To create an app-specific UX and UI solution called StudentSuite that students would want to use. The app would provide tools, tips, resources, and inspirational information to help them deal with the issues and challenges they face today. The app’s intent was to educate them on a wide gamut of information including topics like bullying, drugs, and alcohol, emotional well-being, healthy lifestyle, and safety while encouraging them to come back and use the app weakly through an internal point system and reward program. Each section of the proposed app was the equivalent of an app itself, Student Suite contains a digital student ID, bus trackers, student delay alarm clock, rewards (food and stuff), job search, and lifeline content. Learn more about the app at schoolappsusa.com. The app is currently available on the app store and googles play store, however without an assigned email and password access cannot be granted.
As the creative lead, I was tasked with creating a brand and app experience for Student Suite. I worked for months on UX and UI iterations after many meetings with students and mobile app developers at Atomic Robot. I was tasked with figuring out which e-learning content creation tool would work best and then educating the team on use and best practices, including templates, themes, and plugins. I was also tasked with creating an onboarding packet for sponsors and vendors who took part in the app’s adoption. As a member of the Student Ambassador team, I was able to hear firsthand reactions and feedback from students to app features and functionality making each iteration of the UX and UI better.
The above video was produced by KPG Creative a group I have worked closely with over the years. The video gives a nice overview of the purpose of the app and why it was created.
The above demo is from StudentSuite 2.0. Not all features or functionality can be shown.
The heart of the app is the educational content provided. The content covers a wide range of topics from Bullying, Drugs, and Alcohol, Anxiety, Depression, Peer Pressure, Stress, Dating, Safety, and CPR. At the end of each learning module, the learner has the ability to leave feedback and to rate the course they just took. To help manage all of the course development I implement a Trello board to keep the team on track and accountable for each learning course being created. There were multiple stages for each piece of content being created that had multiple checkpoints that needed to be passed before making it to the staging version of the app and then ultimately the student-facing live version of the app.
As a function of the app, a messaging banner is located at the top of the app on the home screen. This tout as we call it cycles through as many messages as needed and simply touching it links to either a specific piece of content within the app, a promotional reward or offering, an interactive pdf with touchable links to allow for further self-learning, or even school-specific messaging or alerts. These messages are changed frequently through the backend management site with the launch and end dates so messaging can be pre-populated ahead of time.
To view a few content examples please visit the SchoolAppsUSA project page or follow the link button below. The samples play best on mobile devices but are configured to function properly on desktops.
SchoolAppsUSAThe video animation below was created as part of an in-app lesson for Student Suite. I created the video utilizing adobe illustrator and after-effects.
As part of the Student Suite app, I had to research which e-learning authoring tool would work best. I chose Adapt learning because of the flexibility of developing in HTML and CSS. The modules the authoring tool publishes are already responsive and Scorm compliant and extremely lightweight with an average package size of just under 700kbs. Making it an ideal solution for creating custom mobile learning courses. The community offers many plugins that provide additional functionality for course development like visual trackers, bookmarking, multiple quiz question types, and a library of visual interactions to help prevent the learning process from becoming stale. Learn more at the link to adapt learning below.
The section of the app called inspire me is a collection of over one hundred and sixty quotes from categories including Resilience, Courage, Faith, Strength, Friends, Happiness, Kindness. I was tasked with finding and creating the content for this section of the app finding quotes and imagery that could be uplifting and encouraging for those looking to be inspired.
A large part of the success of the app has been the sponsors and vendors who helped contribute to the rewards offered within the app. As part of the marketing of the app, I was tasked with putting together the onboarding packet that vendors received when initially joining the cause. Inside is provided a table tent for countertop display, stickers for use on registers and windows, as well as for instructions for point of sale operators.
The majority of students who have provided feedback have felt the app has helped in some way. Many love it, for some, it's just "meh" which by a teen’s standard is pretty good. The feedback has been varied and helpful, but the takeaway is how much of the information being provided is being absorbed. From the app usage results in firebase and rewards activated from the monthly reports from the development site associated with the app, the students are definitely using it. There was no shortage of good ideas when it came to future features and functionality. The schools involved in the testing of this app have been outstanding and their feedback and assistance with its evolution have been invaluable. To be able to be a part of something that can truly make a difference for so many has been a great experience. Maybe someday my own son will have a related technology affect his life as positively.
"When I read this, it touched my heart and if a bully reads this then they will have a different perspective"
"I have to cope with Anxiety a lot so I took notes and this will DEFINITELY help me"
"Content is terrific in the app. I like the diverse experience the app provides in viewing or consuming content. Great job!"
