Lina Family Daycare

TIMELINE

4 weeks

INDUSTRY

Education & Childcare

PROJECT TYPE

Client, UX/UI Design, Branding

ROLE

Researcher, UX/UI Design, Branding, Prototype Testing

TOOL(S) USED

Figma, Zoom

This is a case study project for DesignLab UX Academy.

Lina Family Daycare is a licensed home-based childcare provider with over 10 years of experience. As a small, family-owned business, it offers personalized care and early education in a nurturing environment, earning a strong reputation for quality and dedication.

Background

The daycare struggles with digital visibility, relying on word-of-mouth while outdated third-party listings confuse clients. Without an online platform, attracting new enrollments has become increasingly difficult.

Problem

To strengthen their digital presence, attract more clients, and provide a trusted, up-to-date source of information in one place.

Goal

Design a responsive website to centralize Lina Family Child Care’s information, showcase services, and facilitate client inquiries.

Solution

RESEARCH

Competitive Analysis

  • How much information do they share with the public, and what details are they withholding?

  • Are they offering anything distinctive to capture attention for their childcare services?

  • How effectively is the information organized on their website?

  • An established corporation that focused on their history and their branch locations rather than specific childcare.

Bright Horizons

  • Presents a wealth of information, but the text is not well organized and tends to overshadow the visual elements.

Everbrook Academy

  • A third-party website hosting various daycare information in a well organized but repetitive layout.

Wonderschool

  • The UI and layout are well-designed, with a strong emphasis on their history, though it lacks key information.

Tartts

Insight

  • Some key information, such as pricing and details about the children's activities at the daycare, is often omitted, with the website instead directing users to call for those details. This approach effectively encourages users to engage directly with the company.

  • There should be a balanced mix of text and visuals, ensuring the text doesn't overwhelm users. The layout should be designed to make the information easy to absorb and navigate.

User Interviews

To better understand the needs and goals of both users and the daycare, I interviewed 3 employees and 4 parents of children currently enrolled. These interviews were guided by these questions:

  • Where do the information needs of both sides overlap?

  • Why does the daycare choose to omit certain information?

  • What challenges do parents encounter when searching for daycares?

“It's frustrating having to call for pricing and other details; it's an extra step, especially for such important information. I don't understand why they would leave it out.“

~ Participant expressing frustrations with the daycare search process

Insights

  • Daycares aim to highlight their legacy, while parents seek information on what the daycare can offer their child and key details to support their decision-making process.

  • Parents prefer to contact the daycare only when scheduling a tour or enrolling their children.

DEFINE

Personas

Parent

GOALS

  • Ensure her son is safe and happy in a nurturing daycare environment.

  • Receive regular updates and photos about her child’s activities.

  • Balance work with her child’s needs by finding a reliable daycare partner.

FRUSTRATIONS

  • Lack of transparency in daycare pricing and policies online.

  • Inconsistent or unclear communication methods from caregivers.

  • Difficulty finding a daycare that aligns with her work schedule and expectations.

Educator

GOALS

  • Support children’s natural development through a structured yet flexible schedule.

  • Build trust and meaningful relationships with both children and parents.

  • Provide a safe and stimulating environment with age-appropriate materials.

FRUSTRATIONS

  • Balancing parental requests with professional judgment.

  • Managing a busy schedule while providing personalized attention to children.

  • Encouraging parents to trust the teaching process and methods.

How might we create a platform that clearly communicates the information the daycare want to showcase while providing parents with the transparency they need for decision-making?

Feature Set

About Page

Learn about the daycare’s philosophy, history, staff, and certification.

Program Details

View curriculum highlights, the meals provided, and tailored care packages for each age group.

Tour Scheduling

Schedule tour directly on the website.

Moments

Frequently updated photo gallery showcasing daily life and fun events.

Sitemap

The structure of Lina Family Daycare’s website is primarily information-focused, with less emphasis on user interaction. I concentrated on identifying optimal placements for each section, organizing the content within pages, and ensuring the right flow between different sections.

