PLANT IT AGAIN
Type
0-to-1 Responsive
Web App
My Role
User Research
Wireframing & Prototyping
Usability Testing
Engineering Handoff
Team
3 UX Designers
1 Product Manager
10 Developers
Timeline
8 Months
(Nov 2023 - June 2024)
TLDR
Reduction in task times
Client satisfaction
Accessibility compliance
Background
Imagine standing in a room with 4 people—statistically, at least 1 of them has a disability. For adults with disabilities, challenges extend far beyond physical spaces; they often face systemic biases and limited opportunities in the job market, making the path to employment an uphill climb.
about our client
Bridging the career gap for an underserved community
Plant It Again (PIA) is a San Diego nonprofit creating exciting job opportunities. They strive to help individuals with disabilities overcome barriers and build fulfilling careers through vocational training and entrepreneurial support.
How do we collaborate?
Co-Creating a scalable solution with our client
Over 8 months, my team and I worked closely with PIA’s stakeholders to iterate and ship a student management platform, enabling PIA to scale effectively and support a growing student base.
1
Separate Intake forms are difficult to integrate
3
Manual, time-consuming way of taking attendance
2
Cluttered spreadsheet for recording monthly billing status
The final solution
An all-in-one hub for tracking and managing students
Access the platform in different roles
Sign in securely with Team or Admin accounts. Team accounts track student progress, while Admins oversee programs and manage students with full control.
If you are an administrator…
Get a comprehensive overview of PIA
View statistics on the dashboard to track PIA’s recent performance and make informed plans or adjustments as needed.
Track students in seconds
View key student details at a glance, apply filters to find specific students, and access full profiles with one click.
Build and customize programs
Create and personalize program profiles with ease. Update details as needed and archive programs when they end.
Stay ahead
with real-time alerts
Get notified about new accounts and upcoming program end dates. Easily manage approvals and renewals to keep everything on track.
If you are a volunteer teacher…
Check your schedule
to start a day
View your schedule, attendance history, to-do list, and inbox—all in one place.
Capture student progress instantly
Log updates after class and download in bulk for streamlined evaluation.
user interviews
Current spreadsheets are a daily source of stress
To identify the key challenges faced by PIA staff using the current spreadsheet system, we conducted interviews with 5 members, consisting of 1 Executive Director, 2 administration members, and 2 team members. Here are the four main pain points they shared:
😵💫 Cognitive Overload
PIA members are overwhelmed by disorganized information, struggling to find what they need.
“When I first joined PIA, it took me 4 months to understand everything.”
“Sometimes before I start working, I’m already worried about those spreadsheets.”
⏰ Time-Consuming Data Entry
With the influx of new students, spreadsheets have become an inefficient tool for data entry.
“I usually spend 30 min writing progress notes for each student.”
“Spreadsheets used to be a quick solution, but not so much since we have more students.”
🚨 Prone to Errors
Frequent errors in spreadsheets lack a way to recover from, leading to lost time and frustration.
“I do worry about moving or overwriting others’ work from time to time.”
“I was once on the same cell with a co-worker and we were both at a loss.”
🗣️ Communication Barriers
Members found barriers to tracking student progress, especially when coordinating with other members.
“I tend to have communication issues, meaning I have a hard time communicating in words to staff.”
“It would be really helpful if we could all see trends and progress towards goals”
User groups
Two roles, one platform
Our end users are both administrators and team members at PIA, each with distinct responsibilities for the development of students and unique needs from the new platform:
Admins have full control over the database, while team members are limited to adding and viewing information. This role-based access system maintains data security while enabling smooth collaboration among PIA staff, ensuring that responsibilities are clearly defined based on user roles.
quantitative research
Product discovery survey
We also conducted a functional needs assessment with 5 PIA staff members to evaluate their experience with the database, prioritize features, and identify filtering preferences and desired accessibility options. The insights collected played a key role in shaping the design decisions and the features included in the platform:
01
New to database
All 5 staff members reported beginner to intermediate experience with using database, motivating us to create an succinct, easy-to-use system tailored for them.
40%
Beginner
60%
Intermediate
02
Prioritizing functions
All 5 members identified “Creating Progress Notes” as the most important feature, emphasizing the need for a straightforward system to efficiently track student information.
