Downunder — Ninas Website

DowNUnder is a startup I co-created to solve a common problem at Northwestern: students struggle to find and join on-campus clubs due to fragmented resources and limited outreach beyond the quarterly club fair. Our solution reimagines club discovery through a user-friendly platform that helps students find, connect with, and join their communities on campus. Our innovation won first place at Northwestern Garage's Launch Program Demo Day for its user-centered approach to campus engagement.

Role /
CEO and Operations Chair
Skills /
Customer Research
Product Design
Timeline /
January - September 2022
Location /
Chicago, IL
Team /
Emma Kogan
Sari Dashefsky
Sara Sawyer

The Challenge

Through user interviews, we uncovered that students rely heavily on the club fair and word of mouth to discover clubs, but struggle to access club information about meetings, application deadlines, and activities outside of the club fair. This disconnect leaves students isolated from campus communities. Our research revealed that existing resources, like Wildcat Connection, are underutilized, with only 62% of surveyed students aware of the platform.

How might we simplify the process of finding clubs and events to help students engage with campus life more effectively?

The Solution: DowNUnder

1.0 Login: Students create their accounts using their Northwestern credentials

2.0 Personalized Dashboard: Tailored club recommendations and event updates.

3.0 Explore Page: Filter and search clubs based on interests, hobbies, and networking opportunities.

4.0 Detailed Club Profiles: Find club information on meeting times, descriptions, contact information, and RSVP tracking all in one place.

Insights + Testing:

We conducted two rounds of interviews with students and club leaders which revealed distinct needs:

Students: want a user-friendly interface with personalized club recommendations and schedules.

Club leaders: need an easy way to promote events and measure student interest (through tracking RSVPs).

Traction

Demo Day Winner: First place at Northwestern Garage's Launch competition.

Collaborations: We partnered Northwestern's Wildcat Connection, ASG, and the Registrar’s office to ensure integration with stakeholders.

Beta testing engagement: Gained interest from 100+ students and 10 clubs.

Takeaways

User-Centered Design: Incorporating diverse perspectives from both club leaders and students in our interviews was crucial in shaping our features and developing an accessible, student-first platform.

Leverage teamwork: Our success was fueled by collaboration across design, operations, and partnerships, ensuring every detail aligned with our mission.

Platform Independence: While partnering with existing university systems initially seemed efficient, maintaining our independent platform would have better served student needs and preserved our unique value proposition.