Emma Duval case study: Scholastic

Emma Duval UX Designer 1
Hypothetical-client GA project
Case Study
Scholastic
Australia
Reading-companion tablet app

Emma Duval UX Designer 2Scholastic Australia
Define
Understanding
the brief and
business goal
Sprint 1 overview
Research
Competitive and
comparative
analysis
Ideate
Brainstorming,
feature
prioritisation
Test
Prototyping,
usability
testing,
analysis
Timeframe
2 weeks
Team
Emma Duval, 
Toby Freestone
Tools
Pen, paper,
Typeform, POP,
Preview, Keynote.
Goal
In today’s increasingly digitised world, Scholastic
wants take full advantage of technology to maintain
reading engagement outside the classroom. They
want to include positive role models to do this.
Process
Empathise
Survey,
interviews,
persona
creation
Create
Sketching, user
walkthroughs,
iteration

Empathise
Survey
We created an online survey to collect
quantitative and qualitative data to help us
empathise with parents and students.
To make the most of the two weeks we
decided to focus on students aged 8–12 years
old as we had easy access to this age range
and we felt that younger students would have
more complicated needs.
Top rated ideas to help children read more
1. Recommended books based on student’s
preferences.
2. Games related to the book.
3. A tool which enabled teachers to
communicate with parents on student’s
reading progress.
4. An tool which allowed students to track
books they have read.
50%
Students read more than 7 x week
outside school
93%
Students read physical books
87%
Students have access to a Tablet 
(13% read from tablet/E-reader)
50%
Students participated in the
Premier’s Reading Challenge
75%
Students motivated to read by
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Key Findings

Empathise
Survey (continued)
Top 3 student role models
1. Parents
2. Friends
3. Teachers

Empathise
User interviews
Key findings
1. An app that communicates between teacher
and parent about classroom reading resonated
with the teachers.
2. Students reviewing books for peers would be
good for comprehension and recommendations.
3. PM have online comprehension quizzes about
their books, could be done better.
4. Teachers are concerned with quality of texts
and relevance to syllabus.
5. Teachers recommended studyladder.com.au as
a great resource. It has reading-levelled texts
but not great quality and comprehension
questions could have more variety.
Chris,  
Teacher, yr 4
Grace,  
Teacher, yr 4
Parents have said  
‘I don’t know what
my kids like to read’.
Kids love digital
and typing.

Empathise
Melissa  
Primary School
Teacher
Persona creation
Based on our findings we created three personas.
These will help to drive our design decisions.
Dave  
Single-parent
Zoe  
Year 5 Student

Empathise—personas
Melissa Primary School Teacher
Passionate about the benefits of reading.
Loves her iPad.
Moderately tech-savvy.
Often parents don’t
realise what good
readers their kids are.
Access to quality texts (books and
comprehension tools) related to
syllabus.
Connect more with parents so that
they can be informed about what
their child is reading in class.
Get more students engaged in reading
as it has so many knock-on benefits.
Provide parents with insights on what
to ask their children about their
reading in class.
Reduce disruption to the classroom
from bored students by providing
more engaging reading experiences.
An easy way to search for quality
books related to the syllabus.
GoalsCurrent resources
Scholastic books (amongst other
brands) for class reading groups.
PM readers and online reading
comprehension tools.
Students have access to iPads and
computers regularly.
Studyladder.com.au
Pain Points
1. Students with varied needs.
2. Frustrated with the lack of quality comprehension
resources (quizzes, activities).
3. Difficult to enlist parents’ involvement.
Business opportunities
1. Get brand front-of-mind with parents and teachers
by providing a useful tool.
2. Gain more reading engagement by providing
quality resources to teachers.

