Client: None

Role: UX Researcher & Designer

Methods: Directed Storytelling, Contextual Analysis, Kano Analysis, Usability Testing

Tools: Figma, Figjam, Zoom, Google Suite

Targeted & flexible small group instruction

One way that elementary teachers meet the diverse academic needs of their students is through targeted small group instruction. Creating these ever changing small groups based on student data takes time, something teachers don’t have enough of!

FlexGroup is a web application that helps teachers easily and flexibly create & track small groups using student assessment data.

A lack of a streamlined tool for creating groups

Wanting to gain a deeper understanding of what the process of creating small groups looks like for teachers across the US, I conducted research with elementary teachers in several schools and districts both within and outside of Minnesota.

Pain Points

  • Users have to navigate between multiple documents/spreadsheets to view/sort data and then create student groups.

  • The more students in a grade level, the more data there is to sort through. Sorting this data is a challenge, and it makes grouping students by similar needs and skills difficult.

  • With limited time to create groups, teacher and teams sometimes end up creating groups that aren’t as targeted or data based as they could be.

  • Sometimes teachers are required to enter data and scores in multiple places, which takes up valuable time and effort.

  • Individually typing student names, or copying and pasting them from data spreadsheets into groups, is inefficient. Not only does it take time but it also allows for more errors and requires more recall and concentration from teachers.

  • Teachers don’t have an efficient system for tracking historical group data. It is difficult or impossible to look back and easily determine which groups a student was a part of, and what their progress was in those groups, unless a teacher was carefully monitoring and recording the intervention data for that student.

Sketching possible features

With a better understanding of the user needs and pain points, I started sketching some potential features, in order to get feedback from users around which would be most impactful & desirable.

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Making decisions in a time crunch with less than perfect research

The above sketches were used in a Kano Analysis Survey, to get input from teachers regarding the desirability of each feature. Despite top notch scrappiness and a valiant effort in getting the survey into the hands of teachers, I acquired only a few survey responses and did not get the level of input I was hoping for. I had to move forward with important design decisions despite not getting the level of insight I had planned for from my Kano Analysis. So what did I do?

Leaned heavily on my user goals and focused on the biggest pain points that were brought to light during my directed storytelling and contextual analysis.

Considered the timeline with which I had to work, and chose features that not only had potential for the biggest impact, but were also achievable within the time frame.

Prioritized what was essential for initial features, and determined what could wait.

Created another opportunity to get some desirability feedback during usability testing with teachers.

More opportunities for user input

Two rounds of usability testing (with 3 teachers per round) not only allowed me to improve the app navigation and usability, but also gave me the clarity I was hoping for regarding the desirability of some features I was still considering.

  • Usability testing revealed a need for clearer language within the group maker feature, as well as the main navigation bar. The 2nd round of testing validated improvements.

  • Teachers liked the ability to search & drag & drop students, sort using specific assessments & view students based on performance on a specific test question.

    They also liked the features that prevented double booking or missing a required placement.

    Teachers noted that the historical groups feature would be especially helpful and convenient.

  • Some teachers mentioned the desire to sort students in other ways, such as performance on specific standards.

    They also worried about entering the necessary data into Flexgroup for the sorting to be possible, noting that entering data in yet another spot was not desirable.

A place to sort, group & track.. all in one spot

Next Steps

Given time constraints, I was only able to focus on a few key features that would begin to improve this process for teachers. With more time, I would like to explore data syncing for easily importing data from grade books outside of FlexGroup, and a group display option.

  • The student list generator sorts students based on assessment data that is entered into the data hub. Teachers using a data collection tool outside of FlexGroup would have to input the data again, which defeats the time saving purpose of the app. The ability to import scores and data from other gradebooks is an important component that needs more exploring.

  • The Groups Display option is a student view of the groups that teachers could display during group times, for students to view and to know where to go/what to do. This feature would auto update every time groups change, and would be one less thing for teachers to update themselves on separate displays.