Full Circle Montessori School
User Research
We had the opportunity to reach out to users to find out what their experiences are using the site and others like it. With contact information on newly enrolled families and those that expressed interest in enrolling in the recent past, we were able to reach out to gather data on these parents’ experiences with the school enrollment process.
Working with the client we sought to best understand the total experience parents have when enrolling their children in a new school, not just the the experience of using school websites, while addressing the clients wants and needs as well.
What We Learned
Who are we designing for?
Through a combination of a user survey and one-on-one interviews, we gained detailed information on who are users are. An assumption that most of our users are female, as they are typically the main point of contact, was validated through our findings. Our users are educated and also typically busy with work or household duties.
First Insights
Through these insights we were able to begin to understand some of our user’s actions behind why they were interested in Private School, Montessori specifically and their top factors in choosing a school
The phrases highlighted in yellow where repeat answers across the survey from multiple users. We can start to understand the underlying motivations of parents when choosing private school.
Taken a step further, we wanted to know why parents where interested in Montessori specifically. There is some cross over with wanting a Private School education in general, but also some different insights.
We wanted to know what parents are looking for in a school. What are the ideas they have that they are bringing to their search.?What are their wants, needs and preconceived notions?
School Search & Websites
Users found school websites easy to use but the process in general of enrolling children in a new school was difficult and time consuming. We listened to how users access the internet well and what they think is the most important type of information when looking at a school website.
Most of our users found the process of finding, researching and enrolling in a new school difficult in Arlington VA. Knowing this going into our design allows us to attempt to ease potential parents difficulties.
A majority of users are accessing the internet with a mobil device. This tells us how important responsive design is to our site, as well as the need to limit heavy amounts of text.
We have data from the survey response about the most important information parents want to find on a school website. This certainly informs our design and the flow of the site. We want to make these flows and actions upfront and accessible options?
It is interesting how many parents find out about schools by word of mouth. This informs us how important brand is and dispels some assumptions about Social Media being a driving force in helping parents choose new schools
Parents are spending lots of time on the internet researching schools. They are potentially frustrated by the time they get to their 5th site.
A majority of parents visit up to 3 schools. There is a potential that their experience visiting the school could already be shaped by their experience on a school’s website
Feelings and Motivations
Direct interviews with parents combined with our survey data allowed us to understand the feelings and motivations of our users in order to better design the FCMS website.
By interviewing users we are allowed a deeper insight into parent’s experiences enrolling in new schools for their children. There is often a big difference between what people say and what they do. When put to more specific questioning and given space to explain, many users reveal more about their feelings and motivations than a survey can tell us. Participants for this interview were chosen as they answered that searching, finding and enrolling their children in a new school was a difficult process.
Personas
Through our data we were able to create personas and use cases that became the anchor for who and what we are designing for.
User Journey
We looked at scenarios from our use cases and to better empathize and to understand where opportunities may exist to design for our users’ needs.
From our User Journey we see a problems that could arise for our users and possible solutions.
Competitive Research and Analysis
To more fully understand our users’ journey we did a Competitive Analysis on other school websites in the area. We wanted to see what we could learn these other institutions in the same market, as our users also are searching these websites. How are theses competitors approaching problems? What are their solutions, strengths and weaknesses? Do they pose threats and finally what opportunities arise from this analysis?
Problem Revisited
The initial problem the client presented was an out of date website that needed redesigning. But, from our research and iterative process we determined what potential frustrations users may have and what their potential problems where enrolling their children in a new school.
New Solution
How might we design a school website that addresses prospective parents needs while recognizing and attempting to ease their frustrations around the process of enrolling their children in a new school?
Based on a combination of what heard from our users, insights gained from our Competitive Analysis plus adherence to the clients needs and brand vision, we were able to develop an agile project framework to begin to design and build FCMS new website.