Interviewing Teachers
To gain insight on the needs of educators in a digital age, I reached out to teachers to develop a user-research team that represented the diverse range of experience, technilogical literacy, and skills within a school.
The pain point I needed to focus on became clear throughout the interview process. Communication in schools is focused on student-teacher dialogue, and teacher-to-teacher dialogue is limited to email. This messaging between colleagues is inconsistent and is limited by personal preference like email, texting, or even calling around the building to find them.
Teachers lacked a central space to share classroom calendars other than a physical whiteboard in the workroom that is further limited to two-week intervals. This is not enough time for interdisciplinary planning and not everyone has space to add in their content.
Based on my research, I created personas for the three archetypes of teachers within a public high school. Alexa, Isabella, Elijah with different teacher experience levels Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, and varying technological literacy levels.
• Research
User Flow Development
Constructing the user flow for the application required a clear focus on accessible scheduling and user-to-user communication. The only deviations from that path should be those that supported scheduling materials, and critical information required from the staff member.
• User Experience
Wire Frames
The app needed to prioritize accessible application standards for comfort and convenience of staff members. Buttons needed to be visible and within reach, communicating actions clearly. Text needed to be concise, and demonstrate effective hierarchy.
• User Experience
Branding & User Interface:
Throughout the feedback provided from teachers, two planning tools were consistently mentioned: google docs and the sticky note. This led me to examine google material design closely, highlighting the features that made it navigable, yet still feel like the familiarity of a sticky note. The brand that emerged was inspired by the desire to connect users in the clearest way possible. Meeting the needs of a diverse range of users meant that above all Collab needs to be: accessible, approachable, intuitive.
• Design
