UC Davis RecPutting the gym ID in Apple Wallet, and killing the login.

The redesigned UC Davis Recreation home screen: upcoming events, live hours, a Member ID, and customizable modules.
Role
Product designer
Team
Solo designer
Timeline
3 days
Key idea
Member ID in Apple Wallet
Year
2026
Overview

The UC Davis Recreation app should be the easiest way into the gym; I use it, and it frustrated me. Over three days I rebuilt it around the one thing students open it for, and moved the gym ID into Apple Wallet.

Problem

The app was a barrier, not a tool.

The login stands between you and the ID that gets you through the gym door, and the rest is identical icons with no hierarchy. UC Davis wants a hub for campus life; it acts like a turnstile.

The original app · before the redesign
Original home: a flat grid of same-sized icons.
A flat grid of icons, everything the same weight.
Research & ideation

Students only opened it to scan in.

I ran three interviews with students who use the app, and the pattern was immediate: everyone used it for one thing, scanning into the ARC. The friction hid everything else UC Rec offers.

“It’s kinda confusing to navigate, sometimes it takes me a while scrolling through it.”Student, 2nd year
“I just use the app for scanning into the ARC when I don’t have my card.”Student, 3rd year
“I only use it to scan in. It could use a format change.”Student, 1st year
The redesign

Built around what students actually use.

I rebuilt the home screen around a clear hierarchy and modules students cater to themselves, instead of a grid of buttons most will never press. Live gym capacity was easy to add, since everyone already scans in, and the tabs no one used move into a side menu.

Before
The original home: a flat grid of icons behind a login.
A flat grid of icons behind a login.
After
The redesigned home: hierarchy, events, live capacity, and the Member ID up top.
Hierarchy: events, live capacity, and the Member ID up top.
Before
The original side menu, holding almost nothing.
A side menu holding almost nothing.
After
The redesigned side menu holding the less-used tabs.
The rarely-used tabs, tucked where they belong.
The idea I’m proudest of

The gym ID lives in Apple Wallet.

Instead of logging in every time, I moved the Member ID into Apple Wallet. Hold your phone near the reader and you’re in, as fast as Apple Pay. No login to fight, no password for the app to store.

92%of people would abandon an app rather than reset a forgotten password. Transmit Security, 2025

Before
Before: the Member ID barcode screen, reached only after a login.
The ID sat behind a login, every single visit.
After
After: the Member ID in Apple Wallet, held near the reader.
One tap in Apple Wallet, straight at the door.
Outcome

Three days of design opened a door.

Three days forced me to prioritize: kill the login friction rather than polish every deep screen. With more time I’d design the Aquatics and Equestrian screens and pitch the ARC on making the Wallet integration real.

I submitted it to the Design Interactive cohort on campus. It landed me an interview, and a spot in the program, where I went on to design Bearings.

The redesigned UC Davis Member ID open in Apple Wallet on a phone held in hand
The Member ID, living in Apple Wallet.
Jayden and a friend in a gym mirror selfie after a workout
Post-workout, with a friend.