Overview
In 2019, I was tapped on to work on DCA as the product manager and designer, an ambitious school management system that powers the various arms of their academic institution, DCA primary and secondary schools. The school struggled with manual processes - admitting students, school fees payments, academic procession, and classroom management.
In this case study, I showcased research done, challenges outlined, strategies & solutions and outcome of building a system that not only streamlined workflows but also elevated the overall experience for staff, students, and parents.
My contribution
Product strategy
User research
Product design
Product Management
The team
1 × product manager
1 × product designers
6 × engineers
1 × researcher
3 × DCA staff
Year
2019
Challenges
Although DCA had a platform that's long deprecated, I deep dived to know what the bottlenecks were - information architecture wasn't properly done, complex infra powering the system, nuances in the user experiences, and a host of other problems, there was no way other than to redesign end to end.
Manual Admissions - Managing applications and registrations was time-consuming and prone to errors, often leading to data mismanagement.
Fee Payment Complexities - Parents struggled with inconvenient, opaque payment methods, resulting in delayed payments.
Academic Tracking Issues - Teachers relied on physical records for grading and progression, leading to inefficiencies and limited accessibility.
Classroom Management Gaps - Coordinating schedules, attendance, and resources was challenging, reducing teaching effectiveness.
Deep diving with insights
Organized focus groups and cordinated stakeholder interviews with teachers, administrators, students, and parents, to fully immerse myself and understand their pain points. Empathized students in the different arms of the institution to fully understand their day-to-day academic life. I also discovered staff and students were already accustomed to digital tools, they just needed a simple, seamless, and intuitive tool that's tailored to their specific needs.
Design principles
It should be scalable to accommodate future additions, integrations, and institutional growth.
Human-centered and centric - Simple enough for users across demographies and segments to use seamlessly and intuitively.
Adaptable and responsive - Reliable and responsive for teachers and students to use on their custom tablets and laptops.
Design expressions
Approached design from a place of empathy, breaking down the challenge above, and mapping to actual user needs. Fragmenting into core sections:
Admission User Management Registry Academics Fees Management Learning Center
Admission portal - a section on the platform/portal where prospective students apply for admission, pay fees, take entrance exams, get update on entrance outcome. Student data gotten during the admission phase is moved from class to class, data like guardian/parent details, student bio details. Student is assigned a unique ID (admission number) from this phase of the journey and is used through the students' stay in the school, and even as an Alumni of DCA.
Promoting efficiency and utilization via improved user management, registry, fees management, academics management, administration and a host of other features.
DCA Study Center mobile app
A completely isolated Android environment, dedicated to student's learning, information sharing, and communication.
Summary
Project executed and shipped successfully. COVID-19 struck which furthered DCA's digitalization agenda. Every staff, student, parents, and non-academic staff utilized the platform. We were also iterating progressively as it was being utilized.
In numbers, it improved their admission process by 92% percent, which saw utilization from prospective students from 15 countries. Normally, they would travel down to participate physically, but wasn't the case that time around. General NPS score was 82%