Netcraft
System for managing Netcraft College. It centralizes all the operational
and organizational tasks of all the college employees.
Project Overview
Challenge
Netcraft is a college offering various courses in the field of high-tech, and upon completion, students receive
a certificate from the college.
The main branch in Bnei Brak houses four departments: Sales, Finance, Management, and Office Administration
Currently, Netcraft does not have a software system that integrates the activities of all departments.
Each department organizes its materials in separate documents and files. This situation leads to ongoing challenges in synchronizing information between departments, the need to synchronize data between different software platforms, redundant work, and difficulty in tracking task completion.
Solution
Building a custom system for the college that will centralize the management of all departments.
Goals
Easy-to-use and user-friendly interface
Solutions for the needs of different departments
Streamlined work processes
Synchronization between departments
Research
The research allows me to delve deep into my understanding of users - not just their immediate frustrations,
but also their hopes, fears, abilities, limitations, reasoning, and goals. It lays the essential groundwork for creating solutions in later stages.
Research Goals
Understanding the nature and workflow of the different departments
Identifying the interface points between departments in day-to-day operations
Learning the preferences, desires, and goals of the target audience - college employees
Gaining insight into the work practices of competitors
User Interview
Since the software is customized for college employees, interviews with staff were a crucial milestone in understanding their needs. During the research phase, I interviewed employees from all departments to learn about their work nature, the challenges they face, and the problems that need solving.
From the interviews, I realized that the office manager is at the forefront, bridging students, management, and teachers. Therefore, I decided to base the persona and user process on this role.
Name
Noa Golan
Role
Office Manager
Role Definition
Responsible for the communication between the college, students, and lecturers
Responsibilities
Sending welcome emails to new students
Scheduling courses in classrooms
Assigning lecturers to courses
Being available for student questions and complaints
Acting as a liaison between lecturers and the college
To perform her duties, Noa uses various software tools, such as Word, Excel, Google Docs, WhatsApp, email, etc
Pain Points
Lack of synchronization between different software tools, leading to a lot of duplicated work
She needs to remember or create reminders for various tasks
Extensive handling of student inquiries regarding the freezing/thawing of studies
There is no automation for routine tasks
Market Research
It was important for me to conduct research on which software other colleges use, as the strengths and weaknesses
of their software could help me leverage their solutions for similar problems and avoid making the same mistakes.
Specification
Application Map
After defining the product goals and understanding which features it needs to include, I selected the six most important functions to include in the navigation bar
Dashboard
Students
Lecturers
Courses
Timetable
Documents
User Scenario
To decide what I am designing, identifying the main user flow during task completion helps me focus on designing specific pages. By creating task flows, I was able to think through the necessary steps and analyze the user experience in detail.
Below is the task flow for the user (the office manager) who wants to freeze or unfreeze a student's studies.
Dashboard
Student details tab
Status
Assign course
Courses
Detailed Course card
Assignment window
Assignment window
Send
Student details tab
Status
Save
Assignment window
Send
Requests to put the course on hold
Students
Search
On hold
Active
Change status to ‘on hold’
Change to ‘On hold’
Click the name of student
Requests to reposition in a course
Students
Status
Search
Click the name of student
The assignment will be sent by email to the student for approval
Change status to ‘Active’
Select the best option for the student
The assignment will be sent by email to the student for approval
Page
Sub page
Feature / Button
Wireframe
Sketches
After understanding the structure of the software I want to create and the process the user will go through,
I began designing wireframes
Design
Style Guide
I further developed the visual style of the software. Based on the existing logo, I created a color palette, typography,
and buttons that will guide the design of the user interface later on.
Flow 1
A Quick and Easy Way to Freeze/Unfreeze Studies
Instead of creating endless lists of students who have been placed on hold or students who wish to return to their studies, searching for a suitable course with available spots, and sending approval emails, everything is handled quickly and efficiently
The system notifies when a student requests through the platform to go on hold or to resume their studies
The system automatically marks the lesson at which the student stopped
Only the relevant courses are displayed when assigning a student to a course
Confirmation box for further review
Flow 2
Locating a class without an assigned instructor and assigning a suitable available instructor
By applying filters, identify which class lacks an instructor and assign an available instructor who is suitable for the subject matter taught.
A course without an instructor is marked by both color and text
Filtering to display courses that do not have an assigned instructor
After the assignment, the system marks it as awaiting approval from the instructor
The system automatically monitors and displays which instructors are available and qualified to teach the required subjects
Based on the subject taught in the course,
the lesson numbers where the instructor is needed are displayed
Challenges and Solutions
Challenge 1
When designing the calendar interface, I encountered the challenge of displaying lessons in a manner that would be both readable and clear.
Typically, calendars are organized by hours, with relevant events shown within each time slot. However, at Netcraft College, all morning classes occur at the same hours, as do the evening classes.
The solution was to structure the calendar into morning and evening sections. This approach allowed for optimal use of calendar space (eliminating empty rows during midday) and enabled a horizontal display of courses, where the order of presentation is inconsequential.
Challenge 2
In the course of planning, I encountered the challenge of adding a lesson outside the established syllabus.
The system is structured so that when a course is created, the syllabus, start date, and scheduled course days are entered, allowing the system to automatically arrange the lessons throughout the year (while skipping pre-set holidays and rest days).
However, there are instances when an additional, unscheduled lesson is required as a supplement to the syllabus.
The solution I devised involves entering the originally scheduled lesson, adjusting its date to the following week, which automatically shifts all subsequent lessons accordingly. Then, I select the date for the additional lesson, designate the relevant group (triggering an automatic email update to the students), omit the syllabus entry since it is an additional lesson, and input the time and lecturer. Thus, the supplementary lesson is successfully added.
Final Thoughts
With the final prototype created, I believe I have met the goals that were outlined in the beginning of the
design process.
I designed a new system software for Netcraft that streamlines tasks for employees, enabling them to work with greater speed and ease.
Throughout the design process, I encountered numerous challenges in creating a system that would be intuitive, user-friendly, and versatile enough to accommodate various scenarios.
While I have described a few of these challenges here, the majority remain as drafts in Figma.
If I had more time, I would delve deeper into developing some of the additional, refined features. These enhancements would further enrich the software’s functionality and elevate its overall usability.
