Case Study 3
Schoolfinding
A digital app designed to assist parents in customizing the school search process for their children.
Project Overview
Client: Better school choice project created by Flatiron School
Timeline: 3 weeks | Jan - Feb 2023
Role: UX, UI
Request: During my involvement with Flatiron School, I successfully concluded a project named "Better School Choice." The objective of this assignment was to conduct comprehensive research on the decision-making process of parents when selecting schools for their children.Based on the research findings, I embarked on a comprehensive design journey encompassing ideation, testing, and iteration. The objective was to develop a novel digital product that effectively tackles the primary challenges encountered by parents during the school selection process. These challenges include identifying schools that align with their intricate blend of desires and requirements, as well as accessing reliable word-of-mouth recommendations to make well-informed decisions.
The Team and Our Approach
Team:
In collaboration with my colleagues, I established a research team dedicated to our project. Collectively, we devised a well-defined interview research guide and developed a digital survey tailored for our target users. While each of us conducted individual interviews, we collaborated closely during the analysis phase, employing techniques such as affinity diagrams, empathy maps, and jobs-to-be-done to gain deeper insights.
My Contributions:
UX Designer: competitive analysis, user interviews, synthesis, empathy mapping, Moscow method for feature prioritization, and crafting a problem statement
UI Designer: mid fidelity and hi fidelity prototyping, usability testing, task scenarios, user flow diagrams
Interaction Designer: microinteraction design
Product Designer: presenting to stakeholders
Discovery Phase
The Users:
Based on the brief, I presumed that our target audience would consist of parents with school-aged children. However, recognizing the importance of understanding our users more deeply, I sought to develop a clearer understanding of their needs. This would enable me to tailor my problem-solving approach to address their specific pain points effectively.
The interviews revealed a distinct user type among parents who expressed interest in a digital tool for school searching:
Parents who exhibited a willingness to explore schools beyond their default local public option emerged as a specific user type seeking digital resources for school searching. It was their openness to alternative choices that initially motivated them to engage in the search and utilize digital tools.
Parents who desired a centralized resource for discovering schools to consider, rather than conducting extensive research solely through search engines like Google. They sought a streamlined solution that could provide comprehensive information in one place.
Parents who highly valued word-of-mouth recommendations from individuals within their social circle when making decisions.
Parents who possessed a clear understanding of their preferences and requirements for a potential school. These parents sought a tool that could assist them in finding schools that aligned with their specific needs and priorities.
By focusing on this specific target user group, I was able to enhance my design process to better cater to their unique needs and requirements.
The insights:
To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the existing products available for parents searching for schools, I conducted a thorough competitive analysis. By conducting a SWOT analysis on multiple school search products, I discovered that certain features were commonplace, including:
1. A search and sorting functionality.
2, School profiles encompassing extensive data about each institution.
3. Map and list views for presenting search results.
However, upon examining each website, it became evident that the rationale behind the ordering of schools on the results page was unclear. Additionally, many of these websites lacked dedicated mobile apps and were only accessible through web browsers.
The key findings from the competitive analysis highlighted the user's expectation for a comprehensive school search experience, allowing them to explore and discover institutions based on various criteria such as grades, diversity, and tuition. Nevertheless, it was evident that there was untapped potential to enhance this process by developing a personalized and human-centric app. This would offer users a more tailored and engaging experience, addressing their specific needs and preferences
The most valuable insights into the school search process and the pain points encountered by users were obtained through structured interviews.
“Our top priorities were cost, distance, and best teachers (but we don’t know how to figure that last one out)”
Beyond the values and criteria of a school, cost and distance could be prohibitive to parents. Regardless of how much they cared about academics or extracurricular or student body makeup, parents continued to repeat the importance of a school that was affordable and close to home. It became clear that a digital product would need to help parents search within these limiting factors.
“We’ll probably have to trade off proximity for diversity -- we’ll have to figure out how we prioritize and make a decision on our values.”
