We Intervene
We Intervene is an education technology company dedicated to supporting school staff in making data-based decisions in order to better the success of students and improve the community of the school. We Intervene was brought to my team as a capstone project to see how we might help build the We Intervene brand through the design of a parent portal.
While my focus was directed more to the mobile design aspect, research played a large part in this project. Interviewing and performing usability testing with parents of mostly high school students allowed for my team and me to design a parent login for both desktop and mobile that incorporated designs from what We Intervene already had in place and what parents wanted in a parent portal. In the end, my team was able to successfully bridge the gap between business and users by creating a simple, flexibly designed portal for We Intervene to use and help parents be more involved in their child’s academic success.
Communication
Translation
Save Resources
Education Software
Resource Collection
With this in mind, our user research consisted of interviews with six parents; five having high school-aged children, and one having an elementary school-aged child. While there were slight differences in needs based upon education level, parents' needs were mostly the same. They needed a central location where they could find resources for their child's academic success.
My team and I leveraged user research and data collection of different competitor sites in order to determine the best design and features to propel the We Intervene brand (Refer to the chart). We Intervene was built mostly towards high schools with an interest of further branching out to lower education levels in the future.
Remote learning was also a topic in the sense of being bombarded with messages from schools in multiple formats. Parents wanted a way to centralize communications to and from the school without feeling like they were being constantly hit with information overload.
Research
Solving for X
Defining our problem came in the form of a persona we named Felicia. A busy mother living in Queens, NY who was very active in her childrens' academics. Felicia constantly used her phone but preferred to use her desktop when she could to check on her childrens' progress and search for resources that might help better their academic success. This gave her better viewing and forced her to actually sit down and look rather than briefly skimming through the website.
For our problem statement, Felicia is a parent so every day is busy. She constantly feels overloaded from information sent to her through multiple routes of communication, struggles to access and organizing resources and communications, and must do this on top of having lots of work and parenting obligations.
So how might we help Felicia and parents like her not encounter feelings of information overload, solve confusion on how to access resources, and better organize and centralize communication, all while attending to work and parenting duties?
Once we determined the problem and the causes of them, setting up our equation to solve our 'x' was fairly simple. The answer, X = empowerment! In order to solve parents' problems, we decided to design in such a way that would empower them and make them feel they were in control. The process, however, was not as simple.
Success = Empowerment
While the answer seemed simple, the steps taken were, at times, tedious, thought-provoking, and somewhat frustrating. While there are many aspects this project could have focused on, I was tasked with designing the mobile responsive version of the site. Even though our main goal was desktop designs to match up with our persona, we also took careful considerations that most people viewed resources on the go. So it made sense to design a mobile version along with our desktop as a stretch goal.
Designing mobile highlighted being able to view as much as possible in as little time as possible. Beginning iterations, shown above, enabled parents to see their students based upon the school they attended. It also allowed them control over which type of content they wished to view by simply clicking on the student card. This would only show resources, events, and communications specific to that child. If they wanted to see the other child's content, they simply had to click on the other student card. This gave parents complete control over what they wanted to see and when.
Resources could be searched either through the side menu, search bar or through the most recently added resources. Once a parent found the resources they wanted, they could save the resources under a specific child. It would then appear under saved resources underneath the child's name. Toggling options at the top of the page allowed for easy filtering if a parent only wanted to view. particular child's saved content. Events could be added in a similar way once a parent found them.
Finally, communications were located under one central location with the preferred method being placed at the top. It showed a history of messages, emails, and phone calls that took place from the site. In later iterations, communications could be linked to a parent's phone if they so chose to do so; giving them quicker access to communicate with school staff.
Usability testing for mobile had some interesting plot twists. Users were given two tasks to complete. Task one being, the user must enter the site and find a resource to use for their child's success. After finding the resource, the parent must save it and then return to their dashboard. Our goal time was to complete in under two minutes with only one error. On average, users completed the task in 3 minutes and 22 seconds with 1.8 errors.
Task two was to navigate to the communications page, open an email, respond, open the resource sent, and save the resource. Our goal time was two minutes to complete the task with one error. On average, users completed in 1 minute and 30 seconds with 1.2 errors.
Final Exams
With usability testing showing longer completion times and more errors than expected, it was time to go back and figure out what went wrong. After pouring over the test results, one common factor was present. The way our tests were being conducted. The overall consensus of the designs was that "it's very simple" and "I like how it is laid out". So what was the problem? Instructions given were either not clear enough, or they simply could not put themselves in the shoes of the persona given. A couple of users did, however, give some feedback regarding how they would go about putting certain tabs underneath a different topic or would either reword certain tabs and buttons. Yet, the main problem was how tasks and directions were given.
With usability testing complete, and wording corrected, we moved forward with bringing our final designs to the table. We ended with similar designs as our testing sessions. Colors consisted of a calming blue color palette to induce trust from parents, as well as, give them a sense of being uplifted through the simple designs.
Our final designs incorporated what We Intervene had already designed from their administrative project, and what parents wanted in an EdTech website; quick and efficient designs that saved them their most important resource. Time.
Retrospect
In review, We Intervene came to my team and I in the attempt to expand their brand through the design of a parent portal for the EdTech platform. Through much research and testing, my team and I was able to resolve the problem through the implementation of what We Intervene had already designed and incorporating what parents really wanted when they interacted with an academic success site.
Within the mobile aspect, I was able to design a responsive site that would allow parents to review communications and resources in depth while also being busy and on the go.
As for a team aspect, this project strengthened my teams' ability to not only communicate with a client and user, but with each other. Relying on other's strong points and allowing for learning to take place within this project's timeframe in a way embodied what we were trying to accomplish for our client. Smooth communication with easy access to resources needed to learn and accomplish one's goals.
In Conclusion
My team and I, in the end, was able to design both a desktop parent portal site and a mobile responsive site that allowed parents easy access to communicate with school staff and find resources for academic success in one centralized location. After presenting our findings and designs, our client stated they liked the designs and research we had done. Our project was a success. They told us they would most likely use our designs or implement parts of it but would definitely keep us in the loop.
Looking back, this project allowed me to see how a project’s real-world implications would take place. I was shown how teams are formed and forged even when we have differences in work and communication styles. In a way, I even saw how a team can start off rocky but can come together in the end to build a product that can make a difference not just in the eyes of a client, but also for its users. Even when team members have many differences, with time and communication, teams can come together in an effective manner to build simple, effective user-centred designs.
Email:
Linkedin:
Contact Me:
Resume: