Project type: Web App // Client: University of Denver // Employer: Smashing Boxes
THE CHALLENGE
“My college just wants a donation”
Re-engaging alumni after graduation is notoriously difficult. The University of Denver’s Alumni Association wanted to shift that perception; to inspire pride and reconnection, not just donations.
Traditional email campaigns weren’t cutting through the noise. Our team was asked to create a digital experience that would reignite alumni interest using over a century of alumni data; something innovative, emotional, and unmistakably “DU.”
MY ROLE
As the UX Designer, I led the end-to-end design process:
Understand: Conducted discovery research with alumni teams and database administrators.
Analyze: Synthesized findings into opportunity areas and design principles.
Design: Facilitated co-creation workshops, sketched early concepts, developed user flows, and built high-fidelity prototypes.
Validate: Conducted usability testing to refine data interactions and storytelling.
Discovery
Our first step was to explore the university’s massive alumni dataset. Working closely with data administrators, we uncovered how de-identified data could safely showcase DU’s reach; highlighting its presence in thousands of communities across the world.
On its own, data has no voice; it’s just a collection of points and patterns.
But raw data doesn’t tell a story. We needed to transform numbers into narrative; to make the university’s impact tangible and emotional.
This insight shaped our guiding principle:
Data is most powerful when it tells a human story.
Data Visualization & Interaction
We designed an experience that allowed users to:
Explore alumni distribution by region, degree, and graduation year.
Compare concentrations across cities and states.
See how DU’s impact grows over time; a visual journey of connection and influence.
The result was a rich, interactive data experience that reflected the university’s pioneering spirit while re-engaging alumni pride through storytelling rather than solicitation.
