New LSD website: meet the team of alumni who designed it.

The MyLSD website and management platform have a new look. They are more intuitive and more modern. They were redesigned by a special team: students from the UX/UI course.

Ana Dias, Gonçalo Vilela, João Rocha and Paulo Miguel were the students supervised by Nuno Simões, a teacher on the UX/UI course, and Simão Santos, LSD's experience coordinator. This was followed by the implementation of Professor Hugo Vaz, from the Web Design & Development course.

"The school trusts that it is training the best professionals."
Gonçalo Vilela

How did it all start?
"The challenge was set in class for all the students on the UX/UI 2023 course. The aim was to apply the knowledge acquired to a need at the school: renovating the MyLSD website and management platform. The Board selected the work they liked best and we formed the team." - Nuno Simões, UX/UI course teacher

"It was assumed that the 120 hours of the course wouldn't be enough. It was a complex project. Once the team was set up, we established tasks, timelines and regular meetings, bearing in mind that they were all student workers." - Simão Santos, experience and digital transformation coordinator at LSD

"They opened the door to something real."
João Rocha

"We identified the limitations of the MyLSD management platform and what we would like to see work differently. We went through the whole process of establishing personas, designing wireframes, prototyping and, in the end, the school handed us the challenge. It was much more than a school project! They opened the doors to something real." - João Rocha, UX/UI alumni

"It was a very interesting opportunity to realize that we were going to have an influence on the school where we were studying. In other words, the school trusts that it is training the best professionals." - Gonçalo Vilela, UX/UI alumni

"There was openness to our creativity."
Ana Dias

What was it like working with LSD as a client with such a strong identity?
"It was fortunate and challenging, because it's not common for a school to hire students; I felt that they were open to our creativity; we respected the identity, but added the missing digital component." - Ana Dias, UX/UI alumni

"They were always open to dialog and available to receive criticism and solutions. Communication was always very open." - João Rocha, UX/UI alumni

"The main difficulty was breaking away from entrenched patterns."
Paulo Miguel

What were the biggest difficulties in working on a platform with more than 1,500 users with such different profiles?
"The first challenge was to find a convergence of the various projects selected, to combine the ideas of each of us, to see what would work best. Initially we thought more about the target audience of students, but we quickly realized that we had to talk to the internal team (teachers, management, pedagogical coordination, finance, secretariat) to get to know the needs and difficulties of each user." - Gonçalo Vilela, UX/UI alumni

"The main difficulty was breaking away from entrenched patterns, creating something that met new trends and providing other types of information in terms of user experience. The difficulty of managing the different profiles and clarifying the workflow." - Paulo Miguel, UX/UI alumni

"The gradual implementation of the project, because there was a reuse of what was already there, made it a bit difficult. But it was always an initial condition of the briefing." - Nuno Simões, UX/UI teacher

"We've created a uniform workflow between all the profiles."
Gonçalo Vilela

What are the main solutions you've found?
"We organized the information better. It's no longer a maze." Ana Dias, UX/UI alumni

"We created a uniform workflow between all profiles and reduced access privileges to simplify things." Gonçalo Vilela, UX/UI alumni

"The teamwork worked very well."
Ana Dias

What is your assessment and self-criticism after delivering the project to the client?
"My first assessment is that I would have taken the UX/UI course earlier because it gave me tools and methodologies for managing work. It was also very motivating to have the chance to apply the knowledge in a real context. The biggest limitation of the project was the pre-existing platform from a programming point of view, which was very limiting. I would have liked to have included a forum space open to all students, to create a community atmosphere beyond the course." - João Rocha, UX/UI alumni

"There was a relaxed atmosphere, we didn't feel any pressure. We were able to explore by trial and error. But I think that creating pressure could have a positive effect, in terms of individual evolution. Shorter sprints for greater productivity, because more time can sometimes have a counterproductive effect. There are still many improvements to be made, for example in the implementation of colors, the flow of buttons and also in the design." - Gonçalo Vilela, UX/UI alumni

"As a pilot experiment it was successful because the objective was achieved."
Nuno Simões

"As a pilot experiment it was successful because the goal was achieved: to deliver a better platform for all users - students and internal staff. For example, greater optimization of time and space was achieved; greater automation versus manual work for the internal team. What would have been better would have been more time dedicated to the project. But it was a conscious bet and a vote of confidence and patience from the Management in the students in an after-work schedule." Nuno Simões, UX/UI teacher

How has the LSD course changed your life?