Enriching Classroom Communities
Hummingbird is a B2C mobile app designed to serve the needs of today's educators through intuitive communication experiences
MY ROLE
As a former K-12 Educator, I navigated convoluted edtech products that did not reflect my actual needs. Hummingbird changes this reality by delivering the features educators actually want and need through research driven, human centered design. I partnered with local educators, administrators, and parents to resolve core educational pain points through an engaging, safe, and effective communication platform for school communities.
PROBLEM
In our modern educational landscape, teachers are grappling with insurmountable task loads and responsibilities with little to no support, leaving less time for quality communication and relationship building with parents. Educators are also burdened by overly complex tools that are not aligned to their unique needs within a demanding classroom.
SOLUTION
Meet Hummingbird- An innovative communication mobile app aligned to the unique needs of educators within demanding classrooms. Hummingbird streamlines overwhelming task loads, enables instant and personalized communication, and simplifies complex student data. In a matter of minutes, teachers can set up a 30+ digital classroom, invite 60+ caregivers, capture learning moments, and instantly deliver important updates to caregivers.
TOOLS
Paper, Pencil, Sharpie, Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
TIMELINE
6 weeks
Articulating Core problems
GENERATIVE RESEARCH
I conducted semi-structured 1:1 interviews with 11 parents and teachers to gain deep insights into the experiences that shape local classroom communities.
I sat down with parents at a local coffee shop to understand how they experience daily school communication.
I learned that the biggest pain point among parents is lack of communication consistency from teachers.
I then performed contextual inquiries and 1:1 interviews at local elementary schools, talking with several elementary and middle school educators.
I discovered that the biggest pain point impacting teachers is lack of time.
DIGGING DEEPER
I met with local principal, Mrs. Peters, to gain deeper insights into the issues impacting teachers' time.
I learned that teachers are facing a 'firehose' of responsibilities; from brand new curriculum to demanding student behavior, to overly complicated digital tools, teachers are struggling in their classrooms every single day.
EDTECH PRODUCT UTILITY
I performed secondary research and a competitive analysis to understand the strengths and weaknesses of popular edtech tools employed by educators. This enabled me to articulate deep and widespread themes found in the mismatch of today's classroom digital products and teachers actual needs.
Common themes in teacher utility:
Teachers receive little to no tech support and training which leads to underutilization.
Educators are managing thousands of user accounts as well as thousands of interactions per day within immense time constraints. Many tech tools do not easily deliver the key data that teachers need.
Many teachers prefer simple, familiar tools such as email, text messaging, and sticky notes, yet these options are often inadequate for conversing with 60+ parents.
Many products do not show a nuanced understanding of student behavioral management or learning pedagogy, leading most educators to overhaul, supplement, or revamp digital products to meet their classroom needs.
Capturing Teachers' Needs
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT
I created a teacher archetype to showcase a condensed overview of key data insights.
Meet Mrs. Lacey, 4th grade teacher at Prosperity Hills Elementary
Kayla Lacey needs a simple, easy to use communication tool to help her manage complex student data, capture learning moments, and instantly reach parents so she can be at her best within her teaching practice.
How might we build a supportive mobile app that enables effortless communication experiences while also easing demanding work loads for educators?
Gathering Design Inspiration
MOOD BOARD EXPLORATION
I conducted design research to reflect the overall mood for a visually pleasing mobile app design. This collection of ideas centers on the Hummingbird, showcasing a light, quick, and creative design aesthetic.
Discovering the Easiest Pathway
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE / USER FLOW
I translated design features into information architecture to solidify app structure. I then mapped out teacher and parent flows through classroom set up and core app tasks to ensure a frictionless user experience.
Exploring Visual Solutions
SKETCHING / WIREFRAME ITERATIONS
I explored multiple ideas and solutions through sketches and wireframes aligned to research insights that I then shared with stakeholders for feedback.
Group name, copy box pattern-
Teachers can simply copy full class lists and parent names for an easier classroom set up and onboarding process.
Create task balance-
Parents can connect to their child's name and provide student profile data, helping to streamline a complex onboarding process for teachers.
Highly learnable user interface-
Contextual modeling, progress indication (gamification), icons, and clear language will aid and motivate teachers who do not have access to tech training.
Close proximity of data-
Enables the instant access to critical data like learning preferences, pronouns, and parent phone numbers.
Intuitive classroom sharing-
Teachers can utilize file attachment, video and image capture, and templates for convenient classroom updates.
Private text messaging-
Provide seamless, secure parent messaging.
Initial Explorations
Mid-fidelity Wireframes
Seeking User Feedback
USABILITY TESTING
I performed multiple rounds of remote, moderated usability testing, iterating wireframe design in between each round of testing.
Teachers and parents needed transparency surrounding roles and tasks on the app.
All participants were able to easily utilize Hummingbird across all functions, but there were a few issues that needed clarification:I incorporated clarified language such as the word "follow" to succinctly communicate that parents would verify their name and then "follow" their child on Hummingbird.
Teachers requested more clarity and control surrounding public and private sharing.
I implemented clear messaging and constraints to allow educators to turn on or off parent comments and to edit public posts before sharing. I incorporated key student data into private messages to aid teachers in personalized parent interactions.
Parents needed to know their child's information is safeI
implemented safety messaging, icons, and thoughtful constraints across all areas of Hummingbird to provide consistent security assurance.
Crafting Visual Consistency
CORE DESIGN SYSTEM
I utilized Human Interface Guidelines to develop a design system and component library featuring a primary color scheme, expressive typography, and UI components in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Protoyping Design Solutions
Full Fidelity Prototypes
I implemented user feedback and interactive design into full fidelity prototypes showcasing the following solutions:
Intuitive Classroom Work Flows
Teachers will save time by having the student and parent information they need the most within close proximity.
Easy data management-
Teachers will save time by having the student and parent information they need the most within close proximity.
Intuitive communication streams-
Teachers can share vital classroom announcements, capture and document learning moments, and securely message parents within a few swipes, effectively reducing teacher task burden and enabling instant parent connections.
Key Full Fidelity Screens
Interactive Prototype- Try it out!
Take Aways
Educators need tools that reflect their unique needs.
As a former teacher, this was a gratifying project for me. I enjoyed getting to partner with local educators through both research and design to create a digital application that could truly meet the needs of local educators.
Although this project is still in development, we were able to gain invaluable insights from local educators leading to an in depth understanding of the constraints experienced by diverse teachers working within demanding classrooms. Teachers receive no training for technology and must contend with large class sizes with little planning time. Designing for these constraints meant crafting an extremely simple tool directly aligned to the deep, contextual needs of today's educators.