The Project
Targeted Client
Frontline Education: Special Education & Interventions Platform
Platform
WebApp
Project Timeline
10 Weeks
My Role
Sr. UX Designer
Team
Product Manager, Lead Engineer, Company Founder
Impact
Increased compliance by 14% and streamlining case manager IEP workflows by 17%, leading to an average annual savings of $145,000 across 20 pilot school districts.
The Problem with Data
In education, having data is not the problem—making sense of it is. Schools are often drowning in numbers, struggling to extract the insights they need, a dilemma aptly described as being ‘data rich, information poor.’ In 2020, Frontline tackled this challenge head-on with a company-wide initiative to transform raw data into actionable insights.
Part of this vision was creating dashboards for each platform’s solution group. My role focused on Special Education and Interventions, where compliance and efficiency are critical. Instead of diving straight into design, we took a step back to ask: What problems can a dashboard solve? How do these problems vary for directors, district admins, building admins, and teachers? By focusing on user personas and specific program needs—like Special Education, Section 504, and RTI/MTSS—we laid the foundation for a tool that didn’t just present data but empowered users to act on it.
Where We Started
- The report was only in table form. There is no data visualization.
- Interface is difficult to navigate. Dated interface.
- Report tool that had to be ”run” thus isn’t continuously updated.
- There wasn’t an ability to segment data by school versus district. You were required to run a separate report.
Special Education Compliance Milestones
- All schools are required to develop an individualized plan for a student with disabilities and/or special needs.
- Compliance with these plans is required by law and highly regulated.
- Failure to comply can result in financial penalties such as loss of funding and lawsuits by parents.
DISCOVERY
Advisory Board
One of my first steps was partnering with my PO to form an advisory board, consisting of client administrators from five school districts. The board met biweekly over a 10-week period during the initial development of the new dashboard.
In our first meeting, I facilitated a focus group discussion centered on the current reporting tool. Participants highlighted the need for live data and shared that the existing tool was cumbersome and difficult to use.
Dashboard Survey
32 Respondents | Administrators & Case Managers
Based on some of the feedback that we got from the focus group, I sent out a survey. The survey validated much of what we heard during our focus group: Schools and districts were concerned about compliance, they found our Administrator Report Writer difficult to use, and that they were seeking out compliance data often. We also gained insights into some of the supporting data/functionality that various users may want.
Results
- 46% of respondents reported being “Extremely Concerned” about their school’s/District’s compliance health.
- 67% of respondents found our current Administrator Report Writer “very difficult” to use.
- 72% of respondents reported that they sought out compliance related data either weekly or daily.
Collaboration
Workshops
Our initial research involved reviewing a wide range of dashboards, complemented by an in-depth analysis of case studies from The Big Book of Dashboards by Steve Wexler, Jeffrey Shaffer, and Andy Cotgreave. We also conducted interviews and gathered feedback from internal stakeholders. An advisory board of eight clients provided regular input, reviewing mockups throughout the process. This iterative approach led to the creation of sketches for various widgets and helped solidify our design direction.
Identifying Our Key Personas
We identified four key personas for the dashboards: Buyer, Special Education Director, School Administrator, and Case Manager. Our research focused on two critical questions for each persona.
My Critical Question for Each Persona
- What information do they need to know upon entering the system?
- What actions do they need to take?
IDEATION
Dashboard Widgets
Strategic vs Tactical
With our initial research completed and personas defined, we began exploring how to display data effectively. We focused on questions such as:
- How might the data vary based on the persona?
- What distinguishes strategic data from tactical data?
- How do concepts like urgency and capacity factor into data presentation?
Dashboard Types
Here are some of the sketches I did exploring role-based dashboards that loosely correlated to personas.
- Trends (Strategic Insights) for Admins
Key Questions
- How are we doing compared to last year?
- How do our compliance numbers compare to similar districts?
- Planning (Resource Management) for Admins
Key Questions
- Do I have enough staff/resources for this year?
- What did we have last year or the year before?
- Supervision (Performance Tracking)
Key Questions
- Do I have enough staff/resources for this year?
- What did we have last year or the year before?
Assignments (Task Management): For: Case Managers, Special Ed Teachers, and Service Providers.
Key Questions
- How am I doing?
- What actions do I need to take now or soon?
FEASIBILITY
Pivoting to a Simpler (and Less Risky) Approach
It was at this point, which was 5 weeks into the project, we started having feasibility meetings with dev team. It was in these meetings that we saw that the scope of what we were proposing was too large. Plus, I expressed my concerns that for a v1, the dashboard was getting too complex and thus introducing a lot of risk. My PO and I went to our leadership and negotiated a version we felt more comfortable with.
Refocusing on the three major milestones of Special Ed
- Initial Evaluation
- Annual Reviews
- Reevaluations
Benefits of my New Approach
- Allow users to monitor across various levels of the organization.
- To present compliance data that is relevant (to the persona/user type.)
- Build an extensible system that allows users to “dive into” data and to be presented data that only that role is entitled to.
- Introducing the idea of surfacing individual tasks that are assigned to a case manager.
Introducing Tasks with Actionable Links
In the final row, I introduced the concept of surfacing individual tasks assigned to case managers. This feature enables case managers—and potentially administrators—to view and take action on tasks as needed. It directly aligns with our core requirements: “What do I need to know?” and “What do I need to do?”
Structuring the Data
USEABILITY STUDY
Prototype (v1)
2 internal stakeholders | 3 customers
Results
- Users found the mix of urgency vs capacity confusing.
- Users found inconsistency in second-level UI confusing.
- Interactivity needed to be kept simple, some behaviors weren’t understood by users.
PILOT STUDY
Prototype (v2) for Pilot
3-month pilot | 5 School Districts | 121 Schools
PILOT RESULTS
Data & Conclusion
14%
Increase in over all compliance.
17%
Increase IEP workflow efficiency. Saved a total of 321 work hours.
Compliance Increase
The pilot districts achieved a 14% increase in compliance, leading to tasks being completed on time. Anecdotal feedback from administrators highlighted that the dashboard improved task awareness for case managers, making it easier to track progress. Administrators also noted the dashboard enabled them to quickly identify and address issues.
Actionable Tasks
The inclusion of Actionable tasks enabled the pilot districts to increase workflow efficiency by 17% thus saving the 5 districts a total of 321 work hours
Impact on Special Education Students
The simpler, more efficient UI allowed administrators, case managers, and providers to focus more on students. This ensured that students received the services and accommodations they were entitled to in a timely manner, ultimately improving their educational experience.
Reduction in Scope was a Win-Win
Reducing scope at the time we pivoted meant a simpler more intuitive interface. Frontline avoid the additional expense as well as the risk involved with releasing a complex feature. Instead we were able to release an MVP that delivered value and will allow for further iteration based on live analytics and client feedback.