Better School Choice - School Discovery App
Designed a mobile school-discovery experience that helps parents search, filter, and compare schools to make informed decisions about their children's education.
Role
Tools
Team
Project Overview
Better School Choice is a mobile school-discovery concept designed to help parents find, evaluate, and compare educational options for their children. The experience brings school search, personalized filters, favorites, and side-by-side comparisons into one accessible platform.
As part of my Flatiron School apprenticeship, I independently developed the brand identity and mobile app experience, using user research, competitive analysis, prototyping, and usability testing to guide the design.
Problem Statement
Parents face challenges finding and comparing schools that meet their children's educational needs. School information is often scattered across multiple platforms, making it difficult to evaluate options and make informed decisions.
Difficulty finding relevant schools based on location, tuition, academics, and special needs
Limited access to consistent, comparable school information
Time-consuming research across multiple websites
Lack of a streamlined way to save favorites and compare schools side by side
Need for an intuitive, accessible experience that simplifies school selection
Research & Discovery
I conducted a competitive analysis of four school-discovery platforms, developed a parent persona, and created an affinity diagram to identify user needs.
Key Findings
Classical Christian: Strong resources, limited accessibility.
GreatSchools: Comprehensive information, inconsistent organization.
Niche: Diverse search tools, opportunities for better engagement.
Public School Review: Useful rankings, limited search and mapping features.
Research Insights
The findings revealed opportunities to simplify school discovery, improve accessibility, and streamline comparisons. These insights informed the app's search filters, favorites, and side-by-side comparison features.
Ideation
I organized research findings into an affinity diagram to identify parents’ goals, needs, frustrations, and motivations. I then prioritized features based on user impact and implementation effort, focusing on school search, filtering, favorites, and side-by-side comparisons.
I mapped the user journey from school discovery to comparison, focusing on a seamless experience that helps parents search, filter, save favorites, and compare schools.
The flow prioritizes intuitive navigation and reduces unnecessary steps in the school-selection process.
Wireframing
The wireframes established a clear path from searching and filtering schools to saving favorites and comparing options side by side.
Visual Design
I created a vibrant, approachable visual identity that makes school discovery intuitive and engaging for parents. Navy blue, mint, yellow, and coral tones, bold typography, and playful geometric shapes establish a cohesive brand identity throughout the mobile app.
Prototyping & Testing
I created an interactive high-fidelity prototype in Figma to refine the mobile app’s school search, filtering, favorites, and comparison features through usability testing.
4
Competitors Analyzed
5
Core App Screens
1
Usability Evaluation
Design Iterations
Usability testing revealed confusion around school discovery and navigation. Participant feedback highlighted opportunities to clarify search pathways and improve access to school listings.
I used these insights to refine the interface, strengthen navigation cues, and create a more intuitive school-search and comparison experience.
Final Design
The final design brings Better School Choice to life through an intuitive mobile app that simplifies school discovery and helps parents make informed educational decisions.
Key features include:
Account creation and login
Personalized school search and filters
School listings with ratings and details
Saved searches and favorite schools
Side-by-side school comparisons
List and map viewing options
Lessons Learned
User research drives design decisions. Understanding parents' needs helped prioritize relevant school-search features.
Clear navigation is essential. Usability feedback revealed confusion between search and school-discovery pathways.
Visual identity supports usability. Consistent colors, typography, and navigation elements helped create a cohesive experience.
Feature prioritization matters. Focusing on search, filtering, favorites, and comparisons kept the experience centered on parents' needs.
Next Steps
Refine navigation based on usability testing feedback.
Conduct additional testing with parents to validate search and comparison workflows.
Improve accessibility and mobile interactions.
Explore more detailed school profiles and personalized recommendations.