Each of the 3 users that I personally interviewed expressed a pain point in negotiating the different wants and needs in a school. While they all talked about having a list of what would be an ideal school, they spoke of trade-offs such as picking a school a bit further away from home if it had other important criteria.
“We preferred to talk with families we knew (and adjust based on our opinions of those people) rather than random online reviews.”
At the end of the day, users valued word-of-mouth when deciding on a school. While most of these conversations happen organically without a digital product, I identified the need for a product to take this into account.
The Problem Statement
Parents looking to enroll their student in school need a digital product that will help them find, evaluate, and validate schools based on their personal criteria and trusted sources because the school search process is a constant give-and-take of values and word-of-mouth helps parents feel confident making a choice.
Finding the solution
Rapid Sketching:
During the initial phase of sketching potential solutions for the problem statement, my mind gravitated towards the concept of an audio mixing console. Drawing inspiration from its ability to adjust audio inputs and create distinct outputs, I pondered how I could leverage this idea to empower users in their personalized school search journey. Recognizing that the school search process involved a thoughtful balance of values and tradeoffs, I explored the possibility of allowing users to generate customized lists by manipulating the "volume levels" of various school criteria.
Furthermore, recognizing the significance of word-of-mouth recommendations highlighted by the interviewees, I aimed to incorporate this aspect into my design. The target users emphasized the value of seeking insights from people they knew to evaluate schools effectively. However, a pain point emerged concerning the challenge of identifying the right individuals to approach for relevant information. Initially, I faced difficulties in addressing this opportunity within my initial sketches, as it seemed like solving for two separate problems simultaneously. As a result, I shifted my focus towards the give-and-take nature of the problem statement and ultimately conceived a feature that could be seamlessly integrated into the school search function.
Once I had a task flow diagram in place to outline how users would navigate the digital product to address the identified problem, I proceeded to elevate the fidelity of my wireframes from low-fidelity to mid-fidelity. This enhancement aimed to prepare the wireframes for usability testing, allowing me to gather valuable feedback on the user experience and interface design.
Testing:
Using the mid-fidelity wireframes, I conducted usability testing with four different target users to gather specific information:
1. I aimed to assess whether the task flow enabled users to prioritize their school search based on their individual needs.
2. I sought to identify any pain points within the wireframe design, including issues related to wording or interaction design.
3. I wanted to understand the type of information users expected and desired on both the school search results' page and the school profile.
To achieve this, I asked users to perform a personalized school search, focusing on finding a private 9-12 school located within a 20-mile radius of their homes. Additionally, they were instructed to favorite a school with high ratings in terms of diversity and extracurricular activities.
After the users completed the search, which involved thinking aloud and providing feedback, I presented them with different variations of the search results screen. This allowed me to assess whether there was an opportunity to incorporate a word-of-mouth feature into the task flow and determine whether users preferred this feature over a general rating of the school.
The interactive drag and drop feature empowers users to curate their own search results, akin to a personalized mixing process. By adjusting the importance of specific criteria, users can influence the ranking of schools, causing different institutions to ascend to the top of their results list.
The usability testing yielded valuable insights that shaped the understanding of user preferences and areas for improvement. The key findings from the testing include:
1. Users faced difficulty in comprehending the meaning behind star ratings, indicating a lack of clarity in their understanding.
2. Users expressed a preference for seeing which individuals they knew were considering a particular school, as opposed to relying solely on an app-derived rating.
3. Users did not consider non-negotiable factors such as tuition and distance as criteria for personalization within the feature, indicating a need for clearer guidelines and limitations.
4. Users responded positively to the concept of a ranking feature but desired clearer differentiation between this feature and earlier screens within the school search task flow.
These insights will be crucial in refining the design, addressing user concerns, and enhancing the overall user experience of the digital product.
Iteration:
Building upon the insights gathered from the usability testing, I proceeded to refine my mid-fidelity wireframes. The primary objectives were to integrate a word-of-mouth element into the design and enhance the clarity of the ranking feature. Clear and concise UX writing was essential in conveying the benefits of this feature to users and illustrating its impact on their search results.
