N E F I
- service concept for neurodivergent university students -

Achievements: understanding of a vulnerable user group, service concept promoting a more accessible university, community engagement in the design process
Skills: UX design, UX research, accessibility, service design, project management, teamwork
People involved: service designers, neurodivergent students, student coordinator from neurodivergent student support group Vene, student group Nemo

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NEFI is a navigation app for university students, aimed to encourage on-campus studying and in-person learning among neurodivergent students. Our team of six set out to research and narrow down the needs and challenges of neurodivergent students with the help of the neurodivergent community in Tampere University.

We identified the project main goal - increasing in person attendance - based on expert and user interviews, a survey and general research material. Some main challenges discovered were lack of information, sensory issues and stress. The navigation app helps students to plan their days, utilise available resources as well as find classrooms and quiet areas. We also designed a neurodivergent friendly workshop but were unfortunately unable to run it due to issues with practicalities.

My key responsibilities in this project were concept and KPI development and a lot of the desk research. I was in charge of contacting the relevant groups like Nemo and I designed and facilitated the expert interview with the student councillor. I also designed the workshop, which was tailored to fit the needs of individuals with ADHD and autism.

You can find a more detailed division of tasks in this project from the last slide.
The Figma UI prototype was made by our team mate Yifan Zhou and you can test it out here.