The Solution for Student Mobility Management
Hall Pass
Introduction
A digital platform transforming student mobility, the Hall Pass app offers efficient management of student movement within educational institutions. With AI-powered analytics, streamlined hall pass creation, and personalized insights, Hall Pass gifts the trifecta of teachers, students, and administrators full autonomy and freedom to bolster the learning experience while ensuring student safety and upholding accountability.
Role
Product Design
UX Research
Design System
Brand Identity
Team
• 5 Teachers (Elementary, Middle, and High School)
• 3 Administrators
• 5 Students
Problem
How it Began…
Hall Pass was born out of firsthand frustration experienced by educators dealing with student movement management issues in high school settings. including (but not limited to) students abusing hall passes, disruptions to classroom flow due to unnecessary frequent bathroom breaks, and difficulties in tracking students during emergency situations.
Solution
Future Steps
This comprehensive Hall Pass application design and development endeavor has been meticulously crafted in collaboration with educators, parents, administrators, and students from Singapore American School and Yongsan International School of Seoul. Initial feedback has been exceptionally favorable, prompting interest in pitching the project as a sought-after B2B solution for international schools across Asia.
See Entire Process Work
It's more than just another app…
It's a game-changer for schools, ensuring student accountability and safety while fostering a more efficient and supportive classroom environment.
Project Background
The Traditional Pen and Paper
Problem
In educational settings, the absence of an efficient system to monitor student movements poses significant challenges. Teachers struggle to accurately track when students leave and return, impeding their ability to address behavioral concerns promptly and provide timely support to those in need. Additionally, existing, traditional, pen-and-paper methods fail to detect behavioral patterns or insights that may signal underlying mental or phsysical health issues, leaving students vulnerable. During emergencies such as fire drills or lockdowns, the inability to locate students quickly compromises overall security measures and poses risks to safety. Currently, there is a lack of user-friendly digital solutions available to address this issue, and existing options often require extensive technological training.
From the teacher's desk:
"It's all a he-said, she-said game when it comes to how long or how often a student is gone from class."
Research
Satisfying the trifecta of all users: teachers, students, parents, and administrators
User Personas
See User Personas
Research Insights
Creating Hall Passes
Research insights reveal a shared desire among both students and teachers for autonomy in hall pass creation. Students seek the ability to request a Hall Pass, while teachers aim to create passes instantly or schedule them for future use.
Analytics and Reporting
Both teachers and administrators express interest in analytics and reporting features that provide insights into student attendance patterns, hall pass usage trends, and potential areas for improvement in classroom management, indicating a desire for data-driven decision-making and accountability measures.
Speedy Scans
Users emphasize the need for a swift and efficient process when checking out of the classroom, both for students and teachers. They prioritize a mobile-friendly interface that facilitates rapid access to hall pass features on smartphones and tablets. This ensures that managing student movements can be done without delay.
Privacy Concerns
Concerns regarding privacy emerge, with users emphasizing the importance of protecting sensitive student information and limiting access to hall pass data to authorized personnel only, highlighting the need for robust privacy measures.
Research
“It's important for hall passes to be created quickly and to be non-disruptive to the classroom environment.”
Ideate
A Day in the Life of a Teacher.
Storyboard
We follow Jason, an experienced math teacher, as he navigates the challenges of managing student movements during instructional time. With frequent interruptions disrupting his lessons, Jason is frustrated by the lack of a streamlined solution to monitor and track student bathroom breaks. However, upon discovering the Hall Pass app, Jason sees a glimmer of hope for resolving his classroom management woes. Through a series of storyboard frames, we witness how the Hall Pass app empowers Jason to efficiently manage student movements while maintaining accountability, ultimately enhancing the learning experience for both him and his students.
See Storyboard
From the students:
"I always feel bad when I have to ask a teacher if I can leave the classroom because the teacher has to stop what they're doing just to write a hall pass for me. "
Ideate
What students have to say
User Journey Map
Our approach delved into the various factors influencing user behavior and interactions with the Hall Pass app. We aimed to answer key questions such as, "How can students take a mental break without disrupting the class?", "What process ensures easy approval for leaving the classroom?", and "How can teachers maintain classroom flow while addressing student needs?" These inquiries guided our exploration, revealing the diverse needs and preferences of our users. A primary challenge was ensuring that students could request breaks discreetly and that teachers could approve these requests without interrupting their lessons.
