Design Consulting
Bridging the gap to improve experiences.
Purpose
While working on a consulting team, a local public school, Phelps ACE High School (PHS), enlisted us to improve both staff and student experiences.
Duration
Aug ’24 – Dec ’24
My roles
Lead user researcher
UX designer
Visual designer
The problem
PHS faced low community engagement and wasn’t sure why. Although the administration had improvement goals, they needed help identifying the causes of disconnection and finding meaningful ways to address them.
The Solution
To uncover the root of the disengagement, we identified gaps in communication and trust between students and staff, which helped shape actionable steps to strengthen community involvement. My approach focused on building upon the school’s existing strengths to create self-sustaining, lasting change.
As a result, of our recommendation, the school saw a 12% increase in attendance at its most recent fundraising event
Research Summary
When PHS reached out to my consulting team, they requested help with the visual branding of the school, assistance with social media engagement, and ways to improve attendance at school events. I started researching the community through various methods.
Pain Points
- Limited events for students to participate in
- Lack of social media posting
- Underwhelming fundraising events
- Limited financial resources, school-wide
- Lack of promotion for unique programs offered to students
Strengths
- Friendships and community connections were repeatedly highlighted
- Hands-on and interactive approaches during class are unique and engaging
- Small school size, allowing for personalized attention and strong connections
- High interest in school-wide, group activities
“We use the Instagram page on and off. We usually only post when it’s big events like spirit week.”
-Vice Principal, on their social media schedule
“Most of the teachers here are cool and try to make the lessons interesting.”
-Student, on their relationships with educators
Brand & Social Media Guides
I found that brand elements weren’t consistent across all platforms, and there didn’t exist a place for faculty to refer to. I aimed to create a guide that acts as a reference point for faculty when creating any visual assets to combat this.
The official school website uses the newest version of the logo, while the main Instagram page for the school uses an outdated version. An inconsistent visual identity raises questions about the validity of different profiles and may lead to confusion if the page is currently active.
Weekly Calendar
Staff shared uncertainty about what to post on social media, especially because there was no faculty member delegated to the task. On the other hand, students said they didn’t follow the school’s accounts due to a lack of engaging or useful content. To address this, we proposed a weekly posting schedule to reduce the daily burden of content planning and ensure posts resonate with students. We also included social media templates and usage guidelines in a brand guide to help the social media manager create consistent and visually appealing posts.
“To be honest, I don’t follow the Instagram. If they posted about the students or events I would consider it, though.”
-Student, on their wishes for the school’s social media
