Starting Jan. 31, the User Experience Design Society, also known as the UX Design Society, took part in a 3-day competition called “The Rice Design-a-thon.”

The Rice Design-a-thon was facilitated by Rice University where each group was to develop an app design.

This was a virtual event where BYU-Idaho’s design team was given the prompt “Staying human in the age of AI.”

The design team then had three days to create an app that resembled the prompt whilst going up against 400 different teams across the country.

Taleena Woodruff, an officer for the society, explained how their team went about the prompt.

“We decided what they were trying to get at was this idea that we need to make human connection,” said Woodruff. “We need to stay human while our technology is evolving faster and faster.”

Over the following days, the group spent hours on their own and together to assemble the app.

“We were on campus from 12:30 p.m. on Saturday till 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning.” Woodruff said.

Ruby Ruan, the Vice President of the society, explained the purpose of their app’s design.

“We created this app to help people who get really involved with AI and the internet world,” said Ruan. “So that they can take a breath, take a break, and just reconnect with this world. That's the purpose of the app.”

The app is called “Mindful Adventure” and allows you to take on a simple daily challenge to reflect on your day and your mind. Once a challenge is completed and recorded on the app, an image of a flower is watered signifying the user's mind growing.

Woodruff said that designing the app took the group about 24 hours to finish.

The BYUI majors website says, “UX/UI Interface designers work with others to create usable interfaces for apps, software, websites and video games.”

The UX Design Society holds meetings every Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. in the Jacob Spori Building room 353. Often the society will have guest speakers with experience in the field. They provide workshops to learn how to use different software for design, and portfolio reviews where students can share their work and give feedback to one another.

Ruan described why she enjoys being a UX designer and a member of the society.

“It's not only about creating an app or creating a website,” Ruan said. “You're solving real-world problems. You're not just making things look pretty, but also make it usable for users and make their life less stressful. That's really meaningful for me, to make people's lives better, and so do all of the people in the society.”

The society is looking for more members to join their team, often having 7-14 people attend regularly.

“It's low stakes, everybody's chill, there's often food and worst case scenario, you learn something,” Woodruff said.

Students interested in the society can come to meetings held on Wednesdays and can stop by the “Mindful Adventure” app design page.

Feature Photo: Image from Mindful Adventure design. Image Credit: Ruby Ruan