Polish School in Auckland

Client
The Polish Embassy in Wellington

Year
2024

The Polish School reached out to me to redesign the main website for improved user experience, higher engagement, and better alignment with the needs of its New Zealand community. Taking the lead as the UX/UI designer, I cooperated closely with the Polish Association management and the Polish Embassy. My focus was on boosting IA, navigation, accessibility, and automating processes, all while maintaining a visually appealing website.

Role
UX/UI designer

The design process

By following the double diamond process, I delved into understanding user needs thoroughly, set clear design objectives, and successfully revamped the website, significantly improving user experience and engagement within the Polish School community. The conducted research shaped the school's strategy in catering to the diverse needs and interests of the Polish community in New Zealand, providing a range of educational, social, and cultural opportunities to preserve the Polish language and heritage. Looking ahead, the mobile app's future vision aims to establish seamless communication and feedback channels to keep the school responsive to the evolving needs of its members.

Discover: understanding user needs and pain points

  • User Interviews

  • Competitor Analysis

  • Product Strategy

  • Information architecture

Define: defining design objectives and priorities

  • Key Findings Analysis

  • Stakeholder Alignment

  • User Personas

Develop: Create truly customer-driven product

  • Simplified Navigation

  • Low-fidelity wireframes testing

  • High- fidelity prototype

  • Accessible Design

Deliver: implementation and launch of the redesigned website

  • Design handoff

  • Post-implementation testing

  • Launch

    *Still in progress

Who are we designing for?

Research

After conducting several rounds of user interviews with parents, students, teachers, and community members, I have identified that users need:

Finding details about language classes offered by the school, such as schedules, levels, and registration requirements.

Accessing online resources through downloadable worksheets, audio recordings, books, and other materials.

Discovering cultural events and workshops, which include information on upcoming activities organized by the school, event dates, locations, themes, registration, and prices.

Connecting with the community by engaging in school activities and exploring volunteering opportunities through easy contact with the school team.

I focus on meeting those needs by offering clear and intuitive navigation to essential information. Additionally, I highlight effective CTAs such as “Join the team,” “Enroll,” “Buy/Download” resources, and “Attend” the event.

Website Redesign

Improving Program Cards Design

  • I enhanced the program cards to highlight course details and pricing for better user understanding.

  • Emphasizing transparency, I included features to display course levels and teacher profiles.

  • Added urgency labels to alert users about course availability, urging them to take action promptly to secure enrollment.

Custom Illustrations

To capture the playful and friendly essence of the school, I chose to create a set of 24 illustrations for use across different school materials. These drawings depict images unique to Polish culture, drawing inspiration from Polish books, legends, food, and language.

Envisioning
the future

Just imagine if Polish schools had a mobile app that offered online courses, instant notifications for events, language exchange opportunities, progress tracking, and easy access to school services. That would be amazing, right? This app could completely change how students interact with their schools, making education more accessible, fun, and efficient.

*Photo credit Pexel artists: Fauxels,Norma Mortenson, Gary-Barnes, Max Fischer