User Flows

Key

Review Information & Schedule Tour

Scheduling a tour if the daycare’s information is appealing.

Book Review

Making a book review through the Profile page reading list section.

CREATE

Low-Fi Wireframes

Created desktop low fidelity wireframes based on the architecture and user flows for initial testing.

Home

About Us

Programs

Schedule Tour

Branding

Safety • Nurturing • Trust • Community • Creativity

My goal is to capture the essence of a safe, nurturing, and fun environment, inspired by the timeless charm of children’s books. The color palette is thoughtfully designed to evoke calm and security, while playful accents are added to ignite creativity and joy.

Colors

The primary green represents nature—symbolizing children as sprouts nurtured with care—while the orange accent represents joy and creativity.

Typeface

Poppins was chosen because its rounded, geometric letterforms create a friendly and approachable feel, making the content easy to read. Its clean and modern design adds a sense of trust and professionalism while maintaining a playful touch that aligns with the daycare’s nurturing and creative environment.

Logo Design

The logo evolved through multiple iterations and feedback from both clients and peers. In the end, I finalized a design that meets the client’s vision and complements the overall branding.

Draft

Final

UI Component Library

The UI mirrors the branding guidelines to ensure consistency across both desktop and mobile platforms, guaranteeing a seamless and cohesive user experience with components that reflect the daycare's warm and nurturing values.

High-Fi Wireframes

Changes were made to the wireframes based on initial prototype testing with 8 participants, and feedback from mentor and peers.

Home

I removed the "Learn More" button as it caused confusion by directing users to the About Us page, when they expected it to lead to the Meet the Staff page.

Schedule Tour

I removed the confusing "guests" question from the middle and added a clearer "Add Guest" section at the bottom for better clarity.

About Us

I restructured the "About Us" section by breaking it into separate paragraphs and moved the "Credentials" to the bottom of the page for better organization and flow.

Programs

The "Tailored Care for Every Stage" section was switched to a carousel for better consistency with the rest of the website. The "Daily Schedule" and "Food Menu" were transformed into visual examples of activities and common food items to create a more engaging, dynamic layout.

TEST

Usability Testing

After incorporating feedback into my high-fidelity prototype, I conducted usability testing with 9 participants to evaluate the design changes.

What Worked

There was a good balance between bodies of text and pictures. More pictures are always welcome!

Visual to Text Ratio

Both parents and daycare are satisfied with the amount of information displayed on the website.

Information

Priority Revisions

Programs Page

I removed the card visual in "Tailored Care for Every Stage" to allow the information to flow directly on the page. I also expanded the "Pricing" section to provide clearer, more detailed information and eliminate any confusion.

“Schedule Tour” Review & Confirmation Page

I added a "Confirmation" page to visually confirm the tour has been scheduled and a notification will be sent.

Added a “Review” page before finalizing tour.

Contact Page

I removed the contact form since the contact information was already provided. Given that the daycare primarily uses WeChat for communication, I included a QR code for a more practical and realistic approach.

FINAL DESIGN

Desktop Wireframes

Task 1: Information Gathering

Task 2: Schedule Tour

Task 2: Contact Page

REFLECTION

Takeaways

Working with a client is a valuable experience, with both its pros and cons. The additional feedback is beneficial, as it brings more perspectives to consider. I've learned how to balance incorporating their input into the design while advocating for my design decisions—championing both design principles and the needs of the users. It's a dynamic of push and pull, and having a client feels like collaborating with another team member. Ultimately, this process has strengthened my ability to navigate different viewpoints and create a design that aligns with both client and user needs.

Now that I've completed prototyping in Figma, I will move forward with making the website live. I'll research various website hosting platforms to determine which one best meets the client's needs and proceed from there. Once the website is live, it will serve as a powerful tool to attract new prospective customers and showcase the daycare’s offerings in a centralized, digital space.

Next Steps

Other Projects

bookSwipe

YesStyle

tripmate

CSTO