Baobab
Région
Nouvelle-
Aquitaine
Research and gamification
Introduction
Audit
Interviews
Tests
Design system
Documentation
Insigths
Conception
Outcome
UX Research
UX Design
Introduction
Introduction
Desktop and mobile revamp
UX Research
UX Design
Overview
Overview
Educational app for 11–12 year-old students
For the 2024 school year, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region aimed to redesign its school transport platform. Their goal is to strengthen brand consistency and place a greater emphasis on user experience.
The goal was to redesign the application to reduce friction, better meet parents' expectations, improve accessibility and overall usability. Alongside the design, building a scalable and sustainable design system and documentation to enable a smooth multidisciplinary collaboration between product, design and development teams.
Educational app for 11–12 year-old students
Users
First-year middle school students (11–12)
Limited attention span, requiring simple and focused interactions
Need for clear guidance to support task completion
First-year middle school students (11–12)
Limited attention span, requiring simple and focused interactions
Need for clear guidance to support task completion
Role
UX audit, user interviews and user testing,
Planned and conducted user testing with children and parents to identify friction points and inform UX improvements,
With the goal of creating a clearer and more intuitive experience.
UX audit, user interviews and user testing,
Planned and conducted user testing with children and parents to identify friction points and inform UX improvements,
With the goal of creating a clearer and more intuitive experience.
Users
Time restricted parents with strong expectations around efficiency, clarity, and reliability.
Role
UX Research · UX/UI Design · Design System · Documentation · End-to-end product ownership
Users
Time restricted parents with strong expectations around efficiency, clarity, and reliability.
Role
UX Research · UX/UI Design · Design System · Documentation · End-to-end product ownership
Frictions
Frictions
Navigation and comprehension issues limiting user autonomy
Friction in key user flows
Hesitation and task abandonment
Engagement decreasing over time despite an initially positive experience
The existing interface no longer met user expectations in terms of clarity and ease of use leading to confusion and errors.
Technical and performance limitations affected task completion
Accessibility standards were not fully met, excluding some users
Lack of visual consistency reduced perceived reliability of the service
The existing interface no longer met user expectations in terms of clarity and ease of use
Technical and performance limitations affected task completion
Accessibility standards were not fully met, excluding some users
Lack of visual consistency reduced perceived reliability of the service
Goals
Goals
Improve usability, clarity and gamification for children aged 11–12
Strengthen engagement through simple, age-appropriate gamification
Enhance the experience while working within the constraints of the existing MVP
Address usability gaps identified in the existing interface
Minimize performance-related friction impacting user efficiency
Ensure inclusive access while reinforcing perceived reliability and trust
Establish visual consistency to strengthen brand recognition
Challenges
Challenges
Audit
Audit
Challenge
Challenge
The audit was conducted upfront to identify structural usability, accessibility, and consistency issues, and to inform the testing scenarios and interview guides. Objectives:
The UX audit was conducted upfront to identify structural usability, accessibility, and consistency issues, and to inform the definition of testing scenarios and interview guides.
The audit was conducted upfront to identify structural usability, accessibility, and consistency issues, and to inform the testing scenarios and interview guides.
Results
Design a more comprehensive onboarding flow to strengthen brand credibility and build user trust from the first interaction.
Make actions more explicit and visible to enable smoother navigation and reduce cognitive load.
Reinforce content hierarchy to help users quickly understand the interface, maintain their bearings, and complete tasks more efficiently.
Apply Gestalt principles more consistently to improve visual grouping, separation, and information scanning, allowing users to find what they need faster.
Comply with WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 by ensuring a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for standard text and 3:1 for large text, improving readability and accessibility for users with visual impairments and supporting a more inclusive experience.
Objectives
Identify structural usability issues across key user journeys
Assess accessibility barriers impacting inclusive use
Evaluate visual and interaction consistency across the platform
Inform test scenarios and interview guides with evidence-based findings
Identify usability and accessibility gaps
Understand user needs and pain points
Reduce friction in critical journeys
Support trust and brand consistency
User Interviews
User Interviews
Approach
Approach
Semi-structured interviews with parents to explore how they and their children use the Baobab app for homework support, uncover pain points, understand routines, and gather expectations around usability, clarity, and learning effectiveness.
