Better Choice
Helping you make the Better Choice about your child’s education.
Overview
Better Choice is a conceptual application that provides parents a place to search for schools in their area. This project was part of a three week design challenge which began with interviews with parents conducted by Our Kids, a guide site for providing information about private schools, camps, and activities in Canada.
The Goal
Creating a Minimum Viable Product with efficient design
Our goal was to provide a space for users to navigate naturally and efficiently in order to achieve their goal of finding the best school for their child to attend. Users want information, not a maze of visuals. If the application was too complicated to navigate, or filled with unnecessary features, they would not continue using the product.
Why?
The process of searching for a school for young children can be difficult. And a lack of a centralized location for searching for schools is making the process that way. Adequate schooling is a vital part of a child’s upbringing, so having all information possible available will alleviate some of the stress of finding the right fit.
Team of One
As the singular researcher and designer on this project, I analyzed all available data, conducted usability tests, and created visuals using Figma.
Research
The End User
Our target audience are parents and guardians of children that are just starting their schooling process, or are transitioning from one level of education to the next. Once enrolled in a school, users are less likely to want to begin their search all over again, making the ability to find the right one the first time a desirable prospect.
Finding the right market
Discovering users’ needs and comparing their opportunities
By analyzing 6 interviews with parents of young children conducted by Our Kids, our research tells us that parents rely heavily on gut instinct when making the final decision about a school. However, certain factors help narrow down that choice. According to users, the most common quantifiable factors that determine whether or not a school will be under consideration are:
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Class Size
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Distance from home
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Budget
​In order to better understand where there are missed opportunities, a competitive analysis was completed on 3 websites featuring similar products.
Schooldigger
Pros
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Comprehensive data sets with visuals
Cons
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Difficult navigation
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Intrusive advertisements
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Lack of information about private schools
Our Kids
Pros
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Excellent comparison tool
Cons
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Limited geographic area
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Single language option
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Lack of information about public schools
Greatschools
Pros
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Two language options
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Learning materials available for download
Cons
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No cost of tuition data
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Distracting banner advertisements
Solutions
Creating the product
Finding the solution to our users’ obstacles
Our product combines different types of data, both quantitative and qualitative to create a platform which users can navigate freely. Through user testing we found that a simple design with a similar structure and flow to online retail products with robust filter options, users will not feel lost within the app. We want the information to be right where they expect it so that they can feel confident that they have made the right choice.
Early ideation
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Results
A product with a simple style
Our product fits a very specific and important purpose. To house information in a way that can be consumed and understood by those who need it the most. Therefore, having a simple aesthetic is beneficial to keep our users on task and from becoming overwhelmed.
Color
The primary color theme is blue to evoke calmness and trustworthiness
#242424
#455C6D
#2F75AA
#F07D65
#F2F2F2
Text
To keep text legible and and consistent, all text within the iOS app will use SF Pro. Using the Major Second type scale, only 12, 14, 15, 18, and 25px type size will be used.
Logo
The logo was created by using the initials of Better Choice using the typeface Georgia and manipulating them into a shape reminiscent of an owl, which is commonly associated with education. This shape sits within a bookmark icon, which implies educational content as well as a place to save information within the digital space.
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Ver. 3 Alternate
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Final
The final result
Where to go next
The product that has been created leaves room for future expansion following additional user feedback. Each user will have different priorities for potential school choices, which means that the product and it’s features will have to evolve over time. Perhaps more interactive features directly between users and schools will find a place within the app’s ecosystem. Due to the need to provide large amounts of data, optimizing the search functionality and default results will be a top priority moving forward with development.