#challenge

How might we make parents feel more informed and confident in the choices they make regarding their children’s education during the pandemic?

#solution

Video edited by Junbae Choi

• 01 •

Daily
check-in

The app makes daily check-in very easy to do for parents in the morning on each school day. The school will receive the check-in results right away to value if the class should be held in-person.

• 02 •

notification for health concerns

Parents will get notified when their kids remaining risky distance from other kids for longer than 10 mins. They are allowed to change the setting tup to 30 min. Parents can decide if they want to contact their kids or the teacher for reducing the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

• 03 •

Health Record

Safey app helps parents keep track of their kids' general health condition and boost their confidence of sending their kids back to school.

• 04 •

Safe Community

The app provides information of the overall health condition the school for parents to make more confident decisions on their kids' school life. By supporting this feature, parents are asked to upload the COVID-19 test result of both their kids and themselves.

#problem_statement

Subject:

Parents during the pandemic

Needs:

way for kids to socialize in an educational environment and protect family and friends from infection.

To:

feel more informed and confident in the choices they make

Because:

parents face the challenge of letting their children return to school while increasing the risk of infection to the family and the community

Stakeholder diagram

#secondary_research

Parents of all races — those living in urban, suburban and rural America; those who have babies, elementary schoolers and teenagers — say they’re highly stressed, with few options other than to take it all on themselves.

Source: 'I’m Only One Human Being’: Parents Brace for a Go-It-Alone School Year @nytimes.com

The economic crisis is unprecedented in its scale: the pandemic has created a demand shock, a supply shock, and a financial shock all at once (Triggs and Kharas 2020). In addition to consumer spending, the COVID-19 crisis has damaged the nation’s industrial production.

Source: Ten facts about COVID-19 and the U.S. economy @brookings.edu

We found that there are tools for resources and class management, synchronous and asynchronous live teaching, self-regulated learning, knowledge construction, learning analytics and tools for practice and evaluation.

When making a decision, we form opinions and choose actions via mental processes which are influenced by biases, emotions, and memories. People who make good decisions know when it’s important to act immediately, and when there’s time to wait and gather more facts before making their choice.

Source: Decision-Making @psychologytoday.com

#participants

Adriana

Mother
> One son
> 6 years old
> Self taught and online classes

Criswell

Father
> Two sons
> 14 and 12 years old
> Remote

Marshall

Father
> One son
> 3 years old
> In-Person

Doug

Father
> Two sons and one daughter
> 8, 12, and 14 years old
> Remote

Roger

Father
> Two sons
>16 and 19 years old
>Remote

Victor

Father
> One son
> 14 years old
> In-person Mon. to Thurs., remote on Fri.

#interview_analysis

Mark key points in Interview Transcript

Grouping interviewees' answers based on topic (platform: Miro)

#interview_synthesis

Regrouping interviewees' answers based on key insights (platform: Miro)

#participants_insights

Roger

Role: father
Location: New York
Co-founder of Ampersand

Kids: 16 and 19 years old
Kids' Learning Mode: Remote

“So I’d need the school to persuade me that they had covered those protocols, that the teachers were safe, that the kids were safe, that they were transparent about announcing when an infection was detected and that they tracked and traced.”

Victor

Age: 48
Role: Father
Location: New York
Occupation: Digital marketing manager at MoMA

Kids: 14 years old
Kids' Learning Mode: In-person Mon. to Thurs. Remote on Fri.

“What makes me confident is that they're testing the kids at the beginning of school. And then I think now every two weeks or every month, they're given a Covid test.”

Doug

Age: 48
Role: Father
Location: New York
Occupation: Director of facilities for a charter school

Kids: 14 years old(high school freshman), 10 years old, 8 years old with ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder)
Kids' Learning Mode: Remote

“...my eight year old has ADD. And without that physical connection, he has a lot of challenges with focusing on schoolwork...So it's really tough on my wife and I to both be working at home and trying to keep them focused on schoolwork.”

#key_takeaways

#01

Risk of in-person education = Probability (unknown) * Damage (very high)

#02

Parents' levels of confidence seem to depend on kids' age and their personalities.

#03

The social experience for kids, especially for teenagers, is significant for parents.

#04

Remote learning requires much more effort for parents (cook meals for their kids, fix technology difficulties, and match schedule with their kids.

#05

Parents would be okay with tracking if they control the data.

#06

Parents would feel confident if schools prepare their campuses adhering to social distancing, wearing masks, hand washing, proper ventilation.

#07

The most common object teenagers carry when they go outside is their cellphone.

#painpoints

• Parents are worried their kids may get infected while having in-person interactions.

• Parents are concerned their kids are not getting enough social interactions during the pandemic.

#design_principles

#01

Contact tracing functions

Most parents do not want to do real-time location tracking for their kids for privacy

#02

Vibrating
signal

Some warning signals like sound and colors can make the kids embarrassed when they are with friends.

#03

Bracelet,
not cell phone

The real time bluetooth function can make cell phone's battery run out quickly. (eg. COVID Alert NY app)

ideation sketches drawn by Tien-Wei Ho

#personas

#information_architecture

#user_journey

#wireframe

Setting up the APP

Low-Fi version#1

Low-Fi version#2

#future_development

Branding

We plan to work with schools to create customized branding with logos and colors unique to each school.

Safey Care

We also want to create the Safey Care program which will allow people to change old or borken bracelets with refurbished ones for a small fee.

Post Covid-19

Once the Covid-19 is out of sight, students can still use the bracelet as sports watch. The product will be reprogramed for different health monitor purpose if the world encounters with new airborne diseases.

#virtual_background_for_zoom

#reflection

Daily check-in

We plan to work with schools to create customized branding with logos and colors unique to each school.

Health Record

We plan to work with schools to create customized branding with logos and colors unique to each school.

Notifying the parent

We plan to work with schools to create customized branding with logos and colors unique to each school.

Safe Community

We plan to work with schools to create customized branding with logos and colors unique to each school.

♥︎

♦︎

#safey

#challenge

#solution

Daily check-in

notification for health concerns

Health Record

Safe Community

#problem_statement

#secondary_research

#participants

Adriana

Criswell

Marshall

Doug

Roger

Victor

#interview_analysis

#interview_synthesis

#participants_insights

Roger

Victor

Doug

#key_takeaways

#painpoints

#design_principles

Contact tracing functions

Vibrating signal

Bracelet, not cell phone

#personas

#information_architecture

#user_journey

#wireframe

#future_development

Branding

Safey Care

Post Covid-19

#virtual_background_for_zoom

#process

#reflection

Daily check-in

Health Record

Notifying the parent

Safe Community

Daily
check-in

Vibrating
signal

Bracelet,
not cell phone