Creating a unique
schedule app to save on
monthly admin costs
project overview
The schedule app is combination of a daily work calendar and a billing tool. The app keeps music instructors updated on their student lesson schedules, and assists them with billing, by allowing them to recording student attendance and submit monthly invoices to the school.
My role
I was responsible for research, user interviews, sketches, wireframing, prototyping, UI design, and usability testing.
Scope
The goal was to create a minimum viable product (MVP) that would replace the current Excel spreadsheet and allow the instructors to view their schedules, mark student attendance, and approve their monthly invoices.
The long term goal is to incorporate the MVP into a full schedule, booking, and billing solution.
Solution preview highlights
problem
The Instructors are currently using an Excel spreadsheet as a schedule and timesheet solution. Instructors find it frustrating to use, plus, maintaining the spreadsheet adds an expensive monthly administrator cost for the school.
⭐️ challenge
To create an Instructor Schedule App where Music Instructors can view their schedules, complete student attendance, and submit daily invoices.
exploration
So why not just use one of the existing Scheduling Apps already on the market?
Advanced Scheduling
Tracking student attendance
Employee invoicing
After vetting several top companies and finding there wasn't one with all the functionality VMS needed, I selected 3 of those apps for a deeper analysis. Even though I wasn't overly impressed with the usability, I did find it valuable to learn what works and what doesn't with these apps.
User interviews
I conducted interviews with five VMS Music Instructors. I learned about a typical day of teaching, how they used the spreadsheets to check their schedules, submit attendance, and submit their invoices, and what parts of the process frustrated them.
The Spreadsheet's Function
Combination of a schedule and timesheet: The spreadsheet shows Instructors their student lesson schedule where they're required to mark their attendance, then total up their earnings for the day and submit a daily invoice to the school.
audience
The user is the VMS Music Instructor. They feel frustrated that checking their schedule isn't easier and when they take time away from a student's lesson or spend their free time to mark student attendance or total up daily invoices.
Problems Instructors were having with the previous solution
USER goals
Following my conversations with the VMS owner and music instructors, I understood how the spreadsheet was being used, the frustrations and needs of the instructors, and the problem that needed to be solved.
Instructors needed an accurate schedule with important lesson change updates. In order to receive a correct paycheck, the Instructors needed a way to send attendance and invoices to VMS, but in a way that didn't disrupt their day.
What does the User need?
brainstorming solution ideas
To create a simple user experience, I brainstormed ways for Instructors to mark student attendance straight from the calendar and create automatic monthly invoicing.
Feature ideas
Working the problem
solution
A mobile app, where Instructors can see what their workday looks like, get schedule change notifications, confirm that a student attended their scheduled lesson and see that payment automatically get added to to their monthly invoice.
Takeaways
Working for a small company with no other designers gave me a lot of flexibility on design decisions. It also has it's downsides. I didn't have other designers to talk through issues, however the owner was extremely involved and knowledgeable, offering great feedback and business insight throughout the project.
