My brother teaches 3rd graders in Compton. (Yeah, that Compton — Snoop Dogg’s niece was his student). I asked him once if he checks his email during the day, “If I stay in my classroom at lunch for my 1/2 hour lunch break”. I was a little surprised by that one but it makes sense when you learn what a teacher’s day is like. I know Compton is a hyperbolic hook to get you into the post but lessons come from everywhere. The lesson for me is know the audience, acknowledge that they are different from you.
Designing websites and apps for teachers has its particular challenges. They don’t sit at their computers all day. They don’t use their interactive whiteboards, if they have one, to cruise the web. In conducting a UX test for a video player teachers were asked if they would take the time to rate a video shown to the kids. One teacher’s instant reply was “NO! I could lose the class in the few moments I take to do that”. Most of us don’t experience that urgent need in their day but we surely need to consider it.
So if teachers don’t use these tools all day or barely have time to use them what is the solution? My recommendation: Make it easy — ease of use is imperative. The tool must be quick, memorable, and satisfying. But, we all know simple ain’t easy. Easy and good takes multiple iterations based on testing and integration right from the start. The mistake we make is when we assume what a teacher (or kids, or adults), needs and how they will use a site or app.
“lookin for the one they call Eazy”. — N.W.A.
Please reduce, reuse, and recycle these ideas.
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