FLUI Resource Repository

Cailine Keirstead

Duration: 05.2023 – Now

Role: Co-Founder, Internal

Responsibilities:  Cross-functional Team Leadership, Design Lead, Project Management,  Stakeholder Relations

Website: fluihackathon.ca

FLUI Design Hackathon 2024

The first event was held this February-March and preparations began 9 months leading up to it…

Solution

FLUI Design Hackathon is a student-led UI Design Hackathon empowering other students to develop both soft and hard skills in an opportunity-rich environment. Students will design for real clients with the support of mentors, skill-based workshops, and professional feedback.

Challenge

Noticing the gap in co-design and collaborative work between design majors at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD), a group of 21 students took on the challenge of creating a dynamic two-week learning experience to allow students from all backgrounds interested in UI Design to lead a project from start to finish. The design competition simulated a real work environment with various stakeholders ie. small-mid size businesses and designers in the field as personal mentors, but also included workshops for acquisition of niche-skills to advance their project outcomes.

Results

  1. Physical hosting of Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Both Ceremonies were held in person on ECU campus. The Opening ceremony consisted of an event rundown, a fireside chat with speakers, and the 11 client reveals/project assignments. The Closing consisted of a word with the judges, finalist teams 10 minute project presentations, catered lunch, and winner announcement with cash prizes of $1,000.
  2. Impressive Student Projects: We received submissions from over 130 student participants or 33 teams, all of whom submitted their projects on time. Out of the 11 clients, 5 of them offered contract work to student(s) they worked with.
  3. Lasting Legacy: In building the wireframe for this inaugural event, its annual presence will live on through the hands of future Emily Carr Design students via proper handoff procedures. FLUI will be a key design talent hub attracting students from across BC as it grows.

The Grad Project

An extension of FLUI Design Hackathon 2024...

FLUI Resource Repository

Solution

The repository serves as a comprehensive resource library designed for FLUI student organizers – past, present and future and is an editable Figma file/prototype. It is a one-stop touchpoint where students have access to important information compiled from previous years so they stay fully equipped and informed for a successful year of hosting.

Challenge

As this was the first year we founded FLUI and hosted it as an actual event boasting over 140 student participants and many stakeholders, there were many ups and downs throughout the year which have complicated the process. I wanted to streamline the annual information handoff that allowed flexibility and scalability.

The comprehensive library on the home page is scalable and editable so annual documentation is informed

About us page highlights the early days before brand establishment, our goals, and commitments

Folder contents and teams page is filterable by year and document type

Sitemap

Sketches

Listed view works as a summary of compiled resources so those that are more well versed and active visitors of the repository have the option to “quick view” all data.
This direction would require a large filtering functionality.

Gallery view is nice to have as there are a lot of visuals to gauge information from.
This can easily be merged into cards to carry more information in compact spacing.

Classification Systems Research

Wireframes

Page Snapshots


Event Details

External Partners

We had 11 clients ranging from small to mid size businesses participate and provide our participants with interesting and challenging projects.

One of the most important things from many participant perspectives to get from FLUI was professional collaboration and client management. This was the main value proposition students were looking for and it was successfully executed.

Logo gallery of our 2024 clients

Workshops

6 workshops were held throughout the 2 weeks that focused on niche design skills both technical and soft skill-based. The workshops were:

  1. Beginner Figma Prototyping with Raymond Xian
  2. Design Thinking with Jarell Alvarez
  3. Advanced Figma Prototyping with Amy Lu
  4. UI Design Principles with Amy Ogg
  5. Portfolio & Critique with Ryan Yao
  6. Presentation & Pitching with Simeon Iyoha

Screenshots from all 6 online workshops

Mentorship

All 33 teams had an assigned mentor who guided them through the development of their design projects. Mentors provided assistance wherever needed in their team’s design process and helped them with client management.

Social Media posts of our 2024 mentors

Our Partners

We’d like to give a huge thank you to our official partners: Interaction Design Foundation, Vancouver Design Community, UX Jetpack, and UBC UX Hub. To enter into and build a partnership is to share the same goal and values.

Next year, we want to foster a stronger bond between our organizing team and community partners, leading to a more collaborative and successful long term relationship.

Logo and short description of our community partners

Sponsors

This year’s sponsors EY, Panago and ECU generously contributed their time, effort, and pizza, playing a significant role in making this first go a success. We’re a group of students so the bank gets pretty tight thus, this would’ve never have happened without their help as they allow us to provide all we can to the students.

Logo gallery of our 2024 clients


Thank you for taking the time to read about FLUI – this is only the beginning!