UI / UX & Visual Identity Design · Prototype
“Zur Auszeit” is the first student café in the city of Hof, created with the vision “By students, for students.”
The project was designed as more than a café — it serves as a cultural and social hub that connects the university, students, and the urban community.
The space hosts cultural events, student initiatives, and networking activities, aiming to strengthen the relationship between academic life and the city while offering an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for all.
Bavaria-Germanany
Hochschule Hof
Softwere Development
6 Month
june 2023
Prototype-Mobile app
The café targets students, pupils, trainees, and culture-interested visitors from Hof and the surrounding area.
Special focus was placed on accessibility, affordability, and inclusion, including support for international and English-speaking students.
Master Informatics Students · 2023
Team size: 9 members
I joined the project as part of the core team. While the initial idea for the café was not mine, I was responsible for shaping the visual identity and user experience of the digital prototype.
The project followed a collaborative and iterative design process within a multidisciplinary student team.
Process
Collecting ideas and requirements from team members
Evaluating and selecting the most relevant concepts
Defining the overall design process and structure
Creating flowcharts to map user interactions
Designing the prototype and key UI screens
The process required continuous coordination between design and development to ensure feasibility and clarity.
The prototype consists of multiple screens representing core interactions of the student café platform.
Both paired and individual screens were designed to demonstrate navigation, feature usage, and visual consistency.
Implemented in the Prototype
Student-curated music playlist
Event discovery and participation
Ordering system
Chat functionality
Event and activity calendar
Planned but Not Implemented
Digital job & needs board (concept stage)
Design decisions were developed in close collaboration with team members and frontend developers.
A strong focus was placed on aligning design solutions with technical constraints, identifying user needs, and prioritizing features within a team-based workflow.
Key aspects of collaboration included:
Continuous communication with developers
Clear separation and prioritization of user needs
Coordinating tasks within a large student team
The project resulted in an initial mobile application prototype designed to support the student café experience digitally. The prototype demonstrated how features such as event discovery, ordering, communication, and scheduling could complement the physical space and strengthen student engagement.
In addition to the digital outcome, the project established a clear visual and structural foundation that could be further developed beyond the prototype stage.
Following this initial phase, the project was continued by another group of students as part of a group master’s thesis. Based on the original concept and vision, the initiative evolved further and moved from a prototype into real-world implementation.
Today, “Zur Auszeit” exists as a real student café in the city of Hof, accompanied by its own website and an active cultural program. The project successfully transitioned from a student-driven concept into a sustainable physical space connecting students, the university, and the city.
