Academic Event Management Platform
Role: UX Designer, Web Developer
Duration: 2015 – Present
Tools: WordPress, Elementor, WooCommerce, Google Forms, Eventica (event plugin), SSL
Background
Düşünbil Akademi (DB Akademi) is a branch of the Düşünbil Publishing Group dedicated to event organization. DB Akademi hosts philosophy and social science conferences and workshops. Until 2015, all event information, abstract submissions, and registrations were handled manually through email, which was inefficient and prone to errors.
Problem
Organizing multiple academic events each year required managing hundreds of abstracts, participants, and payments through disconnected tools.
There was no centralized platform for registration, call-for-papers, or event archiving. Both organizers and participants faced usability issues and time loss.
Goal
To design and implement a centralized and user-friendly event management website that would:
- Simplify abstract submission and registration,
- Allow users to easily find event details,
- Enable organizers to update information and manage archives efficiently,
- Reflect the identity of Düşünbil as a professional and accessible academic community.
Process
- Research: Reviewed user needs by interviewing event organizers and analyzing email correspondence patterns.
- Information Architecture: Structured the site around clear user flows — Call for Papers → Submission → Registration → Program → Archive.
- Design: Selected and customized a lightweight WordPress theme optimized for accessibility and ease of content updates.
- Testing & Iteration: Rolled out features over multiple event cycles and iteratively refined interfaces based on organizer feedback.
Implementation (updated)
- Initially used Google Forms for abstract submissions and ad-hoc registration for the first 1–2 years due to speed and ease of setup.
- After testing and collecting feedback, migrated to an embedded, website-based event management solution (Eventica plugin and custom registration forms) so that all event-related processes — registration, participant lists, and program publication — were handled inside the site.
- Embedded registration enabled organizers to access participation lists per event and to send event-specific announcements directly from the website.
- Payment options and confirmation emails were integrated as required for paid events.
What did not work
While Google Forms was convenient initially, the number of separate forms grew exponentially and made participant management harder. For this reason, I eventually embedded the entire registration process within the website so organizers could centrally manage participant lists and send announcements tied to each event.
I could not implement a fully built-in submission system from the very beginning. Although there were potential solutions, their implementation and long-term maintenance costs were not justified at that stage. Consequently, we continued accepting submissions via email when necessary.
Outcome
- Administrative workload decreased substantially after the website-embedded workflow was implemented (estimated ~60% reduction).
- Event discoverability and participation increased due to clearer publication of calls, schedules, and archives.
- The platform now provides a sustainable infrastructure for recurring events and continues to be iterated on each year.
Reflection
This project highlighted the trade-off between quick, low-cost solutions (Google Forms, email) and the benefits of an integrated platform. My approach prioritized pragmatic steps: start fast to cover immediate needs, then migrate to an embedded solution once scale and requirements justified the investment. If repeated, I would add structured usability testing for submission and checkout flows and instrument conversion metrics from the start.