Led the innovative renovation of one of HK’s top universities

Company

CUHK

Education & Arts

industry
Role

Design Lead

timeline

6 months

summary

The faculty of Arts CUHK (Chinese University of Hong Kong) is the intellectual home for many world-renowned scholars, especially in the study of Chinese thought and culture.

  • Initially orange and purple, the team submitted the design with a blue and yellow colour palette. It was a safe business decision. As it turned out, a bold and bright palette was exactly what the Dean was looking for.

Challenges

  • 01

    The site’s information architecture did not reflect the goals of the website and the Faculty of Arts. It was too informative with no clear direction.

  • 02

    The site traffic was underwhelming. Students and professors were not engaged nor encouraged to further explore the site.

  • 03

    The lack of visual appeal on all fronts, from typography to the overarching theme did not speak well for the department.

UX Discovery: Strategy Blueprint

An educational webpage for the Faculty of Arts with a title "Global, Inspirational, Imaginative," showing a person working on a pottery wheel. It features a smiling student holding a red folder, and contains sections about guidance, research, and a statement about the faculty's focus on humanities research in Hong Kong.

As part of her training, I had our Junior Designer create a strategy blueprint. She was new to User Experience Design as well as handling an entire project. I went through this exercise with her a few rounds until our objectives were met.

A digital strategy blueprint divided into sections labeled Challenges, Aspirations, Focus Areas, Guiding Principles, Activities, and Outcomes, with yellow sticky notes within each section containing handwritten notes. 
my approach

Define the problem and align with stakeholders

I began by observing team dynamics and conducting open discussions with leadership to holistically map pain points, strengths, and opportunities.

Co-create with my team to kickstart collaboration

I presented my findings to the team and collectively discussed their feedback. I gave them ownership of process documentation, such as ‘Communication Style’, ‘Weekly Stand-up’, ‘Resource Mapping’, and ‘Dev Handover’ to name a few.

Cross-function collaboration is key towards company-wide growth

I had a similar sessions with our Tech Lead and PMs to understand how our team’s process was negatively impacting theirs.

A behemoth of information architecture, strategically navigable with a thumb.

The main challenge was to strategically choose or create each UI that best delivered the content without sacrificing the experience of the user, then the content itself.

A smiling young man with short dark hair, wearing a black shirt, standing indoors with a blurred background that includes a mirror and some furniture.

"I experienced first hand how she creates space for others’ voices, builds alignment in complex situations, and brings a calm confidence that makes people want to follow her lead. She's highly sought after as a collaborator because she makes every project sharper, every discussion more constructive, and every team stronger."