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way-finder portal · journey · ecosystem
A project that turned a challenge into a platform researchers actually use — 1,000+ monthly visits, an NPS of 50, and a streamlined way to navigate university services.
summary
Hired as a UX researcher, I was asked to explore how to make it easier for researchers to find and access research services across the university. Rather than spending six months on exhaustive research and another six months designing unverified concepts, I saw the opportunity to work in an agile way — building a lightweight MVP as a proof of concept to test with real users and start delivering impact early.
The result: a digital platform that lets researchers explore and find university research services in one place, now seeing over 1,000 visits a month, an NPS of 50, and strong stakeholder engagement across campus. Having proven the concept, I'm now growing the platform into a more complete product — introducing an AI chatbot, a faceted taxonomy to make services easier to browse and filter, and embedding it within a broader campus stakeholder ecosystem.
Client
University digital services program
Customer
University researchers
Role
UX Researcher - Service Designer - Product Owner (current role)
Year
2024 - Now
Website
approach
To overcome uncertainty and accelerate progress, I introduced an Agile MVP approach to the digital lead, a way of working that was new to the academic organisation. By starting small and validating early, we reduced implementation risks, built stakeholder confidence, and created momentum through measurable outcomes.
Using a lean, research-driven approach, we transformed the initial concept into a lightweight MVP that allowed us to test assumptions, gather feedback, and evaluate its impact. The solution continued to evolve through iterative improvements, expanding its capabilities and becoming embedded within the wider ecosystem.
Sep. 2024
Project definition: Stakeholder interview
Nov.
User research
Jan. 2025
Concept design
Mar.
User testing
May.
MPV development
Nov.
Launch & Promotion & Optimisation
Jul.
Ecosystem establishing
research
But
Inconsistent onboarding and support
But
No central hub & Poor navigation/search
But
Lengthy and unfriendly information
Target group prioritisation: We identified the user groups with the highest potential impact by considering both the size of the audience and their need for a way-finding portal.
Phased roadmap based on user needs: Given the extensive range of services, we prioritised service coverage based on target group needs and developed the platform incrementally, starting with PhD researchers, followed by Postdocs and Principal Investigators (PIs).
Design
Designed intuitive phase-based navigation to help researchers easily explore relevant resources.
Created a service catalogue with filtering capabilities to help users quickly find the right type of resource.
Reframed the support experience from receiving assistance to accessing expert guidance. This overview helps users quickly identify and connect with the right experts.
Product roadmap: We designed a roadmap that guided the evolution of the MVP website into a robust, dynamic platform featuring a structured faucet taxonomy and an AI search agent.
Development plan: We translated the product roadmap into a new homepage experience and a structured development plan to guide implementation.
impact
user adoption
The platform has achieved sustained user adoption, with over 1,000 monthly visits and a bounce rate of 54%, outperforming the 57% average across TU Delft websites. Search engines are the primary traffic source, followed by direct and referral traffic, demonstrating growing visibility and accessibility. The platform continues to create value beyond usage metrics, generating 10–15 user enquiries each month from researchers seeking support and information.
user satisfaction
The portal received strong user feedback, achieving a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 50. Every respondent rated it 7 or higher out of 10 for likelihood to recommend. Users consistently reported that the website was easy to navigate, with 7 out of 8 finding the information clear and useful, and 6 out of 8 successfully locating the services they needed.
stakeholder engagement
The platform's early success generated strong stakeholder buy-in, leading multiple teams to explore its use for onboarding, service portfolio management, inter-service collaboration, and research administration. This broadened its role from a single product into shared infrastructure supporting the wider research ecosystem.
Testimonial
"You have moved quickly to grasp the essential issues at play in your project and how you can use your design expertise to help build a new product. I really thought this project would take longer to get going, but I am pleasantly surprised that you are already at the stage of getting the right kind of feedback from researchers."
Digital lead
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