Penn Student Agencies Web Redesign

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Penn Student Agencies Web Redesign

Clarifying web navigation flow to improve customer retention for student-led businesses

CASE STUDY

ROLE

Web Designer

Duration

Spring 2026

Tools

Figma, WordPress

Team

Solo

VISIT LIVE SITE

CONTEXT

Businesses for students, by students

Penn Student Agencies (PSA) is a community of students gaining entrepreneurial experience to provide innovative products and services through 3 agencies: Williams Cafe, The Record, and firstServices.

As the Web Designer, I restructured PSA’s website into a more accessible and centralized hub of information, products, and services for clients.

OUTCOMES

An intuitive visual identity and navigation flow

To direct the website development, I researched other university student agencies and their websites to find common patterns in site architecture, information hierarchy, and visual style.

OUTCOMES

An intuitive visual identity and navigation flow

To direct the website development, I researched other university student agencies and their websites to find common patterns in site architecture, information hierarchy, and visual style.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

A simplified sitemap helps customers easily understand the website's functions during their initial visits.

DESIGN SYSTEM

The atomic design system works with each agency's individual branding while ensuring consistency across pages.

CALL TO ACTION

Customers are greeted with immediate action items that likely suit their needs. Additional services, offerings, and ways to get involved populate throughout pages for easy access.

FORMS

Forms for contact, inquiries, requests, and purchases are consolidated on the website, making essential data easier to track and update. Submitted forms are automatically sent to the agency managers.

SHOP

Items are ordered and filtered so customers can quickly find the product they need.

PROBLEM

How might we improve the navigation of products and services to build lasting relationships with the student community?

By speaking with 10+ stakeholders, we identified difficulties surrounding user flow, visual identity, and cognitive overload. These issues gave an impression of an outdated website or an inactive organization, affecting customer attention and trust.

BRAND INCONSISTENCY
While each agency had individual branding guidelines, the website style and layout failed to indicate that the agencies fell under the same organization.
LEGIBILITY ISSUES
Multiple sections often condensed information or spanned the viewport's width. Several pages contained colors with poor contrast.
CONFUSING NAVIGATION
The website featured pages with repetitive information or outdated resources. Many links led nowhere or constantly redirected users.

BRAND INCONSISTENCY
While each agency had individual branding guidelines, the website style and layout failed to indicate that the agencies fell under the same organization.
LEGIBILITY ISSUES
Multiple sections often condensed information or spanned the viewport's width. Several pages contained colors with poor contrast.
CONFUSING NAVIGATION
The website featured pages with repetitive information or outdated resources. Many links led nowhere or constantly redirected users.

BRAND INCONSISTENCY
While each agency had individual branding guidelines, the website style and layout failed to indicate that the agencies fell under the same organization.
LEGIBILITY ISSUES
Multiple sections often condensed information or spanned the viewport's width. Several pages contained colors with poor contrast.
CONFUSING NAVIGATION
The website featured pages with repetitive information or outdated resources. Many links led nowhere or constantly redirected users.

IMPACT

Creating less friction in accessing resources

Each webpage has a recognizable and dependable structure that minimizes visits to external sources and maintains a smoother navigation flow.

Centralized access for clients and employees
An efficient, centralized user flow assists customers and allows agency managers to monitor purchases and requests more easily.
Visual guidance for future generations
Creating a cohesive visual identity and design system will provide a strong foundation for future designers and CMOs hired onto the team.
Another marketing avenue to expand services
Redesigning the website enables agencies to promote their products and services beyond social media, broadening the organization's reach and strengthening e-commerce.

Centralized access for clients and employees
An efficient, centralized user flow assists customers and allows agency managers to monitor purchases and requests more easily.
Visual guidance for future generations
Creating a cohesive visual identity and design system will provide a strong foundation for future designers and CMOs hired onto the team.
Another marketing avenue to expand services
Redesigning the website enables agencies to promote their products and services beyond social media, broadening the organization's reach and strengthening e-commerce.

Centralized access for clients and employees

An efficient, centralized user flow assists customers and allows agency managers to monitor purchases and requests more easily.

Visual guidance for future generations

Creating a cohesive visual identity and design system will provide a strong foundation for future designers and CMOs hired onto the team.

Another marketing avenue to expand services

Redesigning the website enables agencies to promote their products and services beyond social media, broadening the organization's reach and strengthening e-commerce.

INSIGHTS

Far from a cookie-cutter process

I started this job as the sole web designer while taking my first course on UX/UI design. While I was excited to apply my lessons on best design practices to this project, I quickly discovered how difficult it was to apply the “perfect” traditional product timeline.

If I had another chance, here's what I would do differently:

BE RESPONSIVE
The website has been optimized for laptops and larger screens, but it has not adequately addressed tablet and mobile views. Future fixes should prioritize designing for breakpoints to reduce friction when using smaller screens.
START WITH DRAFTS
My process was initially slow as I would dive right into high-fidelity designs starting from a blank canvas. Pages would have progressed faster had I created low-fidelity drafts first instead of worrying about achieving perfection on the first try.
TEST, TEST, TEST!
Stakeholder perspectives primarily guided most website changes, lacking input from existing users. Conducting user testing would close the gap between clients and the website's serviceability.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK
Including a brief feedback form alongside user testing would further highlight the voices of customers, students, and the team in the website development process, offering them an anonymous way to share their feedback.

BE RESPONSIVE
The website has been optimized for laptops and larger screens, but it has not adequately addressed tablet and mobile views. Future fixes should prioritize designing for breakpoints to reduce friction when using smaller screens.
START WITH DRAFTS
My process was initially slow as I would dive right into high-fidelity designs starting from a blank canvas. Pages would have progressed faster had I created low-fidelity drafts first instead of worrying about achieving perfection on the first try.
TEST, TEST, TEST!
Stakeholder perspectives primarily guided most website changes, lacking input from existing users. Conducting user testing would close the gap between clients and the website's serviceability.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK
Including a brief feedback form alongside user testing would further highlight the voices of customers, students, and the team in the website development process, offering them an anonymous way to share their feedback.

BE RESPONSIVE

The website has been optimized for laptops and larger screens, but it has not adequately addressed tablet and mobile views. Future fixes should prioritize designing for breakpoints to reduce friction when using smaller screens.

TEST, TEST, TEST!

Stakeholder perspectives primarily guided most website changes, lacking input from existing users. Conducting user testing would close the gap between clients and the website's serviceability.

START WITH DRAFTS

My process was initially slow as I would dive right into high-fidelity designs starting from a blank canvas. Pages would have progressed faster had I created low-fidelity drafts first instead of worrying about achieving perfection on the first try.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK

Including a brief feedback form alongside user testing would further highlight the voices of customers, students, and the team in the website development process, offering them an anonymous way to share their feedback.

VISIT LIVE SITE

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