Final Designs
Schoolfinding Brand:
The subsequent phase involved designing the brand identity and style tile to capture the essence of the digital product. When considering the user's perception, I identified the following adjectives as key:
1. Trustworthy: It was essential to establish a sense of trust in the Schoolfinding search process, ensuring users could rely on it to provide reliable and informed results.
2. Dynamic: Drawing inspiration from the concept of a sound mixer, highlighting the dynamic nature of the app was crucial. Users desired an adaptable and responsive experience that catered to their evolving needs.
3. Flexible: Many users emphasized the highly personalized nature of the search process. Thus, a flexible brand identity that molded itself to meet their individual requirements was essential.
4. Scholarly: Given the app's purpose of helping users find schools, it was important to evoke an academic feel that resonated with the users.
To visually represent Schoolfinding, I utilized mood boarding to create a visual representation aligned with these adjectives. Furthermore, I selected a color palette based on color psychology, opting for blue to convey trustworthiness and a calming effect, while incorporating cream for simplicity and neatness.
Personalized Search Feature
After conducting testing and implementing iterative changes, I enhanced the ranking feature to address the challenge of reconciling values and finding a school that aligns with users' prioritized needs. By incorporating a user input for dealbreakers, this feature enables users to establish search boundaries based on crucial factors identified through user research.
Given that different families place emphasis on diverse aspects such as diversity, academic ratings, or extracurricular activities, users have the ability to rank the criteria within the scope of available data, catering to their specific preferences. To simplify the user experience and reduce cognitive load, an overlay provides an explanation of the feature's purpose and its benefits to users.
Through a drag-and-drop interaction, users can arrange the criteria based on their individual importance, facilitating a personalized and streamlined search process.
The results page showcases an image of the logo puzzle piece, which is filled to a certain percentage mask, representing the compatibility of the school with the user's personalized search. In addition, the Schoolfinding grade for the user's top two ranked criteria is displayed, fostering transparency between the user and the system. This combination of information provides clear insights into why a particular school is being presented to the user and how it aligns with their distinct needs. Furthermore, the school profile page emphasizes this information with a higher visual hierarchy, ensuring its prominence and ease of understanding for the user.
Social feature
Despite the initial challenge of addressing users' reliance on word-of-mouth, I found inspiration in products like Spotify to explore potential solutions. While a digital product cannot fully replace personal interactions and trusted opinions, it can still assist users in connecting with relevant contacts. Drawing from Spotify's feature that showcases friends' music preferences, I conceived a similar functionality for Schoolfinding. This feature allows users to discover schools endorsed or liked by individuals in their contact list or social media network.
This straightforward feature offers valuable information to users, enhancing their ability to leverage word-of-mouth recommendations. Upon introducing this feature, users expressed gratitude for the transparency it provided regarding which schools others in their network were considering. They confirmed its effectiveness by stating that it would encourage them to initiate discussions and explore schools endorsed by individuals they trusted on the app.
Takeaways
Reflections:
This project provided valuable learning experiences, with several standout moments during the design process, including:
1. User-centered design: Engaging with actual users was crucial in identifying a key pain point they faced. Active listening and prioritizing the user's needs became central to the project.
2. Creative problem-solving: Developing a problem statement allowed for exploration of diverse solutions beyond traditional search and sort features. Drawing inspiration from real-world products, testing and user feedback validated the effectiveness of the solutions.
While time constraints limited the project's scope, there is potential for further development. Expanding the school criteria prioritization and word-of-mouth features, as outlined in the feature prioritization, would be a desirable avenue for future exploration.
Despite this, the final designs effectively address user problems and demonstrate the most essential features and functionalities. As a result, the project can be considered a success.
Next Steps:
To further advance this project, I would conduct user testing to ensure the clarity and effectiveness of the ranking feature in meeting users' needs when evaluating different values in a school.
Additionally, I would engage in collaboration with software engineers and data scientists to establish the methodology for assigning grades to the app's criteria and develop an algorithm for matching schools to personalized searches.