Campus connection app

Dormant

Gets students out of their dorms and into what's happening around them.

Visit dormant-app.com
1STPLACE
1st of 169 projects2026 Stellic Pathfinders Challenge
200+on the waitlist
200K+views on Instagram and TikTok

Freshman year

Everything was happening around me.

  • I didn't know many people.
  • I had no idea what was happening, or when.
  • I didn't know how to just show up.
  • I wished I could see who was going first.
  • Later I live streamed for 8 months, mostly in my room.

The problem

Events get shared on flyers you walk past.

There's no one place to see what's happening on campus, or who's going.

A campus bulletin board covered in overlapping event flyers

Who it's for

It's for everyone.

Adults over 40 came up to me at Stellic and said they wish they had this for their whole college town. We're all dormant right now. Stuck on our phones, in our routines.

I want the app to be dormant too, unopened most of the week.
Nathan talking about Dormant with a guest at the Stellic demo table

The process

Lots of rough starts.

~100logo versions
10 to 20versions of the main screen
2+ weeksjust on the map

The logo

Roughly 100 tries before it felt right.

Keep scrolling to watch it change.

Dormant logo versions, changing as you scroll
Version 1 of 48

Where it landed

The final logo.

  • Eerie Black#19191c
  • After Dark#252527
  • Wave#0d778d
  • Pulse#00d4ff
  • White#ffffff
DORMANTKdam Thmor Pro
See what's happening.Instrument Sans

The interface

10 to 20 versions of the main screen.

A lot of inspiration from other map apps. People want to use something they already understand.

Early version
An early version of the Dormant map with neon category tags and placeholder event cards
An early idea
An early create-an-event flow that builds the event from a photo of a flyer
Snap a photo of a flyer and Dormant fills in the event for you.

The map

My first versions overheated my phone.

The map had to feel instant, even on older iPhones. It took over 2 weeks to get it smooth.

Onboarding

One question at a time.

Onboarding screen 1Onboarding screen 2Onboarding screen 3Onboarding screen 4Onboarding screen 5Onboarding screen 6
Sign in, check your email, and invite-only screens over the night map
Sign in with no password.

Emails and ads

The emails and ads got designed too.

Waitlist emails: Hey Nathan, and Get in loser! with a campus illustration
Waitlist emails
A Dormant ad: Experience KU's campus like never before, with a campus bus
An ad

Stellic Pathfinders

Presenting in front of 100+ people.

It was scary. But so many people came up to me afterwards and talked about how their school could use this. That was really rewarding to hear.

Nathan presenting Dormant at the Stellic podium
Nathan demoing the Dormant map at a table, smiling
A guest reading the finalists program, open to the Dormant page
Nathan in the audience, smiling with other finalists
Nathan shaking hands on stage, holding the winner's certificate

What's next

It's in Apple review right now.

Honestly, I wouldn't change much. After it launches at KU, the plan is more campuses.

See it at dormant-app.com