challenge
University College London (UCL), one of the world’s leading academic institutions, needed to transform its internal employee experience: Administrative tasks like leave booking or personal detail updates were frustrating, relying on outdated systems, explainer PDFs, and VPN logins. Processes were error-prone and time-consuming, often requiring staff to guess whether submissions had saved or been accepted. Existing tools lacked mobile accessibility, creating friction for lecturers, field-based staff, and support teams working across campus. → UCL needed a digital experience that was modern, intuitive, and consistent across devices delivered quickly and built for scale using a low-code platform (OutSystems).
Client
UCL University College London
Format
Multichannel
ACTION
As design and CX lead, I guided UCL through a full end-to-end transformation, grounded in user insight and built for future sustainability. Research & User Understanding Ran three rounds of qualitative research and testing across diverse employee segments: from academic lecturers to facilities and admin staff. Conducted stakeholder workshops to uncover pain points, edge cases, and unmet needs in the current system. Validated tasks like updating details and submitting leave requests, with special focus on accessibility, task clarity, and user confidence. Experience & Platform Design Defined the vision for the new Progressive Web App, supported by five UX principles that guided design decisions across use cases and roles. Created priority user journeys for core admin tasks, with clear feedback states, task confirmations, and form validations—solving long-standing user confusion. Developed a component library of 15 versatile modules, used to generate 100+ responsive pages across three breakpoints (desktop, tablet, mobile). Designed for scalability and consistency, ensuring component behavior remained intuitive and coherent across all screen sizes. Implementation & Engineering Partnership Led integration with OutSystems, ensuring design assets and specs could be reused by engineers with minimal rework. Collaborated with UCL and Zensar technical teams to leverage existing backend systems via new APIs, accelerating delivery and reducing complexity. Delivered strong Figma documentation and ran two structured handovers + a 3-month check-in, enabling UCL’s internal teams to manage the system confidently.
RESULTS
High CSAT (4.5) and CES (4.3) scores post-launch, confirming improved experience and ease of use. Time-on-task for core admin activities significantly reduced: fewer clicks, fewer errors, faster completions. Design system now supports scalable experience design across future UCL employee tools and applications. The platform’s flexibility and reuse triggered deeper collaboration between UCL and their engineering teams, unlocking speed and sustainability. Internal IT team now confidently maintains and extends the platform, a sign of true self-sufficiency after handover.
LEADERSHIP LENS
This project blended user advocacy with systems thinking. I led with: Clarity – Made invisible frustrations visible, and designed clear, intuitive flows that made staff feel confident and in control. Cadence – Structured research, design, and implementation into reliable rhythms that delivered fast, without compromise. Care – Centered empathy in every journey, building not for “users,” but for the staff behind UCL’s academic mission. Because the value of the project was not having a prettier portal. It was giving time back to the people who give theirs to the university.
