Could School Website Design be Holding Back Home Learning?
Throughout lockdown, teachers have been working tirelessly to make sure children have access to at least some form of education whilst they’ve been at home. Many schools have used their school website as the principal tool for sharing work, but just how successful has this proved?
A number of teachers have bemoaned the fact that parents have opted for other (and arguably lesser) options for their child’s learning, rather than the carefully curated lessons that teachers have provided. Could the way that information is shared on school websites help improve engagement?
There’s a whole industry out there — UX (user experience) that concentrates on making online journeys as smooth and as obvious as they possibly can be. One of Twinkl’s resident UX designers, Matt Torr, has given his top tips for teachers wanting to share information over a webpage.
- The less clicks the better.
People are lazy and want to do things in the quickest, simplest way. They are always looking for a reason to give up, to give in to a simpler solution, especially if the action feels like a chore. If you’re asking parents to sign into multiple accounts to access learning, you’re going to lose them. Reduce the number of actions for a parent, especially if you’re expecting them to return to the page for a next step.
2. Use that white space.
Cluttered pages full of information can often make the user so overwhelmed they become blind to any of the information given to them. If you utilise white space and spread things out it’ll make information much more readable and digestible. Let the user focus on a few things at a time.
3. Prioritise your content.
Before designing anything, know what the most valuable task to be completed is. If they only complete one thing that day, what would you like it to be? Putting things above the fold on a page (so the user doesn’t have to scroll to see it) gives things a huge lift in terms of visibility. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t even bother scrolling down the page to see anything else.
4. Target your audience.
Who exactly do you think is reading the information on the page? Is it a parent, or a pupil? Are they preparing for all the resources for the day, or checking for the next task on their to-do list? Tailor your content for a specific audience, preferably the one that’ll need the most support!
Ultimately, good UX is about testing and revising. If you don’t think your planning is being touched at home, then do something about it! Surely it’s better that your class are accessing some of the work you’re sharing with them, than none at all?
