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SIAT students recognized at the Vancouver User Experience Awards

School of Interactive Arts & Technology (SIAT) students and alumni continue to see success and receive recognition for their outstanding projects and start-ups at the Vancouver User Experience Awards.

At the 2021 Vancouver UX Awards which took place on November 18, 2021, three SIAT students Nhi Nguyen, Marielle Wall, and Julia Yee were awarded the UX by Students award for their app SmartExplorer. 

Their app SmartExplorer was originally conceptualized and designed in an Interactive Arts & Technology course (IAT 334 Interface Design) that the three students took together in the Spring 2021 semester.

Nguyen, Wall, and Yee had hikers in mind when creating SmartExplorer. Using the app, hikers can conveniently discover new trails and plan their excursions.

Built in coordination with the North Shore Rescue Team, the app is designed to help hikers stay safe and, subsequently, to combat the rising calls to Search & Rescue.

In developing the app, the three team members interviewed hikers and rescue teams, created wireframes and prototypes, and conducted user testing and with the goal of creating a user-friendly app that prioritizes the hiker and their needs.

The UX by Students award celebrates the work done in courses, extra-curricular activities, or portfolio projects and is a Vancouver UX Awards category that SIAT students have dominated in recent years having been awarded to SIAT students Helen Huynh, Clayton Cheung, Andrew Tsui, Jasmeet Kaur, and Peter Huang for their app Safe Shopper in  and to Estela Xu, Nikie Zuo, Nusrath Imtiaz, Cassey Peng and Keefe Liew for their app Medilog in .