Orientation Weeks Leiden University

Three Orientation weeks apps, one mission: the perfect start to your student life

A new city, a new study, a new start. For hundreds of thousands of new students every year, the adventure begins with an introductory week. Zooma built a large system for all starting Leiden students in four agile sprints: six native apps and three extensive backends, to make that experience smoother, smarter and more personal.

For universities and educational organizations, induction weeks are the time to welcome, inform and connect students. But how do you arrange registrations, communications, programs, locations and last-minute updates for thousands of people? And how do you keep it personal and manageable?

Together with Leiden University, we developed a customized digital solution for three different orientation weeks: EL CID for Dutch-speaking students in Leiden, OWL for international students in Leiden, and HOP for students in The Hague. Each organization has its own app, built on one flexible and scalable platform.

One platform, three unique experiences

Every student who registers at Leiden University receives an email containing a link to a registration page for the appropriate orientation week. There they can confirm their participation and pay directly. Once that is settled, they get access to their specific app, EL CID, OWL or HOP, with all the information they need.

From flat program to smart personal planning

It is a big challenge to divide the thousands of students each year into groups, and then match those groups with a mentor duo and distribute them among the dozens of events. Previously, this was a stressful and time-consuming task for the board of introductory weeks, but that is no longer the case with the new platform. With the push of a button, the algorithm is put to work to provide an optimal allocation. With smart parameters, such as study, nationality, age, and more, the driver can still influence the group assignment. Once the groups are ready, mentors can easily be attached to them. Then it's time to automatically distribute the groups among the events.

In the app, students see who their groupmates and mentors are, and what events they are assigned to. There are also optional events, which they can register for through the app.

Everything at your fingertips

In addition to the program, the app includes:

• Live updates and push notifications
• Photo albums of past and ongoing events
• Student deals at local restaurants, study-related businesses and stores
• Interactive maps with all relevant locations: university buildings, assembly points, event locations, cafes, you name it.
• Events with distinction between group events, personal events and workshops. Easily sign up for events and create your own program.
• Profile and personal info including the personal program, optional profile picture for your group mates, and a QR code to pick up stuff at the beginning of the week.

Students can see who is in their group, who their mentors are, and where to report. All easily and securely within one app.

With these three apps, we helped thousands of students get off to a flying start. It shows what happens when you deploy technology with people in mind. Do you also want a custom app for your organization, event or community? We would love to build it with you.