role: Designer skills: User Research, Prototyping, Adobe Creative Suite timeline: Nov 2023 to December 2023

For my final project in Introduction to Design, I created a card game designed to foster deeper connections among college students, particularly freshmen at Stanford. Through user interviews and need-finding exercises, I identified that underclassmen often struggle with "finding their people" and moving beyond surface-level interactions on a campus full of unfamiliar faces.

After ideating over 30 concepts and ranking them based on projected impact and feasibility, I found that a simple yet impactful card game—similar to ‘We’re Not Really Strangers’—could significantly improve friendship retention within this demographic. I specifically crafted the questions on the cards to encourage vulnerability and promote genuine human bonding, with the mission of helping freshmen build meaningful connections early on to ease their social integration into the broader student body.

The game was met with enthusiastic feedback during our showcase, and its success led to an exclusive request from the d.school Director of Community to use it at upcoming events, including the Valentine's Day event, further validating its potential for fostering connection.