College freshmen often struggle to access mental health resources due to stigma, stress, and unfamiliarity with support systems. HealthUs is a digital platform that helps students navigate this transition by offering an anonymous space to explore local resources, take self-assessments, and connect with peers. Our platform features a searchable resource directory, personalized quiz-based recommendations, and a community forum with anonymous posting. Through our student-centered features, HealthUs lowers barriers to seeking help and empowers freshmen to take control of their mental well-being.

Host Haven Stays partners with property owners to co-host and provide exceptional stay experiences for guests. For this Capstone project our team delivered a client-facing website to attract new clients (property owners) and an owner’s portal to support current clients. We focused on improving content clarity and aligning the site’s messaging with top competitors. The new owner’s portal platform offers clients of the business with a dashboard to view insights on their properties. We hope these solutions help Host Haven Stay grow in clientele, provide more value to current clients, and scale more efficiently in the market.

With over 1,000 Registered Student Organizations at UW, HuskyLink serves as the official online resource for connecting students and RSOs on campus. However, this platform sees low use from both parties due to design and usability limitations when compared to external services. This hinders organizational outreach, limits member engagement, and thwarts new connections between students and organizations. We sought to integrate perspectives from RSO leaders and members, alongside findings from extensive user research and over a dozen stakeholder interviews, in a reimagined version of HuskyLink. By incorporating modern design cues, revamping search functionality and information organization, and placing increased emphasis on visuals, we aimed to create a buzzing space where all RSOs can put their best foot forward for students seeking community.

By adjusting the content on the graduate Welcome website based on student feedback, the UW Information School (iSchool) hopes to increase matriculation rates for graduate programs. The iSchool wants to ensure prospective graduate students receive all the information they need to make a decision upon receiving an offer of admission.

For this content strategy project, team Cognito created data collection procedures, interactive dashboards, and training documentation to ensure the tools’ reusability in future research. Cognito then delivered targeted content recommendations to realign the Welcome website with prospective students’ informational needs to support the iSchool’s efforts to raise matriculation rates.

Joko’s mission is to empower artists in emerging markets by providing flexible monetization and direct fan engagement through a unified platform that supports both fiat and crypto payments. Our Capstone project specifically focuses on building the back-end infrastructure for Joko’s paid subscription model, enabling seamless transactions and secure payment processing. By delivering a functional, well-documented foundation, we ensure that future Joko developers can immediately build upon and expand the subscription service, helping artists create sustainable revenue streams and strengthening access to the global digital economy.

Business travel can be stressful to coordinate, especially with constant schedule changes. Kaona is an AI assistant designed to simplify flight booking and scheduling by integrating business travel and real-time flight data. Our solution uses AI to recommend flights based on user preferences, streamline itinerary management, alert users of conflicts, and suggest optimal flight options. The result is a more efficient and personalized business travel experience, helping users focus on what matters most.

Following COVID-19, middle school students in the Seattle area have shown a decline in reading comprehension and motivation to read. To address this, we developed an interactive platform that combines reading with gamified incentives. Students read books, take quizzes based on each chapter, and earn points for correct answers. Points can then be used to play games and customize their characters. This approach encourages consistent reading and rewards understanding by offering a fun and engaging way to address this educational challenge.

This capstone project addresses a critical gap in entrepreneurial and investment strategies by emphasizing founder traits essential for startup success. It introduces an innovative tool featuring an AI Mentor, offering tailored, business-specific guidance, and a visually intuitive Goal Tracker to help founders set and achieve clear objectives. Extensive research and user testing informed the product design, ensuring accuracy, user engagement, and robust data security, ultimately empowering entrepreneurs to enhance their chances of success through actionable insights and practical support.

novaa is a website that provides technical assistance to domestic violence survivors to secure their devices and online presence. Our design simplifies complex technical topics into easy-to-consume education modules for a wide variety of personal devices. novaa alerts users to possible risks from technology-enabled domestic abuse and helps victims take control of their online safety.

Navigating emotions can be challenging for children, often impacting their social interactions and academic success. OneHeart SELVR is a choice-based video game designed to support social-emotional learning for students aged 8–12. Developed in collaboration with Bre Innovative Solutions, an organization dedicated to creating innovative educational tools for holistic child development, the game helps young learners practice empathy, self-awareness, and emotional regulation by navigating realistic, age-appropriate scenarios. Through interactive storytelling and guided reflection, OneHeart SELVR provides educators with an engaging tool to seamlessly integrate SEL into the classroom. Our goal is to empower children to better understand and manage their emotions in a fun, accessible, and meaningful way.