Revitalizing a legacy software platform
We partnered with psychology researchers at Ohio University to redesign an innovative web-based platform for K-12 educators.
Services
User research
UX design
Visual design systems
Full stack development
Content management systems
Deliverables
Modern web application
Recommendation engine
Comprehensive knowledge base
Customizable data reporting
Content production
What is DRCO?
Daily Report Card Online (DRCO) is a digital platform designed to assist teachers in enhancing student academic performance and behavior. The initial version of the application, developed organically over several years, had limited flexible features, confusing user workflows, and no mobile responsive capabilities.
The Challenge
Our challenge was to redesign the entire platform from the ground up, enhancing features and workflows while maintaining core functionality and supporting the research objectives of the team.
Discovery Phase
We initiated the project with a thorough discovery phase. Beginning by discussing project details and goals with the founding team, we moved onto analyzing the software platform, exploring user workflows and brainstorming potential interface improvements.
We gleaned insights and identified pain points from interviews with current users, which helped us create user personas and workflows to guide the project's success.
Rapid Prototyping
Using what we learned from the discovery phase, we began creating low fidelity, interactive wireframes to test out new user interface concepts. Through a process of rapid iteration and testing with real users, we were able to quickly validate our ideas and assumptions about the new direction for the project.
Visual Design
Through a collaborative process of review and revision, we created a fully custom design style for the application, and began applying those designs to the wireframe prototypes. We then created high-fidelity interactive prototypes that were continuously reviewed and tested by users and stakeholders.
Development
We work with an agile software development process, focusing on regular user tests and improvements. With constant code assessments and continuous integration, we swiftly advance core features. Prioritizing a responsive app front end, we guarantee a smooth user experience across various popular devices.
Deployment and Monitoring
Once we deployed DRCO Version 2.0, we began closely monitoring user activity and key server metrics, while maintaining a stable and secure technology stack to ensure maximum privacy, data security, uptime and performance.
Results
The finished application has a streamlined user experience built on a foundation of modern web technology that empowers educators to easily leverage the powerful features of the application in order to improve academic outcomes for their students.
