UI Design Case Study – Amy Lin

Redesigned URecFit & Wellness homepage displaying a fitness and wellness landing page with simplified navigation, featured content, and a prominent wellness-focused hero image.

Redesigned URecFit & Wellness homepage displaying a fitness and wellness landing page with simplified navigation, featured content, and a prominent wellness-focused hero image.

Role

Product Designer
User Researcher

Team

3 Members

Timeline

1 Month

Tools

Figma, Google Suite

Product Type

University
Website Redesign

Context

This project was part of the Information Architecture class, where we focused on conducting research methods such as competitive analysis and card-sorting experiments to understand how users think and navigate digital interfaces. Working collaboratively in a group of three students, we were assigned the URecFit website as our subject for redesign due to its potential for improved navigability and user satisfaction.

In this project, I participated in recruiting research participants and conducting the card-sorting sessions that informed the site’s information architecture. Collaborating closely with my group members, I contributed to the development of wireframes and the overall design concepts. Additionally, I took the lead in designing the Fitness and Wellness page, ensuring that the layout and content aligned with the user needs identified during our research.

Content Analysis

To better understand the existing URecFit & Wellness website, we first conducted a content analysis to inventory all pages, navigation structures, and content categories across the site. This helped us identify how information was organized, uncover redundant or outdated content, and understand the overall scope of the website.

Screenshot of the original URecFit & Wellness homepage prior to redesign, featuring a left-side navigation menu, event listings, promotional content, and a dense page layout used as part of the website evaluation process.

Existing URecFit & Wellness Aquatics page analyzed during the research phase, highlighting the site's content organization, navigation structure, and opportunities to improve access to pool schedules and aquatic program information.

Screenshot of the original URecFit & Wellness Fitness page featuring a sidebar navigation menu and a grid of fitness programs, classes, and resources displayed across multiple content sections.

Competitive analysis

For the competitive analysis, we selected two direct competitors and two indirect competitors and conducted a SWOT analysis to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. From the analysis, we discovered several key takeaways. Competitors often feature strong visuals and well-organized navigation, areas where our site currently falls short. Many competitors also maintain frequently updated social media channels, providing a level of engagement we could improve upon. Additionally, their websites include interactive components, such as event calendars, to enhance user experience, whereas our site relies heavily on static elements like text and lacks high-quality imagery.

We also identified weaknesses in competitors, such as unclear labeling, which mirrors a challenge on our own site. This finding was reinforced by the results of our card sorting exercise, which highlighted the need for clearer and more intuitive labeling on our site.

Card sorting

Participant demographics from user research. Most participants were in their 20s (73.3%), followed by participants in their 30s (20%) and 50s (6.7%). Participant backgrounds included students (33%), English as a Second Language users (27%), other backgrounds (27%), and designers (13%).

Participant demographics from user research. Most participants were in their 20s (73.3%), followed by participants in their 30s (20%) and 50s (6.7%). Participant backgrounds included students (33%), English as a Second Language users (27%), other backgrounds (27%), and designers (13%).

Key navigation and labeling insights from Card Sorting. Results showed that 60% of participants were confused by the term “Poe Cup,” 47% had difficulty differentiating “Fitness” and “Wellness,” 40% removed “Safety Education” from the primary navigation, 27% found “Facilities and Services” unclear, while 53% successfully grouped “Aquatics” and 20% recommended simplifying “About URecFit and Wellness” to “About Us.”

In our card sorting study, the goal was to understand how users naturally organize URecFit & Wellness content. A hybrid card sorting method was used to balance user freedom with structural guidance. Participants began by organizing Level 1 pages, where they could create, remove, or combine top-level categories as they saw fit. They then sorted Level 2 pages, which were provided in random order, into the established categories to reveal their natural grouping tendencies. Level 3 pages were excluded from this study. 15 participants were recruited from local communities, primarily students with active lifestyles.

Key findings

Based on the insights gathered from the card sorting study, we refined and reorganized the site map to better reflect users’ natural content groupings and navigation patterns. Key updates included shortening “About URecFit & Wellness” to “About Us,” restructuring the Facilities tab, and moving the online portal to the top for quick access. We also merged Fitness and Wellness, grouped all fitness programs under one tab, clarified terms like “General Aquatic Etiquette” and “Poe Cup,” and refined labels such as “Intramural Registration.” Less relevant sections like “Youth and Family Program” and “Have a Suggestion?” were removed.

Ideation

Based on the results and findings, the team decided to redesign the website pages to enhance user navigation and overall usability. The wireframes were divided among the group members; I was responsible for designing the Wellness page, while my classmate worked on the remaining pages.

Final design

After completing the class, which concluded with designing wireframes, I felt inspired to take the project further. While my groupmates worked on other sections, I decided to focus on the Wellness page—the wireframe I designed—and created a more polished, high-fidelity version of it.

Given more time, I would validate whether the revised navigation structure actually improved task completion and findability.