UX Design Capstone — UT McCombs

Discover what's next,
together.

Aventi is a mobile prototype that helps people discover, plan, and share leisure activities through personalized recommendations, social coordination, and smart calendar sync — designed as a team capstone for UT Austin's McCombs Postgraduate UX Design program.

RoleDesigner & Creative
Team5 Members
ProgramUT McCombs
Scope3 Milestones
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01 / Problem

How might we help people find what to do next?

How might we help individuals discover and book new leisure activities that align with their interests, schedules, and locations?

People juggle fragmented platforms for discovery, coordination, and planning. There is no single place that combines personalized recommendations with the social tools needed to actually make plans happen.

The Gap
Fragmented discovery across multiple platforms
Users bounce between Google, Yelp, Instagram, and group chats trying to find, vet, and coordinate activities. No single tool connects discovery to planning to scheduling.
The Fix
One app with personalized recs, social sharing, and calendar sync
Aventi combines an archetype-based recommendation engine, social coordination tools, and calendar integration into a single streamlined experience.
42
Survey participants
5
User flows designed
7
Traveler archetypes
5
MVP features
02 / Research

42 voices shaped every decision

We surveyed 42 participants via Google Forms using 9 structured and 3 open-ended questions. The data revealed clear patterns in activity preferences, decision-making factors, and unmet needs around inclusivity and social coordination.

1
Entertainment & outdoor activities most preferred
42% of respondents across all age groups ranked entertainment and outdoor activities as their top leisure categories, establishing our primary content focus.
Activity Preferences
2
Cost & location are the #1 decision factors
Two-thirds of respondents aged 25–34 cited cost and location as their primary decision criteria when choosing activities, driving our filter and sort architecture.
Decision Factors
3
71% prefer short-term planning
The majority plan activities days to a week in advance, not months. This shaped our calendar sync and quick-plan features to prioritize near-term discovery.
Planning Behavior
4
Information & inclusivity are top challenges
Users reported difficulty finding complete activity details and accessible options. This directly led to our ADA accessibility filters as a core MVP feature.
Pain Points
5
Personalization & social tools are top priorities
When asked what would improve their experience, respondents consistently requested personalized recommendations and better tools for coordinating with friends.
User Priorities
"I would like to be able to find more things accessible to me as someone with chronic pain."
— Survey Participant
"I wish that I could make requests with friends about availability without it becoming a stressful exercise."
— Survey Participant
"Personalized recommendations would be my way of improving my experience."
— Survey Participant
Milestone 2 — Full Research Board Open in Figma →
03 / Information Architecture

Structured around how people actually plan

Aventi's primary navigation consists of four core tabs — Calendar, Home, Explore, and Profile — plus a Floating Action Button for quick actions. The architecture prioritizes personalization, social connection, and seamless planning.

We conducted a competitive analysis by tearing down TripAdvisor's site map to understand existing patterns and identify gaps we could fill. Our IA was designed to reduce the number of taps between discovery and commitment.

Site Map & Information Architecture Open in Figma →
User Personas & Empathy Maps Open in Figma →
04 / User Flows

5 designers, 5 flows, every angle covered

Each team member owned a complete user flow from start to finish, ensuring every critical path through the app was designed with dedicated focus and unique perspective.

Flow 1 — Ingrid B
Onboarding & Archetype Quiz
The entry point into Aventi. Users complete a personality-driven quiz that maps them to one of 7 traveler archetypes, seeding the recommendation engine from the first interaction.
Flow 2 — Andre Espinoza
Event Search & Discovery
The core discovery flow. Users search, filter by category/cost/accessibility, view event details, and save or share activities — all within a unified browse experience.
Flow 3 — Sruthi G
Groups & Trips
Social coordination flow. Users create groups, invite friends, propose activities, vote on options, and finalize plans — turning discovery into commitment.
Flow 4 — Giselle Chun
Vision Boards
Aspirational planning flow. Users curate collections of activities with travel dates, filters, and conditions — a Pinterest-style board for future experiences.
Flow 5 — Charles Bryant
Calendar Sync
Scheduling integration flow. Syncs planned activities across iCloud, Google Calendar, and Outlook, ensuring plans actually land on the user's real calendar.
All 5 User Flows Open in Figma →
05 / Design & Prototype

From lo-fi sketches to interactive prototype

The design progressed through three stages: lo-fi grayscale wireframes to validate layout and flow, mid-fi structured wireframes to define component hierarchy, and hi-fi prototypes with the full visual system applied.