Dave Single-parent
IT Consultant, father of 8 year old son.
Loves his gadgets.
Highly tech-savvy.
I didn’t grow up with
a love of reading so
my son could really
use a good reading
role model.
Increasing his son’s reading ability.
Easy way to search for books related
to his son’s interests.
Clues on what goes on in class to
facilitate more after-school discussion.
Finding reading role models that his
son is interested in.
Books at home that were gifts
from friends and family.
Access to an iPad and a computer
at home.
Studyladder.com.au
Local and School library.
Pain Points
1. Time-poor.
2. Feels out of the loop with son’s school progress.
3. Wants his son to be a better reader.
4. No ready access to good reading role models.
1. Increase reading engagement by providing easy
access to quality reading role models.
1. Get brand front-of-mind with parents by providing
a useful reading-support tool.

Zoe Year 5 Student
In the lowest class reading group.
Loves her iPad.
Likes to play App games.
I want to be a better
reader so I can join
my girlfriends.
Move up from the lowest class
reading group to be in her friends’
reading group.
Access to recommended reading
appropriate to her level.
Build ability in reading to improve  
confidence in all learning.
Not feel so dumb.
Ability to manage and see her own  
progress.
Wants to be able to review and rate
books she reads.
Books at home that were gifts from
friends and family.
Scholastic books (amongst other
brands) for class reading groups.
Access to an iPad and a computer at
home and in class.
Studyladder.com.au
Local and School library.
Pain Points
1. Struggles to find books of interest at the right
reading level.
2. Low confidence in learning.
3. Feels left out of peer group.
1. Increase reading engagement by providing access
to levelled-reading recommendations.
2. Reaffirm brand’s leading edge by offering market-
wide book recommendations.

Research
Goal-setting,
avatars, awards
and games
Ages 5–18
Website and App
Teacher–parent
communication
Ages 5–18
Website and App
Govt reading
engagement
program, goal-
setting, and
awards
Ages 5–18
Website
Ages 5–18
Website and App
Teacher, parent
and student
communication
Reading
recommendations
All Ages
Website and App
Ages 18+
Website and App
Reading
recommendations
and book buying
Competitive and comparative analysis
Key finding
There does not seem to be a website or app that
recommends levelled-reading books for school
students, based on their interests.

Ideate
As Parents and teachers were the highest
ranked role models our solution will focus
on assisting them to collaborate to support
students to get more engaged in reading.
We will design a tablet app that:
1. Connects parents and teachers to allow regular
communication about student reading progress.
2. Provides a recommended list of books for
children to read based on their interests and
reading level.
Student
Teacher Parent

Ideate
Feature Prioritisation
Features for the app were brainstormed and then
prioritised for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
MVP
1. Separate Logins for Teacher/Parent/Student.
2. Recommendations on similar books at
appropriate reading level.
3. Teacher to parent communication.
4. Teacher to assign Student reading level.
5. Student-created Reading/Wish-to-read list.
6. ‘Tick off’ books as read.
7. Communication between students, follow other
reading lists.
8. Threaded Comments on books.
9. ‘Favourite’ and star-rate books.
10. Parent and teacher access to student reading list.
Nice To Have
Essential
HighEffort/Time-consuming
LowEffort/Quick
Way to ‘get’
rec. book
from Role
Models
Way to
follow Role
Models
Way to add
authors to
Reading List
Self-created
Student
Reading List
Way to
‘Follow’
other
Reading
Lists
Way to
catagorise
books into
levels
List of books
read in class
Way for
Teacher to
communic-
ate with
Student
Way for
Teacher to
communic-
ate with
Parent
Historic view
of Student’s
reading
Threaded
comments
on books
Recomm.
books at
approp.
reading level
Way for
Teacher to
assign a
reading level Separate
Logins for
Teacher/
Parent/
Student
Student
Profile
details
Parent/
Teacher
access to
Student’s
reading
Analytics for
Scholastic
Way to ‘Tick
Off’ books
read
Future
Reading
Wish List
Reward for
Student’s
achieve-
ments
Star-rating
reviews
Way to
‘Favourite’
books
Way to
create
Discussion
topics on
books
Tips to
encourage
better
reading
habits
List of Class
‘Library
Stock’
Way for
Teacher to
see what
Student is
reading
Class
‘Library
Stock’
comprehensi
on Qs
Way to make
updates
when on the
move

Create
We focussed our ideas and walked some
potential users through sketched wireframes.
We also came up with the working title of Reading Owls.
This came from an early idea of naming class reading
groups after bird species.

