The Problem

Though TACO Desk was intended to be an easy point of access, the original website wasn’t serving its audience. 

Users ran into several obstacles:

Unclear direction: Visitors weren’t sure what to do or click after landing, causing high drop-off and low interaction with the question submission flow.

Disjointed branding: The site was a default Zendesk template, making it feel disconnected from a University of Texas entity,  TACO’s identity.

Lack of clarity: Many users left asking, “What is this site even for?”. Users didn’t want to submit questions because they didn’t know what kind of questions to ask. Those who did submit often asked about how to apply to UT’s engineering school. Although we are always welcoming of new and prospective longhorns 🤘 this isn’t meant to be an application help hub. 

Intimidating topic: The word “nuclear” created a barrier. The general public knows little about the topic outside of Chernobyl and the Simpsons. The content felt too complex and unapproachable.

These issues limited the site’s ability to inform and engage its audience.

HOW MIGHT WE BRING EASE AND ACCESSIBILITY TO USERS INTERESTED IN AN INTIMIDATING AND COMPLEX TOPIC?

FURTHERMORE, HOW CAN WE MAKE THEIR EXPERIENCE ENGAGING WHILE MITIGATING CONFUSION?

Process

I started by mapping out pain points and prototyping solutions in Figma. My goals were to:

Establish a clear call to action to guide users from the first click

Incorporate TACO branding into the design for trust and recognition (this included creating TACO oriented assets in addition to the existing UT Cockrell School of Engineering brand book)

Simplify the information hierarchy so users could quickly understand the site’s purpose

Reframe nuclear research as approachable and accessible through visuals and language

As I began the visual design process, I consistently sent check-ins and plans to my boss. Logo sketches, user zones and flows.

Through extensive sketching, ideation, and digital iterations, I designed 3 key, establishing new details not previously included: 

Scrolling question cards in the header

• Adds visual interest while quickly establishing the kind of questions that the user may ask

Wonder/Ask/Resolve

• A snappy way to further establish the user’s process for interaction

Moving the “Ask a question button” from the header to the hero section

• The simplest and most effective change. This button is the first clickable asset that the user sees— how it should be!

Once we got to a point where I had designed an approved layout, I began implementation so that it could exist as a live website.

Because the site lived on Zendesk, there were technical constraints. How do you make a rigid platform feel like a tailored experience? Some more complex and layered aspects of my design (the scrolling question cards in the header) required workarounds. Instead of building from scratch, I developed a custom Zendesk theme using HTML, CSS, Handlebars, and JavaScript. As I was new to Zendesk’s framework, I leaned on rapid prototyping and AI-assisted coding to problem-solve within platform limitations. This allowed me to transform a generic template into a site that looked and felt like a standalone product without altering how our Nuclear team interacts with user queries. 

Results

The redesign shifted the TACO Desk website from confusing to engaging:

Q3 had a 50% increase in ticket creation from Q2 

The site became a central hub for nuclear information, approachable to students and researchers alike.

Branding consistency increased trust and recognizability, aligning the digital presence with TACO’s mission.

Physical outreach supported the site: QR codes on stickers, pens, and merch now drive traffic directly to the hub.

• This effectively created a digital/physical ecosystem that we can play with as we continue to build the TACO brand

• These stickers have found homes on laptops and waterbottles, getting a lot of travel!

The project not only improved digital engagement but also extended TACO’s presence into the physical world, connecting curious users to reliable information with a single scan. In my design practice, I believe that making information accessible and digestible is a keystone of my work. I am driven by giving users the tools that they need to thrive in their curiosities.

Visit the site here!