Semi-structured interviews with parents to explore how they and their children use the Baobab app for homework support, uncover pain points, understand routines, and gather expectations around usability, clarity, and learning effectiveness.
Semi-structured interviews with parents to explore how they and their children use the Baobab app for homework support, uncover pain points, understand routines, and gather expectations around usability, clarity, and learning effectiveness.
Objectives
Key insighs and results
Understand homework routines and usage contexts
Validate usability issues identified in the audit
Explore trust and safety expectations
Identify unmet needs in homework guidance and motivation
User interviews revealed critical insights that directly informed both the product redesign and the creation of a scalable design system and documentation.
Device usage
Mobile usage dominated, leading to a mobile-first UX strategy and the creation of touch-friendly, responsive components and layout guidelines within the design system.
Usage frequency
Daily usage required instant access to key information, driving the prioritization of efficiency-focused layouts and navigation patterns.
Core features
Schedules, notifications, and route search were identified as critical journeys, shaping interface hierarchy and standardized interaction patterns.
Pain points
Small touch targets and unclear navigation highlighted the need for stronger accessibility standards, clearer interaction cues, and ergonomic system rules.
Overall perception
Moderate satisfaction revealed opportunities to improve clarity, consistency, and perceived reliability through stronger visual and interaction design.
User suggestions
Requests for saved routes and personalized alerts guided the design of scalable personalization patterns within the system.
Device usage
Mobile usage dominated, leading to a mobile-first UX strategy and the creation of touch-friendly, responsive components and layout guidelines within the design system.
Usage frequency
Daily usage required instant access to key information, driving the prioritization of efficiency-focused layouts and navigation patterns.
Core features
Schedules, notifications, and route search were identified as critical journeys, shaping interface hierarchy and standardized interaction patterns.
Pain points
Small touch targets and unclear navigation highlighted the need for stronger accessibility standards, clearer interaction cues, and ergonomic system rules.
Overall perception
Moderate satisfaction revealed opportunities to improve clarity, consistency, and perceived reliability through stronger visual and interaction design.
User suggestions
Requests for saved routes and personalized alerts guided the design of scalable personalization patterns within the system.
User Tests
User Tests
Approach
Approach
Scenario-based usability tests with parents and children to assess clarity, ease of use, and error prevention when completing homework-related tasks in the Baobab app.
Scenario-based usability tests with parents and children to assess clarity, ease of use, and error prevention when completing school transport–related tasks in the transport app.
Scenario-based usability tests with parents and children to assess clarity, ease of use, and error prevention when completing school transport–related tasks in the transport app.
Problem statement
Observe how parents and children complete homework tasks in the app
Validate usability issues identified in the audit under real usage conditions
Assess clarity, feedback, and ease of use of key features
Identify friction points and unmet needs in daily homework workflows
Evaluate how parents complete critical tasks in the app (e.g., registering children, managing subscriptions)
Identify friction points and errors in the user journey
Assess clarity, feedback, and ease of use of the platform
Gather insights to refine features, flows, and the overall experience
Problem statement
Evaluate how parents complete critical tasks in the app (e.g., registering children, managing subscriptions)
Identify friction points and errors in the user journey
Assess clarity, feedback, and ease of use of the platform
Gather insights to refine features, flows, and the overall experience
Insights
Insights
Key pain points
Lack of guidance and visual consistency, causing navigation hesitation (observed during usability testing)
Insufficient system feedback during loading and image processing, creating uncertainty about system status
Gamification elements (achievements) lacked context and visibility, reducing perceived value
Limited personalization options, weakening emotional engagement over time
Interface elements were not adapted to mobile usage
Navigation and action hierarchy lacked clarity
Users experienced uncertainty due to limited system feedback
Accessibility and readability issues affected overall usability
Key recommendations
Harmonize illustration and icon styles to improve consistency and reduce cognitive load
Improve iconography for key actions (e.g. clearer “add course” icon) to support faster recognition
Add contextual onboarding for first-time actions and unexplored pages
Provide informative feedback during loading and image processing
Reinforce gamification by clarifying achievement meaning and visibility
