Read Time: 1 min
Fall 2023
B2C
Improving engagement by designing better work experiences for student employees at the IU Library
Context
When I joined the library’s STEP team, student jobs felt like tasks; not experiences. Students often felt disconnected from their peers, unsure about their roles, and unclear how their work tied to anything meaningful.
I led research across two semesters, uncovering root challenges in onboarding, community, and clarity. Then, I co-designed and piloted new programs; like Thursday Socials, Buddy Orientation, and Career Week; that made space for connection and growth.
The result? A 35% increase in student satisfaction, 43% faster onboarding, and a cultural shift in how student work was supported. I didn’t just run events; I built systems others could scale.
TOOLS
FigJam, Dovetail, Qualtrics, Docs, Teams
TAGS
EdTech • Research
DURATION
1 year
COLLABORATORS
→ TL;DR
Student employees lacked a sense of belonging and purpose in their roles → leading to low engagement
Rebuilt the student employment experience → launched 3 initiatives to boost connection, support, and clarity
35% increase in student employee satisfaction
43% reduction in onboarding time
Introduced the library’s first structured career support experience
Conducted interviews, shadowing, and surveys and co-created goals with the director of student employment
Designed and piloted lightweight programs like Socials & Career Week
Created implementation playbooks to ensure handoff, structure and continuity
Library wanted to help students to feel a sense of community with place and their work
Thursday Socials → increasing engagement
Career Week → helping employees in their careers
Buddy Orientation → improving overall sense of belonging
→ The design process
CONTEXT
Starting with a blank canvas, rethinking student jobs as a designed experience
Student employment at the library often felt disconnected; a task to complete rather than an experience to grow from. I worked with the STEP team to reimagine student employment as a designed system that fosters growth, belonging, and clarity.
STEP is a 5-year inclusive work-learning program
RESEARCH
Deep discovery using mixed methods showed gaps in community and career
Toolkit: Interviews, job shadowing, literature scan, journey mapping, observational notes
Methods
What I found
1:1 Interviews
Emotional disconnect, lack of role clarity
Job Shadowing
Gaps in onboarding, informal support not being consistent
Literature Scan
How High Impact Practices play role in student assistantships
Journey Mapping
Fragmented first-week experience for new hires
Observations
Missed opportunities for collaboration and team connection
We found that students often felt isolated, unsure of expectations, and unclear on how their role connected to their future goals.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Translating research into 4 key opportunity areas
Synthesizing across all data sources, I identified four recurring opportunity areas
PROBLEM
Setting research goals to shape the vision
To ensure we weren’t designing in the dark, I co-created research goals with library staff and peer designers
Broad Goal
"to design a student employment experience that fosters connection, clarity, and long-term impact"
Specific Goal I: Improve peer connection and community bonding among student worker
Specific Objective II: Bring consistency and transparency to onboarding and role expectations
Specific Goal III: Help students recognize and articulate transferable skills tied to their future goals
ITERATION 1
Prototyping our first round of lightweight solutions
Thursday Socials
Career Week
Buddy Orientation
Each was designed to be modular, repeatable, and led by students
ITERATION 2
The gaps I didn’t see coming
↑ Implementing our first set of solutions led to increase in overall satisfaction by 5% and reduced onboarding effort by 40% but —
Some feedback from students in our mid-semester survey
Scheduling
Hard to track; too many fragmented channels
Engagement
Low turnout due to class, life & communication conflicts
Communication
Unclear intent and incoherent messaging
ITERATIONS
Implementing changes further increased satisfaction by 10%
Problem
Scheduling
Iteration
Created recurring, centralized formats to set clear expectations
Problem
Engagement
Iteration
Added async recaps and visual prompts to increase accessibility
Problem
Communication
Iteration
Unified messaging across touchpoints with clearer intent
→ Conclusion
Building Systems, Not Just Events
We ran an end-of-semester survey to understand how our early efforts landed
↑ 35% increase in overall student employee satisfaction
Gaps remained
Not everyone the felt impact
Communication was still an issue
And engagement was still a recurring issue ★
Small, intentional shifts can create real change; but building an equitable and supportive student experience is a longer journey. Phase 2 is about deepening that foundation
Impact
Increase student employees satisfaction by 35%
Reduced student onboarding time by 43%
Students told us they felt more seen. Participation increased. And for the first time, the library had a structured career support experience
Reflecting my journey
This wasn’t just a project. It was a real lesson in what it means to design with people, not just for them.
I learned how to hold space for students to be honest, even when what they said pushed us to rethink everything. I saw how systems can unintentionally leave people out. I also learned to let go of doing things perfectly. Every time something didn’t land, or had to be redone, it taught me more about listening, adjusting, and trying again. That’s where the real progress happened.
Change doesn’t show up all at once. It builds slowly through relationships, experiments, and reflection. And being part of that process has been one of the most meaningful experiences I've had.
Where are we headed next
Phase 2 is about scaling thoughtfully; while continuing to listen.
Make engagement more inclusive
Support long-term growth
Strengthen the feedback loop
Build for sustainability
