You

• Seamless Integration into Daily Life:
  The app is roadmapped to be part of the student’s daily digital toolkit, increasing daily engagement.
• Real-Time Campus Experience:
  Students will feel more connected, knowing exactly what’s happening at any moment.
• Improved Campus Navigation:
  Especially for new students, the interactive maps to reduce campus overwhelm.
• Enhanced Social Connections:
  The ability to easily share events and plans fostered community building.

Ready to make an impact with your digital product?

If you have a problem, a challenge, or would like to do better in presenting your brand or business, schedule a call with Andy Crawford our Creative Director, and let’s see how we can get you to the next stage. hello@180south.co.uk