Daniel Shumilov - Product Design & Innovation

Mobile App

School Finder: Integrating Community Metrics with School Data for Smarter Decisions

The School Finder platform integrates community metrics with school data to help families identify the best schools while understanding how local factors influence student outcomes. It also equips government agencies with valuable insights for strategic planning and informed investment decisions.

Company:

Confidential

The regional education agency is the largest of its kind in the United States, serving the public education needs of a major county. It provides educational programs and support services to 80 school districts and over 1.4 million students, including specialized programs for at-risk youth, professional development for educators, and fiscal oversight for district operations. Its mission is to support districts in enhancing educational quality, equity, and student success across the region.

Problem

The United States offers extensive data on schools, communities, demographics, economics, and funding distribution, but this information is often dispersed across multiple sources, making it difficult to access in one place.

Solution

The initiative aims to consolidate and visualize education data on an interactive map, enabling parents to make informed decisions when selecting schools. By making this tool public, researchers can also better understand how community and economic factors influence educational outcomes, fostering greater insight and transparency.

Interactive Map Search

User Friendly School Data

Deep School Analysis

Historical Information and Ai Predictions

Design Development Process

10 months, 150+ interview sessions and workshops

UX Research

Findings:

Data from multiple sources is less clean and organized than expected, which affects the UX structure and layout.
The dashboard will serve multiple user personas with varying goals, with parents looking for the best school for their child as the primary audience.

High-fidelity wireframes

Once onboarding is complete, the app displays an interactive heatmap of nearby schools.

An intuitive heatmap displays demographic data and school performance, with points indicating overall school ratings: blue for low, orange for average, and green for excellent.