Create—user feedback
Shannon,
Marketing Manager
and Mother
13 YO & 8 YO girls
Susan,
IT Consultant
and Mother
9 YO son &  
7 YO daughter
I want to be able
to mark off
Premier’s Reading
Challenge books
more easily.
I can’t believe no one has
thought about this before!
Christen,
School Teacher
and Mother
2 YO girl
Mimi,
Office Manager
and Mother
8 YO son
I don’t want more
to do, I want less
I don’t want my kids
anywhere near social media

Test
Key usability test findings
1. Parent-teacher nights are only once a year,
it’s not enough for parents to keep up to
date with reading progress.
2.Parents find the PRC site difficult because it
is poorly designed and not user-friendly.
3.We didn’t have sufficient search and filters.
4.Parents don’t like the idea of having a
picture of themselves in the app due to
privacy concerns.
5.Parents want snippets of advice on how to
encourage children to read.
6.Everyone is busy and they want less to do.
Possible solutions
1. Providing a structured way for communication
between parent and teacher. 
2.Develop a solution which will be linked to the
PRC register.
3.Allow searches and filters by author.
4.Remove parents photo from the app. 
 
5.Create a reading engagement ‘Tip of the day’ on
the parents homepage.
6.Keep it user-friendly and efficient.

Test
Scholastic
Launch app
Melissa
Send message to parents of class reading group to respective parents.
Select  
Group 2
Type message Send message
Launch app Select mail
icon
Read message Type reply
message
Launch app
Login
Login
Login Select Role
Models
Select Guy
Sebastian
Read about
Guy’s rec.s
Send message
Add book to
reading list
Dave
Receive message from students’ teacher about class reading.
Zoe
Look up Role Model’s reading recommendation and add book to Reading List.
User scenarios and final happy paths

Test
Scholastic
Interactive low-
fidelity prototype
Teacher scenario

Test
Scholastic
Interactive low-fidelity prototype
Teacher login features
Class reading groups
Teacher can set up of
groups different levels of
reading within each class.
Group messaging
Teacher can send group
messages to parents of
each reading group about
classroom reading.
Classroom library
Teacher can manage
classroom library and
related activities.
Class roll
Teacher can have each
student’s details (reading
level, parent email, reading
list) in a sortable list.

Test
Scholastic
Parent login features
Home screen
Parents can get a ‘tip of the
day’, an overview of their
child’s/childrens’ reading
engagement and message
notifications from teachers.
Book details and
recommendations
Parents can access book
details, comprehension
activities and
recommended reading that
is at the appropriate
reading level.
Child’s reading library
Parents can access their
child’s reading library to
see where their child’s
interests are and how their
progress is going.
Messaging and
information
Parents receive messages
from teachers about
classroom reading, keeps
parents in the loop and
ready to take opportunities
to discuss texts with child.

Test
Scholastic
Student login features
Home screen
Students can access an
overview of their reading
progress and create their
own avatar.
Role models
Students can access book
recommendations from
celebrity role models that
is at the appropriate
reading level.
Guy Sebastian’s
recommendations
Students can get reading
inspiration from their role
models.
Student’s reading library
Students can keep track of
their interests and
Premier’s Reading
Challenge progress with
their own reading library.

Test—users
Andrej,
Year 4 Student & avid
App Game Player
8 YO boy
Rhian,
Office Manager
and Mother
11–15 YO sons &  
daughters
I like quizzes,
especially when
I feel like I will
know all the
answers
This app
makes
sense
Sonicka,
Year 5 Student
& avid App user
10 YO girl
Laura, 
Lawyer and
Mother
16 MO son
Role Models are
people you look
up to and you
want to see what
they have read
I would like to be
able to direct kids
to books they
would like,
authors etc

Test
Key usability testing findings
1. Users wanted to be able to buy a book
straight from the app.
2.Users didn’t understand the symbols
on the reading list.
3.Users were keen to see activities
related to books.
Possible solutions
1. Develop back-end means to allow users to buy
books in the App.
2.Create medium-/high-fidelity prototype with clearer
symbol designs.
3.Work with Teachers to create activities and
comprehension quizzes.

