Designing the GitHub Universe attendee journey beyond the homepage
Duration: 9 Months
Behind the public Universe website, attendees still needed to register, compare pass options, build a schedule, use the app, follow live programming, and find relevant content after major event moments.
Many of these touchpoints were powered by third-party event platforms, which meant the challenge was not only to improve the attendee experience, but to understand where custom design work would create the most long-term value.
I worked across registration, session planning, app improvements, keynote-to-keynote content, and live event page states to make the Universe attendee journey clearer, more connected, and easier to operate year after year.
How might we make the Universe attendee journey feel clearer, more connected, and easier to operate across every phase of the event?
The experience needed to flex across different modes.
Attendees needed to understand pass options, registration steps, sessions, agenda-building, app tools, and live event content without unnecessary friction.
Make vendor surfaces feel more like Universe
Out-of-the-box templates were functional, but generic. The experience needed stronger hierarchy, clearer guidance, and better continuity with the public site.
Create a foundation for future years
Custom work required leadership approval and budget, so the improvements needed to create value beyond a single event cycle.
I lead design, UX strategy, content strategy, & prototyping.
Identified and designed where registration, session planning, app, and live event flows could be clearer, more guided, and more connected.
Vendor collaboration
Worked within third-party platform constraints to understand what could be customized, reused, or improved.
Stakeholder alignment
Helped communicate the value of custom template improvements to secure leadership alignment and budget.
Reusable systems
Designed with future years in mind, creating templates and live-event patterns that could be reused, refined, and extended.
Before
The attendee journey was spread across functional but disconnected vendor-powered surfaces. Registration, session planning, and live event content each served a purpose, but they did not always feel like one connected Universe experience.
After
The improved direction brought custom UX, more structure, hierarchy, brand continuity, and reusability across the most important attendee touchpoints.
Problem
The default registration flow worked functionally, but felt generic and disconnected from the rest of Universe. Key decisions were presented transactionally, without much guidance or brand continuity.
After
We improved the registration templates so attendees could better understand pass options, move through the flow with more confidence, and feel like they were still inside the Universe experience.
Problem
Session discovery is one of the most important parts of the attendee journey, but the default experience made it harder to quickly scan, compare, and save relevant sessions.
What changed
We proposed improvements to make browsing, filtering, and adding sessions feel more intuitive. The experience focused on clearer hierarchy, stronger session cards, better calls to action, and a more direct path from discovery to agenda-building.
Problem
Once attendees arrived onsite, the new app became the primary tool for staying oriented, managing sessions, and navigating the event. The experience needed to feel connected to the web journey, not like a separate utility.
What changed
We extended Universe’s structure and visual language into app-related surfaces, making it easier for attendees to access their agenda, understand event programming, and move through the live experience.
The K2K experience created a more intentional place for attendees and remote viewers to follow announcements, understand what launched, and move from event content into deeper product stories.
Why it mattered
The page helped connect live programming, product storytelling, and post-keynote discovery — creating a reusable pattern for turning event moments into structured content.
Problem
During Universe, the homepage could not behave like a static marketing page. The team needed a way to promote timely content as the event unfolded.
Phase 4 : Keynote Recording Available
Phase 1 : Before Keynote
Phase 2 : During Keynote
Phase 3 : Major Announcement Recap Available
What changed
I designed a flexible hero system that could be updated every few hours to feature the most relevant moment: keynote reminders, livestreams, product announcements, session highlights, recaps, or attendee updates.
Designing where custom work mattered most.
Because many of these touchpoints lived inside third-party platforms, the goal was not to customize everything. It was to identify where design effort would create the most value for attendees and the business.
I focused custom improvements in the places where they could improve clarity, strengthen brand continuity, and become reusable infrastructure for future event years.
Before
Vendor templates limited layout flexibility. We needed to prioritize hierarchy, reusable patterns, and the most important attendee actions.
After
A more engaging, branded, and clearer experience without creating a fragile one-off system.
Registration, session planning, app-connected flows, K2K content, and live event page patterns can now be reused, refined, and extended across future Universe events. This shifted the work from one-time event production to reusable event infrastructure.
Jan 2025
Establish template
Mar 2025
Update branding
Mar 2026 +
Update branding ...
Scope
Homepage, pricing, speakers, agenda, registration, session builder, app considerations, and attendee portals.
GitHub & ATWM
Kelly Quesnel
Manager
Aja Ingraffia
Design Support
Jesus Sandrea
Natalie Ivanonva
Jenna Simmons
Engineering
Simon Luthi
Matthew Ruivo
Misaki Nakano
Brand
Kyle Benson
Eleena Bakrie
Kelly Carpenter
Copywriting
Jeimy Ruiz
Project Management
Lisa Adang
Chris Peck