★ Juniper Parent App

Context

Teachers have always considered it crucial that parents and guardians at home are updated on what happens in the classroom. Schools have recently turned to app offerings to make this task easier.

These tools not only facilitate more accessible updates on classroom activities but also empower schools to distribute their own content directly.

Apps like ClassDojo (which has ~30 million users) are now more common than not in schools.

These digital solutions are critical to a school's digital strategy, bridging the gap between classroom management systems, parental communication, and school website functionalities.

Problem

Juniper's approach to parent communication was initially scattered across multiple platforms, needing a cohesive system. The company provided a content management system (CMS) for schools to update their websites with essential announcements alongside various products designed for direct communication between teachers and parents. One such product, MarvellousMe, enabled teachers to award pupils recognitions that parents could view. Despite these offerings, there was no centralised platform where all forms of communication could be accessed together.

We started looking at the fragmented state of the current offerings and noticed that users were confused about which "channel" they should use. This led to some teachers choosing to send physical notes home with pupils.

The need for a centralised notification system for the existing offerings was also a pain point -- we were relying on parents to manually check each application for alerts, which meant frequently missed notifications. In one report, approximately 40% of parents admitted missing essential updates due to uncertainty about where to find specific information.

Another critical missing area for us was that Parents had identified wanting to see more of their child's journey in school. They wanted rich media with photos and videos that were easily accessible, but the existing product did not provide a way to do this.

Solution

Working closely with product partners, we decided to consolidate the above into a single application for parents and guardians. A single source of truth for all aspects of their child's education.

I started by analysing our current systems, looking at usage, and understanding the features our users were engaging with. I identified that the initial critical features for a V1 would be Observations (the ability for teachers to share photos/videos with parents) and Awards (the ability for teachers to give pupils an award/badge).

A critical examination of competitor offerings revealed a general neglect for design and usability, with none adhering to the Apple Human Interface Guidelines or Android Material Design specifications. Armed with this insight, I proposed a design-centric approach to our product partners, envisioning an app that mirrored the engaging experience of browsing a well-curated magazine.

I worked closely with the product and proposed that we approach this differently, with a real focus on design, usability, and content. I wanted the experience to feel almost like a magazine about a child's time in school.

By utilising common patterns found on social media apps like Stories and Reels, we began a process of unlocking the potential of a Parent App. Gamification aspects, similar to badges in Gowalla/Foursquare, would add a moment of joy for children and parents alike.

To ensure our app was accessible, we prioritised WCAG 2.1 compliance and introduced automatic translation features to accommodate multi-lingual families, supporting over 20 languages.

We aimed to create a delightful application that parents would want to open.

Details

Badge Book

The Badge Book was a throwback to applications like Gowalla/Foursquare and akin to physical badge collection—like merit badges in Scouts or pin swapping at Disney Parks. We wanted pupils to be engaged in trying to unlock new badges and to have a moment of celebratory joy with their parents when they open them.

Rich presentation of media

A very early goal was to focus on the "content" and allow parents to see as much of their child's schooling journey as possible. I wanted the app to feel like a bespoke magazine—just about their child (or children!).

To achieve this, we focused on displaying photos and videos. The homepage had a large image slider showing the latest updates about their child. Clicking on one of these would take a user to a feature similar to Reels, with a scrolling personalised stream of content about their child.

This made for a very interactive and rich experience for parents, offering them a captivating insight into their child's school experiences.

Reactions and commenting

We enabled features like quick reactions using emojis and more detailed comment replies to encourage communication and allow parents to feel more involved in schooling. Schools requested this feedback and level of interaction, and we saw parents be more engaged due to this during testing.

Desktop Experience

We designed alternate experiences for parents or guardians without a smartphone (or an older phone not capable of running the latest software). For example, we offered a web version of the app that ran in various forms on almost all browsers.

We wanted to ensure that every parent or guardian felt included and could access vital information about their child's schooling.

Much like with the CommsHub project, we also flagged in the admin panel if a user did not have the application (web or app) and offered a quick print feature to teachers to allow that child to bring home a physical version of the content.\

Inclusive design was vital for this project; this effort ensured that every parent, regardless of technological access, could stay connected to their child's educational journey.