Designing for Social Change

PROJECT: English Roses Educational Centre ROLE: Sole Designer/Researcher  DURATION: NOV-DEC 2024

Project Overview

English Roses is an educational center with a project-based approach to learning with the goal of fostering an understanding of each learner's ability, building community, supporting diversity, and learning through exploration.

Project Statement

English Roses Educational Centre focuses on creating a personalized, therapeutic learning environment. Traditional educational methods often neglect students' diverse needs, particularly in social-emotional development and tailored instruction. As a result, many students struggle to reach their full potential due to a lack of support and community engagement.

Learning Objective

English Roses aims to revolutionize education by offering therapeutic, project-based learning tailored to individual needs. Catering to diverse learners, including those with disabilities or social-emotional challenges, sets new standards for inclusivity. An app based on these principles could disrupt the tutoring and EdTech markets by creating a niche for therapeutic and community-focused learning experiences.

Learner outcome

After finishing Project 3: Designing for SociaI Change, I combined the skills gained from the previous two projects to create a responsive website that can be accessed across multiple platforms, supporting the needs of a widespread user base. English Roses can significantly impact the educational market by addressing key gaps and setting new standards for inclusive, personalized education. 

Outline:

User Research

Paper Wireframe

Digital Wireframe

User Research

Empathize with users

I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to better understand the needs of the users I was designing. The primary focus is on children’s academic and social-emotional development. The user groups identified include their parents or caregivers and educators, who play a crucial role in achieving this mission through active engagement and collaboration. Research indicates that students need to feel understood, challenged, and supported in ways that align with their unique abilities and interests. Parents and caregivers desire to see their children thrive in an environment that values holistic growth and personalized academic approaches. Educators and learning coaches aim to build meaningful relationships and inspire growth by employing personalized teaching strategies that help unlock each student’s potential.

Competitive Audit

The competitive audit thoroughly analyzed benchmark companies and related services that could indirectly impact English Roses's market revenue. The audit gained insight into our competitors' features and helped create a comprehensive app that meets all the needs of the general user.

While our competitors brought value to the market, we identified some areas of opportunity:

1. Expanding Access to Personalized Education:

• By offering therapeutic, project-based learning tailored to individual needs, English Roses could inspire a shift in the education industry toward prioritizing personalized and adaptive learning models.

• This approach aligns with EdTech and special education market trends, where tools that adapt to a learner's pace and style (e.g., adaptive learning platforms) are gaining traction. Competitors may feel compelled to innovate to remain relevant.

2. Addressing Social-Emotional Learning Gaps:

• Focusing on a "whole child" approach, integrating social-emotional and academic development, addresses a critical gap in many traditional systems. This could lead to a broader recognition of the importance of SEL (Social-Emotional Learning), influencing policy and curriculum design across institutions.

• Studies suggest SEL positively impacts academic performance, emotional intelligence, and long-term success, making such a focus a differentiator in the market (CASEL.org).

3. Driving Inclusivity and Accessibility Standards:

• By catering to diverse learners, including those with disabilities or social-emotional challenges, English Roses could set new standards for inclusivity.

• Competitors and policymakers might adopt similar models to address underserved populations, fostering greater equity in education.

4. Pioneering Relationship-Based Education:

• The emphasis on trust and coaching relationships creates a model for relationship-driven learning that could redefine teacher-student dynamics.

• This could inspire competitors to reimagine their educator training programs and engagement strategies.

5. Market Disruption and Innovation:

• An app based on English Roses' principles could disrupt the tutoring and EdTech markets, creating a niche for therapeutic, exploratory, and community-focused learning apps.

• Competitors such as Kumon or Age of Learning may need to adapt by incorporating SEL, therapeutic interventions, or personalized methodologies into their offerings.

Potential Influence on the Market:

• Demand for SEL-focused tools is projected to significantly expand the global EdTech market, estimated to reach $605.5 billion by 2027 (Global Market Insights).

• English Roses' emphasis on holistic education could position it as a leader in this transformation, creating ripple effects across the industry.

The English Roses Educational Center could elevate market standards and promote widespread innovation in inclusive and holistic education by addressing underserved needs with a progressive model.

Site Map

The purpose of a site map is to provide a structured overview of a website's content and hierarchy, serving both users and search engines. For users, prioritizing navigation and planning is pivotal to overall satisfaction and ease of use. A site map offers a clear, bird' s-eye view of how the site is organized, making the structure and relationships between pages easy to understand.

Wireframes

Digital Wireframe

Low-fidelity Prototype

After completing the digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. I connected the main user flow from the homepage to the Booked Assessment page, miming the sitemap navigation.  The prototype was then used in a usability study.

 To view the English Roses low-fidelity prototype: For the web, click here.

                                                                                                     For the mobile app, click here

                                                                                                        For the tablet, click here

High-fidelity Prototype

The high-fidelity prototype elevates the user interface, making it engaging and interactive, ensuring a delightful user experience. 

To view the English Roses high-fidelity prototype: For the web click here.

                                                                                For the mobile app, click here

                                                                                                        For the tablet, click here