Schools, Parents, and Some Light Space Travel
Today, parents have more options than ever before when it comes to education for their child. But with this dearth of options and opportunities comes an overwhelming amount of information on what education is best for their child.
The reality is that there is no one size fits all for each child. Parents know this, and recognize that they need be proactive in finding that fit that is going to empower their child throughout their education. Being able to see a school in person gives parents the best chance to know if a school is that right fit for their child.
edRover is a product designed to help parents take that step. It equips them with a tool that helps schedule and coordinate visits to prospective schools and helps them take that small step that will be a giant leap for their child.
Overview
Role: User Research, User Experience Design, and User Interface Development
Task: Create a tool that assists parents in the school selection process for their child
Project Length: 3 Weeks
Tools: Figma, OptimalSort
Charting a Course
01 Introduction
Before this journey could begin, the groundwork needed to be laid. To help guide the work and best understand what parents’ experiences were in the school selection process, the right questions needed to be asked. Parent perspective was key, and with this in mind, 3 research goals were created in order to guide the process:
To understand how parents view the school selection process
To determine what factors in the selection process parents value most
To identify common patterns of actions that parents use in the selection process
Similarly, a timeline of work was laid out in order to guide the work moving forward. The week was broken down into 3 weeklong sprints.
Surveying the Landscape
02 Research
In order to understand the audience and fully identify what problems they are facing in the school search process, research needed to be done. This process consisted of 2 phases:
Qualitative: 6 interviews with mothers who completed the school selection process.
Quantitative: A survey about the school selection process that reached 69 participants.
The qualitative interviews were combed through for valuable insights that were highlighted, aggregated, then distributed into an affinity diagram. By doing this, common themes and ideas could be gleaned from the large volume of information.
With qualitative information gathered and analyzed, further data was gathered through a short, Google Forms survey that was taken by 69 participants.
Through the affinity diagram and the survey, valuable insights were found that were distilled down to 5 major points that tied back to the research goals and would help inform the next steps in the process.
Visits to prospective schools are a major decision point for parents
Parents want to see how current students behave at prospective schools
A parent’s final decision on a school often comes down to intuition
On average, parents looked at 3 - 5 schools
Finding a school with a high quality staff is a top concern of parents
In order to crystalize the information gathered from this research into a single point that would drive the process of finding a solution, the following problem statement was developed:
Parents with nearly school aged children need a tool that will help them experience prospective schools in person, so they can evaluate how their child will grow in that environment.
Preparing the Ship
03 Initial Prototyping
To put parents in the best position to make that decision, the priority became creating a tool that would allow parents to schedule and coordinate visits to prospective schools.
This process began with analyzing competitors to understand common patterns in the scheduling space as well as how large data sets of specific locations are organized. To do this, a wide range of calendar and real estate related apps were analyzed and explored.
With the structures of these various applications in mind, rapid sketching was conducted. By ideating with a paper and pen, a wide variety of ideas could be explored in a short amount of time. One concept was selected and carried into a mid-fidelity prototype.
System Diagnostics
04 User Testing
Now that an initial prototype of the main task is created, the focus could shift to user testing. By getting this prototype in front of users, the layout, labels, and the patterns associated with the central task could be tested against user assumptions.
A usability test was administered to 2 users within the target audience. They were both dads of two separate kids who would be in school within the next 2 years.
The testing proved essential as it illustrated the necessity to combine the date and time picking screens. The need for this was best explained by this quote from one of the participants:
“If you’ve got a busy schedule, you may not know what days you would pick if you can’t see what visit times are available for each date.”
Parents aren’t exactly known for their light schedules, so making this amendment to the prototype was necessary as the project moved into hi-fidelity.
Final Launch Preparations
05 High Fidelity Prototype
Work could begin on ideating around the look and feel of the final product.
To begin, an analysis of competitors in the child education space was undertaken in order to understand common patterns and best practices that could inform the final design.
Areas of focus included color schemes, font choices, and photos or illustration usage. These common themes were recognized:
Exclusively sans-serif font
Bright, saturated colors
Cartoon mascots and illustrations common
By embracing these touch points a final design was ideated and refined into the brand identity: edRover
edRover is a parent’s trusty first mate they rely on when traveling into the unknown. It’s the tool they use not for themselves, but to help their child find new horizons. edRover enables parents to take that giant leap towards their child’s ideal future.
Liftoff
06 Conclusion
edRover is the perfect tool to help busy parents experience prospective schools in person. By coordinating these visits all in one place, they can ensure they can find the right fit for their child.
Suggested next steps:
Further user testing
Exploration of external calendar integration