
School Connect
“My observations were directed towards student morning drop-offs at school during a pandemic and the safety procedures put into place.”

Observations and Information Collection
Aerial Map: Visualization mapping the particular zones within the school property. Understanding the layout of the property and how it related to the drop-off procedures.
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School Entry: Visualization showing entry procedures.
White dots - Students
Red dots - Faculty
Black dots - Parents
Understanding the procedures put into place and identifying potential issues.
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Feedback Grid: Creating a feedback grid to help understand what worked and what could be changed.



Visualizations
Developing visualizations to clearly show what, where, and when the underlying problems occurred.
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Line Graph: This graph identifies through my observations, the high-risk time of arrival.
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Pie Graphs: Map of the school grounds showing pie charts identifying the percentages of those wearing and not wearing masks. A depiction of some of the unsafe behaviours,

ERAF Visualizations
By mapping out the problem areas using an ERAF diagram, I was able to show that a small adjustment in procedures would help alleviate many of the safety issues.
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ERAF 1: A visualization showing the present procedures in place with areas of concern shown in red and safer procedures shown in green. The largest area of concern would be the large gathering of students, many not wearing masks, gathering in the schoolyard and waiting for the morning bell. There is also a secondary zone in the parking lot where parents congregate to potentially spread the virus.
The safest practices involve the younger JK/SK students who are permitted entry into the school on arrival.
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ERAF 2: This shows how things could vastly improve by simply allowing all students upon arrival. It would eliminate any chance of viral spread within the schoolyard as well as reduce the number of parents congregating in the parking lots which would also reduce risk.
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Students are required to have their temperatures taken and masks on upon entering the school.


Wireframes
When coming up with an idea for a digital product that could assist both the school and parents in making sure the students arrive safely, I started with some low-fidelity sketches to roughly determine the user flow and layout.
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Once I had decided on the flow and content, I created medium-fidelity wireframes in Figma.



Style Tiles
The next step was to start to figure out the final look and design I wanted. After creating a couple of style tiles, I decided to go with the school colours in dark mode for the particular school I observed.


Prototype
When observing the parents lined up along the fence in the parking lot, my initial thoughts were that they were there to socialize. After returning for further observation, it was clear that they were not socializing but instead watching their kids in the schoolyard right up until they entered the school. I concluded that the reasoning behind this was more just for their comfort, seeing that their child has safely entered the school.
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This app was designed to keep parents connected to their children when in school. I give them easy access to communicate with teachers as well as update them when they arrive and depart from school. It also contains a couple of other features that are designed to keep the parents connected to their child's activities and progression.
Update!
After completing this project, I wasn't satisfied with the UI design. I wanted a cleaner look, so I went back and made changes to improve the apps aesthetic.
Here are a few stills to give you an idea of the improved look.
