Product Overview
ChalkitUp is a contactless, cross-platform digital system to promote parent engagement with schools. This tool allows parents and school systems to track parent participation virtually and in person.
Problem
School systems are required to track parent engagement; however a cost effective, contactless system for capturing parent participation while rewarding students is not readily available.
The Goal
Design an app that will improve the school community outreach and provide parental access to events.
Challenges
Design a seamless user experience to minimize the time spent documenting participation at school events
Create a resourceful tool for parent participation with support assistive technologies
Layout, information and visual elements are consistent across all devices
User Research
I referenced the nearby independent school district's data on parent involvement to create questions for user interviews. Participants expressed an interest in volunteering in school events, but have trouble joining parent-school activities due to schedule conflicts. The feedback received during interviews suggests that users need an interactive tool to help select and track all scheduled online and in-person school events. The tool can also provide statistics for parent demographics and engagement to assist the school in measuring the success of community outreach.
Meet The Users
Candice is a passionate principal looking to create meaningful ways to engage families in school events. She needs efficient tools to measure parent demographics and ensure all parents are engaged in school events like volunteering, surveys, and conferences. The current data is insufficient to address this need. After work, she enjoys time with her family.
- Tracking parent involvement and attendance to measure engagement within the school community
- Build trust and relationships with parents
- Outdated method of tracking parent engagement using paper trail of sign-up sheets
- Lack of proven solutions to help grow parent interaction
Devin is a single father of two daughters who are in elementary and middle school. He wants to participate in school events, but he finds it challenging to attend between two different schools due to the time constraints. Devin would like to play an active role and wants time spent at the school to be valuable.
- For daughters to be academically successful, confident and independent thinkers
- Be a supportive parent and role model
- Having difficulty finding latest school news and events across multiple online platforms
- Time wasted having to sign-in before meetings begin
- Managing time spent between two different schools
User Journey Map
Goal: To grow parent engagement and involvement within the school community
Goal: To efficiently schedule and participate in valuable campus events
Design Process
The user group and competitive analysis revealed that existing apps have lackluster or outdated design, cluttered menus, are subscription based and do not have accessibility options. To address these challenges, I focused on building an engaging, fun, and organized application that presents the active school community's events. The study also indicated that school officials do not have access to an application that easily interfaces with their student information system.
Sketches
I did quick sketches to come up with ideas for how to address gaps identified in the competitive audit. My focus was specifically on a QR code check-in feature and easy event tracking.
Sitemap
I created a sitemap to help build a structured foundation for the responsive website for ChalkItUp.
Wireframes
I created the initial designs focusing on upcoming school district events and to encourage users to participate. The prototype's user flow follows the process of submitting attendance at an in-person meeting by scanning the physical QR code and cycling through each page of the application as a parental user.
Style Sheet
I selected the colors and created custom components to welcome parents and generate excitement about interacting with their child's school community. The design's assets are playful but modern for simple browsing.
Iterations and Solutions
Five participants from the usability study identified important findings from the lo-fi prototype. These findings helped me improve the layout, track cumulative volunteer hours, and provide a clearer indication for QR scanning as the focal point for in-person events. Based on the insights, I refined the design with new features and events to boost the overall user experience.
Efficiency
ChalkitUp's home page offers a customizable calendar tailored to the student's schedule, easy access to join online school events, and allows principals to analyze parent engagement for data comparison.
Accessibility
A settings page is essential for parents to connect their accounts to the appropriate school community. It includes a dark mode to lessen eye strain and save battery. Additionally, text size and language settings ensure a personalized and smooth user experience. For in-person meetings, a QR code feature allows instant check-ins via smartphones, reducing wait times.
Navigation
The designs have been optimized for various screen sizes such as mobile, tablet, and desktop. A hamburger icon provides easy access to the navigation menu across pages. An interactive animation for this icon enhances the intuitive feel of the navigation.
The Results
By prioritizing user research and the user journey, I designed an intuitive cross-platform solution for parents to easily access school events and for educators to foster a connection with families in the community. I developed skills in collaborating with target users--teachers, parents, and school administrators--to create customized solutions. I'm thrilled that the district administration is discussing potential funding as a valuable product.