Conclusion of sprint 1
Team achievements
1. Utilised digital technology by creating an
app to help keep students engaged in
reading.
2. Involved positive role models (teachers,
parents and other notable role models) in
the process.
3. Validated these deliverables and our thinking
through the process with ‘real-life’ users.
Next steps recommendations
1. Get Teacher feedback on Prototype.
2. Get more usability testing.
3. Create Visual Design.
4. Create some High-Fidelity mockups and
prototypes to test visual design.
5. Release to beta group to test in the wild.
6. Build on MVP functionality based on
prioritised list.

Sprint 2 overview
Define
Visual audit
Create
Brainstorm,
ideate, visual
design
Timeframe
1 week
Team
Emma Duval
Tools
Sketch, Illustrator,
Preview, Keynote.
Goal
Create a visual design concept for the reading-
companion app prototype developed in sprint 1.
The design needs to fit with the existing Scholastic
brand style and needs to appeal to students,
parents and teachers.
Process
Research
Research
comparative
conventions and
design trends
Test
User feedback,
iteration

Define
Visual audit
I looked at Scholastic’s existing brand design
style to establish what it is about and to create a
foundation to the visual design of the new app.
The existing style is very busy, somewhat
inconsistent and there seems to be an unwieldy
colour palette.
Key elements that I wanted to build on
1. Primary red and secondary dark blue colours.
2. Primary slab font style.
3. Rounded corners on shapes.
4. Friendly and familiar character of elements.
Website homepage
1
2
3
4

Research
Comparative conventions
I investigated some design conventions
and ideas for avatars and rewards from
comparative apps.
Key design inspiration
1. GoodReads My Books page had a
neutral and comfortable colour palette.
2. Mathletics FaceMaker made rewards
out of avatar creation.
3. Buddy Poke avatars have an individual
brand style.
4. Pappa’s Freezeria showed avatar
accessories yet to be earned.
1
2
3
4

Research
Design trends
I looked at some current visual design trends for
visual style inspiration.
Key design inspiration
1. Frost*’s elegant flat layout style and limited
colour palette.
2. Dots’ playful and geometric design.
3. Material Design’s flat design with soft
shadowing animation.
4. Origami elements, for an animation idea.
1
2
3
4

While brainstorming in Sketch I decided to revisit
the working title Reading Owls because I felt that
it had an inappropriate nocturnal connotation
(reading needs to be encouraged for anytime of
day). I came up with Book-a-burra which I liked
because it sounds like kookaburra and burra can
mean great or creek. Creeks are always moving
forward which seems a fitting analogy for
creating reading engagement.
Create

Create
Scholastic Australia
Laugh Out Loud Jokes
for Kids
Rob Elliot
Recommended by Guy Sebastian
Key design concept ideas
1. Soft background beige colour to reduce glare and
to add warmth.
2. Illustrated avatars that student’s can customise
(perhaps with points earned for completing
challenges). These would require a professional
illustrator to create.
3. Soft shadows indicate activated ‘buttons’.
4. Animated origami unfolding (eg: celebrity Role
Model label when a book they recommend is
added to student’s Reading List).

Parent Dashboard
visual design
Create

Reading List
visual design
Create

Test—feedback
Looks nice
and clean
and easy
to use.
Nice
animation
idea.
Miriam
Classmate and
former graphic
designer
You seem to have
hit the mark with the
visual by not ‘talking
down’ to children.
Maybe some
elements are a
bit small for
touch screens.
Toby
Classmate and
former management
consultant
Jenn
Classmate and
former graphic
designer
Alana
Classmate
and former
architecture
student

Emma Duval case study: Scholastic

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