When Carroll Community College first approached me, they had been giving out weekly planners to students for years but were finding that students found them too generic and were substituting them for their own personal planners. CCC wanted to create a personal planner that would include spaces for students to manage their weekly tasks, homework assignments, and club notes, while also providing a way for CCC to communicate school events, resources, and guidelines. After meeting with students and gathering user needs, experiences, and overall feedback, I was able to conclude that most of the issues the past planners faced were based on an outdated black and white layout with empty college rule pages. This generic style lacked the inspiration students desired.
My final result was to introduce colorful graphics along with visual indicators to lead the user to organize their thoughts and lists practically. I also updated the college resources paragraphs to additional white space, images, and brand assets in an attempt to lower the amount of information overload that was being caused by the large blocks of text. I have been honored that this initial redesign has since become a 7-year returning project.
Additionally, when faced with distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to suggest and execute an all-digital interactive version of the planner that students could use on their phones.