About the Project
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka had no digital presence for its library. Students had to visit in person to access materials — many of which dated back to the 1960s and were deteriorating. Over 90 million pages were repaired, scanned, and digitized. The challenge: design a mobile experience modern enough for today's students, yet respectful of decades of academic history.
Outcomes
The app is in its final stages ahead of a university-wide mandatory rollout. With 60,000+ students, lecturers, and administrative staff required to sign up, the project is targeting 50% active adoption within the first two months — making it one of the largest ed-tech launches from a Nigerian university.
Process
User research
Interviewed students, lecturers, and library staff to map real access patterns — discovering offline access and role-based views as the two most critical design requirements
High-fidelity design
Designed the full app in Figma — covering onboarding, home, search, reading experience, bookmarks, and a separate lecturer view with book sales analytics and book submissions
Design system
Built a full component library with colour tokens, typography, icons, and reusable UI patterns to ensure visual consistency across hundreds of screens
Prototyping & Testing
Ran usability sessions with students to validate navigation patterns, reading experience, and onboarding flow — iterating on feedback before final handoff to engineering
This project wasn't just about designing an app, it was about preserving my Alma mater's knowledge and making it accessible to every student, regardless of where they are or what device they own.
Umeobi Chisomebi, Lead Designer
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