TACO Desk
Project Overview
Who: The University of Texas at Austin Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Nuclear and Chemical Engineering
What: TACO Desk
Audience: Texas legislators, policy officials, people curious about Nuclear power
When: May - June 2025
Where: Remote
How: Figma, ZenDesk, HTML, CSS, Handlebars
My role: Sole designer and developer under the guidance of Dani Zigon
About my Role
In this project, I completed full redesign and branding of the Texas Atomic Community Outreach Desk (lovingly referred to as the TACO desk) for the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program within the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.
Walker Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
The Problem
Limited user customization! An accessibility-first product should be adaptable and customizable in all aspects. The user must be put first.
The Problem(s)
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 BALANCE ACCESSIBILITY, EFFECTIVENESS, AND CHARM?
The Process
I started by sketching potential layouts based on three key fields: notebook, lecture, and chatbot.
User research
Adds visual interest while quickly establishing the kind of questions that the user may ask
Result
3 key layouts allowing for user modification within