School Scout – Educational Search App
School Scout is an educational app designed to simplify and personalize the school search process for parents, students, and guardians. The goal was to create a centralized platform where users can easily discover, compare and select schools that match their specific needs making an often stressful process feel clear, personal, and empowering.
Nairobi, Kenya
Concept project – 2024
Education / Lifestyle
Mobile (iOS & Android)
Solo Project
Challenge
Parents and students often face fragmented, inconsistent information when researching schools. Most tools offer either limited search filters or outdated data, forcing users to juggle between multiple sources.
The challenge was to design a personalized and centralized school discovery app that curates relevant results, allows meaningful comparisons, and reduces cognitive overload.
Results
The final design significantly improved user clarity and engagement:
91% of testers successfully completed school searches without external assistance.
4.8★ satisfaction rating based on prototype sessions.
85% preferred School Scout’s personalized onboarding over generic search tools.
Users rated the comparison tool as “clear, helpful, and stress-free.”
Metrics based on prototype testing and design validation sessions.
4.8
Satisfaction rate
91%
Tested successfully
85%
Describes "Mordern and clear UI
Process
Research & Analysis: Conducted in-depth interviews with parents and students to understand pain points in finding and evaluating schools. Insights from participants (e.g., Catherine Wang, a working parent) highlighted challenges such as:
Lack of centralized, up-to-date data.
Difficulty comparing multiple schools efficiently.
Overwhelming and inconsistent online resources.
Information Architecture: Organized the app around four core flows: Onboarding, Search, Compare, and Save. The IA prioritized clarity and minimized unnecessary steps between discovering and comparing schools.
Wireframing & Prototyping: Designed mobile wireframes focusing on personalization and navigation clarity. Iteratively refined the flow based on feedback, particularly improving transitions between “Saved Schools” and “Comparison View.”
Usability Testing: User testing revealed two key improvement areas:
Navigation: Users struggled switching between saved schools and comparison screens.
→ Solution: Introduced clearer icons, breadcrumbs, and a bottom nav for quick access.Comparison Detail: Users wanted more evaluation criteria.
→ Solution: Added new filters for extracurriculars, reviews, and facilities.
Visual Design & Style Guide: School Scout’s visual system was designed to feel trustworthy, clear, and optimistic , reflecting education’s emotional and practical importance.
UI Style: Clean, rounded cards, subtle shadows, and friendly iconography
Tone: Supportive, confident, and informative
“School Scout was built to bring calm and clarity to one of life’s most important decisions , finding the right school.”
Lynn Masai
Product Designer
Conclusion
School Scout transforms the school search journey into a guided, personalized experience. By blending strong UX research, iterative feedback, and accessible design, the app simplifies how users find, compare, and connect with schools. The result is a tool that’s not just functional but empathetic, insightful, and deeply human.
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