UX/UI Design
Wayhome
A housing navigator for UW-Madison students who can't afford to wait.
About This Project
Wayhome is a high-fidelity Figma prototype for a student housing navigator designed to meet UW-Madison students at every stage of their housing search. Built around three urgency modes, it transforms a stressful, high-stakes process into one that feels manageable and human.
This project was developed for UX Design II, building directly on research conducted in UX Design I — including a 302-student survey that revealed 91% of students felt pressured by early leasing timelines. That research became the foundation for every design decision in WayHome.
Year
Spring 2026 - Present
UX Designer, UX Researcher, Design Systems
Role
Tools
Figma , Adobe Illustrator
The Challenge
In a survey of 302 UW-Madison students, 91% reported feeling pressured by early leasing timelines — forced to sign contracts months before they were ready, with little guidance and high stakes. The housing process was broken, stressful, and inaccessible. The challenge was to design something that met students where they were — whether they were in full panic mode or just starting to look around.
The Solution
WayHome is a high-fidelity Figma prototype for a student housing navigator built around three urgency modes — Priority Match for students in crisis, Guided Search for those with some time, and Just Browsing for early explorers. Each mode adapts the experience so no student feels overwhelmed or underserved. Features include verification badges, response time tags, a community tab, and a direct contact flow with message and call options.
A fully realized design system: colors, typography, components with variants — and high-fidelity mockups across all three modes. It demonstrates that housing tools can be both emotionally intelligent and functionally rigorous.
