A UX/UI Designer. Artist
Daily Activity Manager
Track Student Activities Seamlessly
The Problem: Procare, like many childcare management software, offers a family engagement app for real-time child activity viewing. However, administrators must individually approve activities, like photos, for each child. Users can apply activities to groups, but they can't edit, delete, or approve them collectively, causing significant time constraints. We needed a solution to manage activities for groups of children efficiently.
Summary
Designed For:
All Procare users
Make of the Team
1 UX designer, Dev team (1 FE AND 2 BE)
My Role
UX designer, UI designer, User Interviewer.
Collaborated with UX Researcher and UX Writer
High level Timeline
May 2023 to Oct 2023
Methods Used
Design Thinking model, Object-Oriented UX (UXOO)
Prototyping and Research Tools
User interviews, alignment diagrams, personas, scenarios, user flows, information architecture (IA), wireframes, clickable mockups, prototyping, conceptual walkthroughs, usability tests, internal design reviewsFigma, Figjam, Great Question
BREAKING DOWN THE PROCESS
UNDERSTAND:
The need for bulk editing and approval of student activities was a top customer request, particularly from one of our largest enterprise clients. Given that this feature is the most frequently used in our software, my team was tasked with tackling this critical enhancement. The challenge was to design a solution that would significantly reduce the time directors spent on tedious, repetitive tasks like photo approvals, without disrupting their existing workflow.
EMPATHIZE-RESEARCH:
With an extensive amount of customer feedback already collected, our UX researcher provided valuable insights that helped us grasp the problem clearly. To further refine our understanding, we conducted three user interviews with administrators who regularly encountered this issue.
The key pain point? Approving photos. For instance, in a classroom of 20 children, spread across five pictures, directors had to approve each photo for each child individually—making it a slow and frustrating process. Additionally, there was no way to edit an activity in bulk if there was a typo or error, adding to the inefficiency.
“We have a large center and have been known to send 150 or more pictures a day. The admins here don’t have that kind of time to put into approving pictures. Please fix this.” - Center Director.
DEFINE:
After mapping out the current user flows, it was clear that the system lacked any means for bulk editing and approval. This was a significant blocker for improving efficiency. I had a strong understanding of our personas from previous research, which allowed me to create detailed customer journey maps that outlined all pain points.
To ensure we didn’t overlook any important flow, I put myself in the shoes of our personas and wrote various scenarios. These scenarios informed the next stages of ideation and design.
IDEATE:
In a formal ideation session, we generated "How Might We" (HMW) questions to drive creative thinking and potential solutions. We also examined the technical implications of the proposed changes, including how it would affect server load and other features.
Using a whiteboarding tool, I started drafting basic wireframes, making notes to address key concerns as I went. I prefer digital whiteboards because they allow collaboration and let our globally distributed development team review designs at their convenience. Once I had initial ideas, I presented them to developers to validate technical feasibility.
Early Wireframes:
Applying UXOO methodology, I mapped out how this feature would fit into the existing system, ensuring it aligned with current components and workflows. Given that this was the most-used feature in the software, it was crucial that we maintain as much of the existing workflow as possible while introducing new efficiencies.
UXOO Mapping:
PROTOTYPE
After several rounds of iteration and consultation with developers, I refined the wireframes in Figma. We addressed any remaining feasibility concerns and moved forward with design iterations, adjusting for both functionality and aesthetic considerations.
The final solution involved tweaking an existing pattern to create a huge improvement in user experience. The new design reduced the number of approvals by consolidating activities associated with multiple students into a single card. This dramatically cut down the time required for approvals and introduced the ability to edit activities in bulk, without interrupting the user’s workflow.
Activity Manager Demo
CONCLUSION
The implementation of bulk photo approvals and editing not only fulfilled a key customer request but also reduced the number of clicks required to complete the process, significantly improving efficiency for directors and administrators. By making small but thoughtful adjustments to the user interface, we made a large impact without disrupting existing workflows.