Product Designer
Better School Choice
Creating an app that helps parents find the perfect school for their child.
Background
Busy Parents want to find schools for their children
The pain points
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Parents are constantly juggling work and childcare responsibilities
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Finding the right school for their children has been an arduous task
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Long search times
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Parents have the perception that public schools may not fully unlock their child's potential
Objective: To create an interface for parents to find the perfect school for their child.
Key Features:
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Simple and clean interface
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Search function
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Function of comparing different schools in one centralized place.
The Design Process
Team contributions
Research Team:
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User interviews
My role:
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affinity diagrams
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low-fidelity wireframes
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user testing
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high-fidelity wireframes
Our target audience
Parents:
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Parents looking for new schools for their children
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Parents with children about to start school
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Parents with varying degrees of experience using apps.
Understanding parent needs
Researching the challenges of parents
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Scripted interviews
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User testing
Affinity Diagram
Empathy Map
The Outcome
The design solution
Design elements for the interface
Our solution was grounded in simplicity. We designed a clean interface that accommodated common user actions, making the process of finding and comparing schools more intuitive. A favorites section was incorporated, enabling users to save and revisit their top choices easily. The addition of a search function with filters based on school amenities streamlined the selection process further.
User Flow Diagram
A user flow diagram was created to show how the flow of the school search app will be. It shows what content each page should have and is very helpful for the idea process.
Competetive Analysis
Compared 5 top competitors: Niche, Private school review, Great schools, USA.com, School Choice week
The competitive analysis Includes Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the competitor to create a list of features that will be prioritized in the interface design.
Feature Prioritization MoSCoW
I used the MoSCow method to create a feature prioritization chart. It shows the important features that works well with other competing websites and must, be included in the design. Other features have lower priority that should, could, and won't be included in the design.
Usability testing and report
Task Senarios
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Create an new account using google.
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Browse different schools and favorite one of them
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Find your list of favorite schools and remove one from the list
Measuring task accomplishment
Check the click rates of the task.
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5-6 clicks to create an account with Google.
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2-3 clicks to add the school to favorites.
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2-3 clicks to remove a school from their favorites.
User Testing Results:
The user was able to click within the target click range for the tasks. The overall experience was smooth but needed a few minor adjustments to make the navigation more refined.
Changes made
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Inconsistent sizes for frames were adjusted to be more uniform
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Overcrowding of the information section was split into two different pages.
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unnecessary buttons on the coaching screens were removed
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A few missing prioritized features were added
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Enlarged the areas that were too small to click
The interface design
Simple design easy navigation
The final product was a testament to our efforts. The simplified interface offered easy navigation, with essential functions conveniently located at the bottom of the screen. The search functionality and an analogous color scheme enhanced the user experience, ensuring a smooth journey from search to discovery.
Final results
Project Takeaways
Key Takeaway
This case study illustrates the power of empathetic design in simplifying the lives of busy parents, making the school search process an effortless and enjoyable experience.
What I learned
Reflecting on the project, I realized the significance of iteration. While our solution was a success, I recognized the value of incorporating more user testing rounds between each development stage. In the future, I would implement card sorts for different search labels and drop-down navigation labels to further refine the user experience.
Next Steps
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Conduct more user tests with many different age groups for parents.
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Create design for a website version of the app to allow cross platform usage