Education Polis - website redesign
.avif)
Education Polis (EP) is a small test preparation and college counseling company in Cupertino dedicated to helping middle school and high school students stand out in the college admissions process. They offer tailored academic guidance, college counseling, and other tools needed for college success.
EP relied heavily on word-of-mouth referrals and a simple website, which limited their ability to grow and reach new audiences.
I crafted a website and social media strategy to elevate the user experience and differentiate the company in a competitive education market. See the live redesign here.
The typical journey of a parent who wants to help their student succeed academically starts with finding the right test prep program within their budget that has a good reviews.
Parents enroll their middle school and high school students in test and college prep programs to help them get into top-ranking schools—ultimately improving their job prospects after graduation. Most parents discover these programs through word-of-mouth referrals, while others conduct their own research to find the best program for their student.
Since, Education Polis did not have any social media accounts before I was onboarded, there was an opportunity to expand upon the existing branding of the organization. I focused on 2 main goals for the website redesign:
The purpose of the website was two-fold: to inform prospective students about EP’s test preparation services and to persuade them to book a consultation call and attend an event. Since the priority was to convert prospective students in the consultation call, the architecture and copywriting was intended to accurately describe what services Education Polis offers and lead them to call.
I conducted a visual competitive analysis of local test prep companies to establish unique branding.
Through testimonials, success stories, and other forms of social proof to enhance trust.
To differentiate our branding between other test prep companies in the Bay Area, I performed a visual competitive analysis of the top competing businesses in the area.
In the test prep space, I found 3 types of competitors: large firms, mid-sized firms, and individual consultants. From a visual design perspective, most other competitors used a combination of blue or green in their logo with white to project growth, learning, and success.
I found that dark mode was underutilized in the college test prep space, but found lots of success in other digital learning spaces. Using the existing logo as a base, I established the primary palette for Education Polis to use shades of blue to convey trustworthiness and black to convey elitism. To avoid alienating users, I used light mode to induce familiarity, and dark mode to emphasize and symbolize sophistication, and authority.
I first experimented with using candid photos for most of the images and assets for the site, and filling in the gaps with professional stock photos from Unsplash, to create a genuine and personal brand that prospective parents would be able to connect to.
The business owner ultimately vetoed this idea, because she didn’t want to showcase the students due to privacy concerns. While previous photos were taken with permission from parents, future photos might be unsustainable without digital media release waivers. Education Polis wanted to stay anonymous and to protect the privacy of their business, teachers, and students. Furthermore, there was some visual in-congruency between candid photos and professional stock photos.
As a result, I experimented with and finally landed on vector illustrations. I played around with several asset libraries and finally landed on one developed by Canva that illustrated key student journeys throughout their college application cycle.
Almost all of Education Polis’ previous students came from a robust referral network. Referrals work because they’re the ultimate form of social proof. When someone they trust, like a friend or family member, has already had a positive experience with the company, they're more likely to have a good experience themselves.
Social proof (sometimes referred to as “informational social influence”) refers to the tendency of human beings to follow the actions of others when making decisions, placing weight on these actions to assume “the correct decision.” - Interaction Design Foundation
While useful, previous designs were generic and did not differentiate Education Polis from other brands. Furthermore, parents and students were not provided with social proof about program outcomes and success stories, making it less likely for them to convert.
.avif)
I experimented on different ways of adding additional social proof through testimonial, student outcomes, teacher qualifications, and star ratings.
To increase class sign-ups and event attendance, I created social media campaigns for Facebook, Instagram, Eventbrite, and Google Business Profile to highlight the course offerings and events that Education Polis offered. Furthermore, I emailed schools near the area about our program and course offerings to struggling students.
Due to time & budget constraints, I was not able to interview students and parents to learn more about their needs. I relied on a thorough competitive analysis and meetings with the business owner to learn more about student and parent pain points.
A majority of my time spent on this project was dedicated to copywriting rather than designing or developing the website. Creating succinct and memorable content that aligned with the tone of the company was challenging. To highlight the benefits students would receive through the course, I went through several iterations.
Initially, I faced challenges developing the website since the client used for their previous site. Having no prior Wix experience, I continued with it anyway to ensure my client could edit content independently after my contract ended.As someone familiar with HTML, CSS, and Webflow, I found Wix's limitations challenging. Its freeform canvas, while appealing for non-designers, made it difficult to align content and create responsive layouts. However, as I grew more comfortable with the platform, I discovered unexpected benefits—like simplified animationThis experience reinforced an important lesson: strong foundational design skills matter more than the specific tools we use.
If I had more time, I’d would have liked to optimize SEO, and Yelp rankings for Education Polis, specifically targeting keywords such as “tutoring near me” or “tutoring/test prep/ college prep/ in [Cupertino/Irvine]” for users who already have high search intent. I would have also started campaigns Meta and Google Ad campaigns to boost traffic to the site.
If I had more time, I’d would have liked to optimize SEO, and Yelp rankings for Education Polis, specifically targeting keywords such as “tutoring near me” or “tutoring/test prep/ college prep/ in [Cupertino/Irvine]” for users who already have high search intent. I would have also started campaigns Meta and Google Ad campaigns to boost traffic to the site.
Since the existing business is highly focused on getting referrals, I would have liked to implement an organized program for previous students to refer new students through the site as well as an easier way to solicit reviews on key platforms such as Yelp and Google Business Profile. Having genuine and adequate social proof can make or break whether or not a potential user converts.
That’s it! You’ve made it to the end. If you’d like to present any work inquiries or just want to say hello, feel free to email me at mykallebonnevie@gmail.com. I’m always down for a zoom boba chat where we talk about our dreams, our favorite books, and, of course, our plans to take over the world.🧋✨
