AMS of UBC

The Alma Mater Society (AMS) is UBC Vancouver's student union and the largest student union in Canada, representing over 60,000 students.

problem

The AMS of UBC is a student union built by student for students focusing on affordability, health, sustainability, and equity, while managing the student union building and over 350 clubs. However, most UBC students aren't aware of the services that are provided or struggles to access them effectivly.

solution

As the sole designer, my aim was to reformulate the AMS brand strategy and rebuild the website from the ground up effectivily communicating AMS' dedication to improving the student experience through advocacy, services, and representation.

View Final Prototype

Communicating the Product Values

During their entire rebranding process, AMS had one thing clear, they wanted to communicate that they were built for the students by students.

This student-first approach was at the forefront of all design and content decisions moving forward.

3 Main Goals:

COVID-19 Pandemic Support and Recovery
- Strong and visible advocacy for COVID-related student priorities to the University and all levels of government.
- Adapt effectively to changing environments to promote high levels of student engagement across the Society with overall user engagement growth on digital channels, including social media.
Reimagining Student Engagement
- Modify various parts of the AMS website to allow for easier and more organized access to information.
Centering Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Prioritizing consultation with marginalized communities during consultative processes.

Research Process

Quantitative Objectives

After analyzing AMS' Google Analytics, here are the key observations that we wanted to work on:

Competitor Analysis

Because the AMS operates as the only student union for its students, direct competitors do not exist. To gather meaningful insights, I analyzed the information architecture of four major Canadian university student unions as indirect comparators, highlighting successful patterns and uncovering gaps within the AMS website.

User Personas

When conducting surveys and user interviews, we discovered 3 main target users for the AMS website.

Students unaware of AMS but want to be part of a community
Students who have some idea of AMS and is slightly involved with them
Students heavily involved with AMS events and regularly use the website

With over 350 clubs, our main problem to tackle is organizing and effectively presenting all the services that AMS provides to the users. This meant rebuilding the information architecture of the site to creative a smooth and intuitive journey for the users.

This meant creating:

Intuitive menu bars and navigational systems
Meaningful categories
Logical page hierarchy

Responsive Menu Design

Analytics showed that AMS website traffic was split almost evenly between mobile and desktop. To support this behaviour, I prioritized a responsive navigation system that preserves information hierarchy and usability across screen sizes, ensuring students can quickly access key resources on any device.