03
Including users with disabilities
As PIA is home to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, staff members provided several accessibility recommendations:
High contrast in color
Clarity in spacing and fonts
Ability to look up students by program
04
Filtering student profiles
🙆 More than half wanted
🙅 Fewer than half wanted
Filtering by dietary restriction
So, how might we...
feature ideation
Based on the insights from user research, we brainstormed design principles and corresponding product requirements to tackle the main challenges faced by PIA staff.
agile project management
Collaborating with PM and developers, we used a Feasibility vs. Value Matrix to prioritize features across phases. This informed our product roadmap, enabling an efficient design process and timely delivery of key features for developers to kick off their sprint.
usability testing
We conducted usability testing on both MVP and V2 designs with 28 total users, focusing on their ease of completing PIA staff’s daily tasks and how the design of features could help streamline the process.
Task-Based Testing
Users spend 2-3 minutes on each task to simulate real-world scenarios.
Open Discussions
Users share critiques on their experience and areas for improvement after each task.
Detailed Feedback
Users further reflect on navigation and interactions by leaving comments on Figma.
We concluded 3 key insights to guide our design iterations and help shape the final solution:
01
Prioritizing and categorizing information to match user mental model
Before
The vertical layout of input fields was uncommon and confusing to 5 users.
After
I reorganized the profile creation flow into a step-by-step process, guiding users effectively through each stage.
02
Transforming the homepage into a more customized dashboard
Students
Add Student
Name
Current Program 1
Current Program 2
Emergency Contact
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
LongFirst LongLast
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
First Last
ABC
BCA
First Last
(123) 456-7890
PLANT IT AGAIN
Home
Programs
Notes
Calendar
Attendance
Notifications
Profile
Search in Students
Program: All Programs
Status: Joined
Before
The original homepage featured only a basic student list, limiting user engagement.
PLANT IT AGAIN
Home
Students
Programs
Notes
Calendar
Attendance
Notifications
Profile
Good afternoon, Karen!
Students
137
16%
Programs
8
2
Progress Notes
56
37%
Teachers
17
1
Student Milestone Progress
By Month
125
100
75
50
25
0
In Progress
118
Graduated
77
Dropped out
19
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Program Statistics
Total
8
25%
25%
50%
Planned
2
Ongoing
4
Completed
2
Notifications
See all
Benjamin Fenna created a new team account
2 hours ago
Approve
Deny
Sander Ember created a new team account
5 hours ago
Approve
Deny
Sander Ember created a new team account
5 hours ago
Approve
Deny
Latest Progress Notes
See all
Alice Anderson | 03/17/24 | By Karen Roth
Alice made great progress recently! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut...
James Lai | 03/17/24 | By Miyo Hakim
Alice made great progress recently! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut...
Alice Anderson | 03/17/24 | By Karen Roth
Alice made great progress recently! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut...
Billing Reports
From 5-12 Mar, 2024
This Week
ID
123456
123456
123456
123456
123456
123456
Total Units
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
26.0
Sub-Code
ENTR
ENTR
ENTR
ENTR
ENTR
ENTR
Auth Dates
07/01/23
07/30/24
07/01/23
07/30/24
07/01/23
07/30/24
07/01/23
07/30/24
07/01/23
07/30/24
07/01/23
07/30/24
Total
$1720
$1720
$1720
$1720
$1720
$1720
Payment Status
Late
Paid
Paid
Pending
Paid
Paid
After
I redesigned it into a customized dashboard featuring key data visualizations and shortcuts to essential functions and pages.
03
Fostering emotional connections with users
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Before
Users liked the pop-up windows for feedback but found them missing in several scenarios.
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After
I completed the confirmation windows with a cute plant mascot to make the experience easier and more playful.
design system
Engineering handoff
In addition to providing verbal design updates during our weekly development meetings, we established two key documents: one to track design changes and another to send revision requests when implementation deviated from our original design.
The development team found these strategies helpful in resolving front-end inconsistencies and delivering a robust final product that followed best UI practices.
reflection
💬
Actively seek feedback and iterate
Feedback from other designers, developers, and stakeholders greatly helped me gather diverse perspectives and enhance my designs.
🔄
Complexity of designing for real users
It requires deep understanding user context and pain points to create solutions that are personalized and effective.
💡
Opportunities for further personalization
With additional time, I would have added features like a daily task list and in-platform communication to further optimize PIA staff workflows.
The opportunity to design the platform from end to end and partner with our warm and supportive client, PIA, made the experience truly fulfilling. I'm deeply grateful for the collaboration, support, and guidance I received from everyone involved throughout this journey.
Thanks for reading ✨