Our design system centers on warm purple and accent orange with illustrated character assets, clean sans-serif typography, and generous whitespace. The palette conveys adventure and warmth without skewing generic.

7
Archetype Categories
Adventurer, Social Explorer, Culture Seeker, Relaxation Enthusiast, Foodie, Planner, and Spontaneous Free Spirit. Each archetype maps to a unique set of activity recommendations and visual identity within the app.
Personalization Engine
Key Screens
Onboarding & Quiz
Onboarding carousel introduces the app's value prop. The archetype quiz uses illustrated cards across 7 categories to build the user's preference profile before they see any content.
Key Screens
Home Feed & Explore
Personalized home feed surfaces recommendations based on archetype and location. Explore provides category browsing, search, and filter-driven discovery with event detail pages.
Key Screens
Groups & Sharing
Group creation, activity proposals, and voting flows. Sharing is available at every touchpoint via DM, feed posts, group messages, and external social platforms.
Key Screens
Results & Calendar
Archetype results page reveals the user's type with personalized descriptions. Calendar view shows synced plans across all connected calendars with conflict detection.
Wireframes — Lo-Fi to Mid-Fi Iterations Open in Figma →
Hi-Fi Prototype — Full Interactive Screens Open in Figma →
06 / MVP Features

Five features that define the experience

1
Personalized Recommendations
An archetype quiz maps users to one of 7 personality types, combined with preference filters for cost, distance, and activity type. The recommendation engine learns from usage patterns over time.
Archetype Quiz + Preference Filters
2
Accessibility & Inclusivity
ADA-focused filters let users surface activities matching their specific needs: sensory accommodations, mobility access, dietary options, and event-specific accessibility details. Born directly from user research quotes about chronic pain.
Sensory · Mobility · Dietary
3
Social Sharing & Coordination
Sharing is embedded at every touchpoint: DM friends, post to your feed, share in groups, or push to external social platforms. Coordination tools include group proposals, availability polling, and voting.
DM · Feed · Groups · Socials
4
Flexible Planning
Vision boards let users curate future experiences with travel dates, location filters, and conditional triggers. A Pinterest-style approach to trip planning that keeps ideas organized until commitment.
Vision Boards · Filters · Conditions
5
Calendar Sync
Plans sync across iCloud, Google Calendar, and Outlook. Conflict detection warns users when activities overlap with existing commitments, and shared calendar views keep groups aligned.
iCloud · Google · Outlook
07 / Presentation

Final milestone walkthrough

Our final milestone presentation covers the full journey from research through prototype, demonstrating the design decisions, user flows, and interactive features that define Aventi.

08 / Reflection

What we learned building Aventi

Three milestones, five designers, and forty-two survey participants later — the strongest insights came from the process itself.

01
Research grounds everything
Survey insights directly shaped our MVP priorities. The archetype system, accessibility filters, and social tools all trace back to specific data points from the 42-participant study.
02
Collaboration multiplies perspective
5 designers meant 5 user flows, each covering different UX concerns. No single designer would have caught the breadth of use cases our team collectively addressed.
03
Inclusivity is a feature, not an afterthought
ADA accessibility filters emerged from real user quotes about chronic pain. Designing for edge cases made the product better for everyone, not just the users who asked for it.
"The strongest design decisions came from listening to what users actually struggle with — not what we assumed they wanted."
— Team Aventi
09 / Team

The people behind Aventi

Andre Espinoza
Designer & Creative
Giselle Chun
Collaborator · Communicator · Visionary
Charles Bryant
Communicator · Designer · Artist
Sruthi G
Team Member
Ingrid B
Creative · Entrepreneur · Designer

Explore the prototype

See the full interactive prototype in Figma — onboarding, archetype quiz, discovery, groups, and calendar sync.

View Figma Prototype ← More Case Studies