Classcover
UX Project
ClassCover had an issue on how to connect their users. This project would look at trying to improve those connections
Project Background
The ClassCover app is a platform that allows schools to book new or known relief teachers in a short amount of time whilst connecting relief teachers to new employment opportunities.
There are 2,200 schools and 50,000 relief teachers using ClassCover everyday, making them the market leader in simplifying last minute bookings across Australia and New Zealand.
Since 2018, they have been the chosen provider for NSW Department of Education.
We started with a kickoff meeting with the client. During the meeting, we found out that they were in the middle of revising the application - there were some technical issues with the app that they were looking to revise so that it was more user friendly. ClasseCover's goal was to be the 'teacher's online profile'. Their perceived pain points were:
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Teachers currently need to physically go to a school to be added to that school’s list
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There is no vetting process in the application
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If a teacher is already attached to a school the teachers may have problems finding employment at another school
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Teachers that are using ClassCover to find work have the issue of the application not being able to access the Dept of Education records
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Teachers that don’t fill in their profile come up as ‘Blanks’. Schools are less likely to call ‘Blanks’ as a result of the ‘Blanks’ not having their profile filled.
Initial Research
Sections of the affinity map produced from the initial interview.
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ClassCover gave us the results of the research which they had already done when they started the process of revising their app. This included empathy maps, journey maps and personas of the relief teachers and people that were hiring them. We kept these in mind when we started our research.
We came up with an affinity map of the information from the kickoff meeting. From this and the research supplied, we came up with a series of assumptions
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All relief teachers use ClassCover
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Facebook is being used to facilitate teachers getting employment instead of ClassCover
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Schools have more control and power on the ClassCover application than teachers
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Both users have lost trust in ClassCover
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ClassCover is not user friendly and reliable
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Schools generally select preferred teachers for work
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Teachers can’t get on the list unless they visit the school in person
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Schools are too busy to add teachers to the list.
From this list we came up with a research plan to test these assumptions.
The Interviews
Affinity maps created from the school and teacher interviews.
Our research confirmed much of ClassCover's initial research, but turned up some new insights.
The interviewing process turned up 2 major perceptions:
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Schools love ClassCover
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Relief Teachers did not love ClassCover
Schools loved Classcover because it turned hiring a relief teacher from a potentially exhausting exercise into a job that took minutes
Relief teachers didn't like ClassCover as they felt it was impersonal and that the balance of power of the app users favoured schools. Teachers felt they had to be constantly watching their phones in case they missed an opportunity. In the words of one interviewee:
"...relief teaching is now like the ‘Hunger Games’"
Interestingly enough, we found that relief teachers didn't mind going to schools to be added to a school's list; They liked getting to know about the school they could potentially be working at.
We also tried to look at ClassCover's competitors, to see what it was that they were offering over ClassCover. For the direct competitors, this proved a little difficult as to look into their user interface; you had to login as a teacher.
Competition
White board with some research on the competition.
From our insights, we began making some problem statements for both the relief teachers and the schools. We decided to focus on the teachers with the following statement.
"Casual teachers need to be able to feel empowered and in control when using ClassCover because this will mean they will want to use the application when looking for casual positions rather than feel like they have to use it."
Due to the limited time available to us we decided to focus on solutions for teachers because of the following reasons:
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Teachers appear to have the biggest issues when using ClassCover - including a lack of connection and a feeling of isolation which leads to them feeling like they have no control
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Most school issues seem to revolve around technical and profile problems which are currently being looked into by ClassCover
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Looking after the teachers looks after the broadest base.
Ideation
One of the initial concept sketches for our ideas.
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Our team focused on coming up with ideas based on connecting and supporting teachers. We thought that if we helped the teachers feel more connected with the application and the people using it they would feel more empowered about their situation.
Solutions
Our final deliverables included 5 basic prototypes. These concepts were used to test our assumptions. We tested these concepts using an online testing platform (Maze) with teachers (and one of the concepts with schools). During the tests, we asked the testers a series of open ended questions about the prototypes and ClassCover.
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Solution 1 - Proactive Check-in
This prototype was designed to address the lack of control and the feeling of isolation teachers are experiencing.
ClassCover would proactively offer help in either updating their profile, finding a mentor, or job opportunities if teachers don’t get a job within a specified time frame. Teachers would be offered this service via email or push notification.
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Solution 2 - Find a Mentor
Following on from the proactive check-in, teachers could be offered the opportunity to be put in contact with a mentor for advice and support. Mentors are selected within ClassCover based on experience and if they are regularly offered job opportunities on ClassCover. Mentors are distinguished by a ‘Mentor Badge’ graphic on their profile and could be offered incentives such as discounts for professional development and Amazon vouchers.
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Solution 3 - Notification Feature
The Notification feature allows ClassCover to send the user a notification from a noticeboard outlining special events, meetups, networking opportunities etc. from the users school district and interests.
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Solution 4 - Private Peer to Peer Messaging
Private Peer to Peer Messaging (or just simply a chat function) was added so teachers could reach out to each other for peer to peer support.
Whilst there are other applications that allow teacher to do this already, the ClassCover chat function keeps the teachers within the app.
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Solution 5 - New Teacher Featured Profile
The New Teacher Featured Profile is aimed at schools but looks to help teachers, particularly teachers which have only just joined ClassCover and may not have much visibility on the application.
Basically, a new teacher is presented as a ‘pop up’ to prospective schools, provided they have filled out their profile properly and they have given their permission to be advertised. A teacher notification will appear on the hirer's phone if that teacher is in close proximity to the hirer's school.
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Conclusion
ClassCover were happy with the results of our research. We were able to change their perception that the schools that were using their application were finding it hard to connect to teachers and show it was a case of the opposite. ClassCover felt that the ideas that we presented would go a long way to providing teachers extra assets to help them find employment in the platform and feel more connected within the ClassCover community.
Personally, I learned to not judge a project by the brief presented at the beginning. There may be information that is revealed during the research process that may change the initial perceptions outlined in the brief; perceived issues may not be the problems, users may have a different idea of what they consider to be working well or not working well in a product.
My gratitude goes to the team I worked with in this project; Jo Madden, Ema Mestrovic and Neha Kamthe.