CTRL + Z
Year
2025
Role
UX/UI Designer | Scrum Master (Sprint 3)
Duration
Fall 2025 | 4 Sprints ( 2 weeks long each)
Project Type
UX/UI Design
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The Problem
The Loyola Design department provides a robust curriculum that covers a range of subjects, like interactive design, motion graphics, and print design.
However, students long for a solid sense of community, an easy, accessible way to learn about any events (Forum, events the College of Music and Media is hosting, …), a way to easily showcase student and faculty work, and a hub to find any design-related internship opportunities.
This presents the opportunity to create a digital hub for design students by design students to encourage community engagement, promote upcoming events and work opportunities, and showcase work the department puts out.
Precedent Study
After brainstorming ideas for a website targeted at Loyola design students and faculty members, we narrowed down to the strongest features we would like to include in our website.
From there, we conducted a precedent student, where each team member was asked to look at one website to analyze its features, navigation structure, key and distinguishing features, among other things.
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After the study, we settled on including the following main features for our own website:
1
Showcase student work to uplift students and improve camaraderie among the design students
2
Give students the option to leave comments, so they can provide outreach of resources, new ideas, new inspirations, and new things to look into to and explore to their classmates
3
Post updates related to the design department (events, job alerts, faculty work/research, …), so everyone can be in the loop
4
Include polls, fun and educational (serif vs. sans serif, where do you like to catch up on work?, …)
Sprint 1
The first sprint was about building a foundation — from brand identity to information architecture.
The team tackled branding, data collection, and a low-fidelity prototype all at once, while navigating a technical challenge: building a live feedback form in Framer without native plugin support. The solution was a custom component connected via Google App Script.
1
Concept brainstorming, moodboarding, and backlog creation
2
Branding Design: logo, color palette, typeface, and tone of voice
3
Data collection: faculty, courses, internships, events
4
Information architecture and low-fidelity prototype in Figma
Sprint 2
(Cadence)
Sprint 2 shifted into building. The About, Internship, Faculty, Calendar, and Student Archives pages all took shape. Microinteractions — hover animations, slideshows — started being introduced.
The team also aligned the Design Forum pages with the department's actual goals, recentering them around events rather than general content.
1
Built out 5 new pages: About, Internship, Faculty, Calendar, Student Archives
2
Improved visual cohesion across the entire site, leading to stronger branding
3
Introduced hover animations and slideshow components to improve interactivity and engagement
4
Realigned Forum and Headlines pages with department goals by centering them more around events.
Sprint 3
This was my sprint to lead. Users had asked for more motion and dynamism, so the team introduced additional animations, hover effects, and clickable features across the site. I proposed using the "Z" pattern as a recurring visual motif to tie pages together and strengthen brand identity.
The broken calendar component was removed and a replacement approach was planned. Broken links and responsiveness issues were also addressed in preparation for user testing. More pages have been added, as well
1
Led sprint planning, Daily Scrums, and retrospective as Scrum Master
2
Proposed and introduced the "Z" pattern for visual consistency and stronger branding
3
Introduced new animations and hover interactions across pages—particularly in the faculty page
4
Broken calendar component was removed, and fixed links and responsiveness issues
Sprint 4
(Emma)
The final sprint was about finishing strong. A heuristic evaluation I conducted identified remaining design flaws. Navigation inconsistencies were resolved.
The Calendar and FAQ pages were finalized, and full cross-device responsiveness was achieved. The team also extended the brand beyond the screen — designing physical stickers and buttons to promote CTRL+Z in the real world.
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1
Heuristic evaluation — identified and fixed button inconsistencies and navigation issues
2
Finalized Calendar, FAQ, and Great Ideas Talk pages
3
Achieved full responsiveness across mobile, tablet, and desktop
4
Designed physical merchandise: stickers and 3D-printed CTRL+Z logos
Outcomes
Overall, CTRL + Z garnered an incredibly positive response from the Design community at Loyola. It resonated with the exact audience it was designed for.
Students and faculty constantly praised the upbeat, inspiring concept.
Microinteractions—such as the hover effects and transitions—were the most celebrated feature.
The team supported each other across every sprint—creating a culture of mutual accountability.
Reflection
While this was a team effort over the four sprints, this project has left a deep impact on me as a professional. Here are my distinct contributions that directly shaped the outcome of this website:
Scrum Master | Sprint 3
I ran sprint planning, facilitated Daily Scrums, and led the retrospective for Sprint 3 — balancing task delegation with keeping the team's momentum and morale up through a technically demanding phase.
Faculty Carousel
I conceptualized and pushed for the carousel feature on the Faculty page — going from hesitant observer to vocal contributor. It became one of the most praised elements of the finished site.
"Z" pattern
I proposed using the "Z" pattern as a recurring layout principle across pages — connecting the brand name to a structural design decision and significantly improving visual cohesion across the site.
Heuristic Evaluation
To ensure the quality of the user interface, I presented my results of my heuristic evaluation on Day 1 of Sprint 4 to pinpoint small design inconsistencies in the website before product delivery.
Final Website
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