See User Journey Map
Prototype
Designing a new system
Lo-fi Wireframes
Sketching Sections
Pen to Paper
In the initial sketch renditions for the Hall Pass app, the challenge and excitement lay in creating a novel platform with no existing mental model to guide the design. This gave me the privilege to envision and design the app's features from scratch. Establishing the bottom navigation bar was my first priority, as it needed to highlight the main screens users would frequently access. Based on research, I initially identified five key screens: Home/Dashboard, Class Overview, QR Code Scan, Student Analytics, and Settings. This was later refined to four screens with different names serving the same functions. Additionally, I sketched potential frames for each page, focusing on the user flow for both teachers and students when creating a pass.
Mid-fi Wireframes
Bringing frames to life
Mid-fi Wireframes
Brand Identity
Hall Pass combines a calming, dynamic, and refreshing color palette with a sleek, contemporary logo to create an inviting, efficient, and harmonious experience for both students and teachers.
Design Systems
Brand Identity
Collaboration, trust, and a harmonious relationship
Guided by the principles of collaboration, clarity, and positivity, the goal was to infuse the Hall Pass brand with an inviting and dynamic aesthetic while maintaining trust and reliability from all parties. By designing a sleek, contemporary logo, crafting a calming yet energetic color palette, and selecting the versatile and readable Gramatika font, I aimed to create a cohesive visual language that resonates with both students and teachers. This thoughtful design approach ensures that Hall Pass feels professional, efficient, and supportive, fostering a harmonious and engaging educational environment
See Branding Kit
Usability Test
Trial and error
Usability Test
The usability tests comprised of hour-long live-video sessions with 10 participants, engaging 5 teachers, 4 students, and 1 administrator.
Overall, the prototype performed well, with only a few minor adjustments identified during testing to enhance the product further. The most significant change pertained to the "Create a Pass" user flow. Users consistently found it more intuitive to select the destination first, rather than the origin. Initially, the design mirrored a travel booking system, where users select the origin before the destination. However, feedback revealed that users primarily thought about where they were going rather than where they were leaving from. Adjusting this order improved the overall user experience, aligning the flow with user expectations and making the process more intuitive.
Usability Test
“I think about the destination first since I assume students would 99% of the time require a hall pass leaving from my classroom.”
Simplified Navigation Bar
Users found the navigation bar to be overly complex and believed it could be simplified for a more intuitive experience.
Destination First
When creating a hall pass, users struggled with the requirement to select the origin before the destination. All users instinctively tried to select the destination first, resulting in a 100% error rate for this task, as the destination is at the forefront of their minds.
Iterations
Implemented Changes
Before and after
This section section highlights the transformative journey of refining the Hall Pass app based on comprehensive user feedback. Each iteration was meticulously crafted to address usability challenges and enhance user experience. By analyzing feedback from students and teachers, we identified key areas for improvement. The redesigned collapsible menus reduced information overload on the home page, making it easier to navigate. Switching the order of the "Origin" and "Destination" pages for creating a hall pass eliminated user confusion, aligning with intuitive user behavior. The revamped UI color palette introduced vibrant and professional hues, enhancing the app's visual appeal and aligning it with educational contexts. Lastly, simplifying the navigation bar streamlined user access to essential features. These iterations collectively enhanced the app's functionality, usability, and aesthetic appeal, ensuring it meets the needs of its users effectively.
Ready for Launch
I'm speaking for all teachers here when I say that I would use this Hall Pass app today if it were available. It would completely transform and revolutionize my entire classroom experience."
The Finalé
Experience the transformative journey of the Hall Pass app's final prototype, meticulously designed to enhance accountability, promote student health awareness, and improve campus security. With an efficient navigation and user-friendly hall pass creation process, the app provides a digital record of student movements, enabling real-time monitoring and prompt intervention for misuse. AI-powered analysis identifies potential health issues, facilitating early support from teachers or counselors. Real-time insights during emergencies and automatic blocking of unauthorized meetups ensure a safer school environment. The Hall Pass app sets a new standard for accountability, proactivity, and protection when it comes to student movement around campus.
Feature Expansion and Development
To further enhance the functionality of the Hall Pass app, future development will focus on integrating additional features such as parental notifications, customizable teacher settings, and advanced analytics. These enhancements aim to provide a more comprehensive tool for educators and administrators, ensuring the app continues to meet evolving needs.
Maximize Funding
Securing additional funding will be essential for the continued development and expansion of the Hall Pass app. Future funding initiatives will focus on attracting investments from educational technology grants, venture capital firms, and strategic partnerships with educational institutions. This financial support will enable the app to scale, incorporate advanced features, and enhance overall user experience. Additionally, funding will facilitate extensive marketing efforts to increase adoption rates across various schools and districts, ensuring the app’s benefits reach a broader audience.
Partnerships
Building partnerships with other educational technology companies and school will be explored to expand the app's reach and functionality. Collaborations can bring additional resources and expertise, contributing to the app’s continuous improvement and adoption in diverse educational settings.
Product Design