Introduce personalization options (avatars, subject colors) to support long-term engagement
Optimize layouts and spacing for mobile interactions
Strengthen visual and action hierarchy to guide users
Make user actions and system responses more explicit
Improve accessibility through contrast, structure, and clear grouping
Reinforce content hierarchy to reduce cognitive load
Main UX Recommendations
Simplify user flows and reduce cognitive load
Integrate timetables directly into ride requests
Redesign CTA hierarchy, wording, and layout
Improve content prioritization and information architecture
Enable PDF download of schedules for frequent use
Apply mobile-first ergonomics, touch-friendly spacing, and accessibility standards (WCAG contrast)
Key Problems Identified
Complex and unclear child ride request flow
High cognitive load when consulting schedules
Poor CTA hierarchy, wording, and placement
Lack of schedule integration inside requests
Insufficient mobile ergonomics and accessibility
Low relevance of homepage content hierarchy
Outcome
Outcome
Benefits
Reduced navigation errors and faster completion of key user flows, observed during usability testing
Improved user confidence through clearer hierarchy and consistent system feedback
Increased interaction with core features, especially progress tracking
Enhanced motivation supported by visible progress indicators and light, non-intrusive comparison elements
Simpler and more intuitive mobile interactions
Faster task completion for schedule checks and transport management
Clearer guidance and system feedback, reducing errors and frustration
More relevant and personalized information for parents and children
Impact on User Experience
Faster task completion
Better understanding of actions
Reduced friction and errors
Increased feeling of trust, safety, and reliability
Improved usability, accessibility, and engagement
Design System & Documentation Outcomes
Mobile-first component library
CTA hierarchy and interaction rules
Touch-friendly spacing and layout guidelines
Timetable input patterns
Accessibility standards integration
Impact on User Experience
Faster task completion
Better understanding of actions
Reduced friction and errors
Increased feeling of trust, safety, and reliability
Improved usability, accessibility, and engagement
The design improvements led to a smoother, more intuitive experience for users. Key impacts included:
Faster task completion – Parents and children can check schedules and manage transport quickly and efficiently.
Clearer understanding of actions – Users know exactly what to do at every step.
Reduced friction and errors – Thoughtful feedback and guidance minimize mistakes and frustration.
Increased trust and reliability – Users feel confident that the system works for them.
Design System & Documentation Outcomes
Mobile-first component library
CTA hierarchy and interaction rules
Touch-friendly spacing and layout guidelines
Timetable input patterns
Accessibility standards integration
To ensure consistency and scalability, I developed a mobile-first component library and comprehensive documentation:
CTA hierarchy and interaction rules – Clear calls-to-action guide users effectively.
Touch-friendly spacing and layouts – Interfaces feel natural and easy to interact with on mobile.
Timetable input patterns – Streamlined for quick schedule management.
Accessibility standards integration – Everyone can use the system comfortably.
Benefits
Simpler and more intuitive mobile interactions
Faster task completion for schedule checks and transport management
Clearer guidance and system feedback, reducing errors and frustration
More relevant and personalized information for parents and children
The result is a more usable, engaging, and personalized experience for families:
This project demonstrates how thoughtful UX design, combined with a strong design system, can transform complex workflows into experiences that feel natural, reliable, and seamless.
Interactions are simpler and more intuitive, especially on mobile.
Users complete tasks faster, with fewer errors.
The system provides clear guidance and meaningful feedback, reducing stress.
Parents and children receive relevant, personalized information that supports their daily routines.
Key Learnings
Takeaways
Strategic mobile-first thinking drives efficiency – Designing with a mobile-first mindset ensured critical tasks were completed faster, aligning the product with the needs of time-constrained parents.
Intentional hierarchy and interaction design reduce errors – Thoughtful CTA placement, wording, and content prioritization minimized cognitive load and improved task success, reinforcing user trust.
Accessibility strengthens both inclusion and credibility – Integrating WCAG standards enhanced usability for all users while signaling the platform’s reliability and commitment to equity.
Research-informed systems create scalable solutions – User insights guided not only interface improvements but also the development of a reusable, maintainable design system for cross-team collaboration.
Documentation and process leadership drive consistency – Providing clear design guidelines and interaction rules enabled multidisciplinary teams to deliver a coherent experience at scale.
Strategic mobile-first thinking drives efficiency – Designing with a mobile-first mindset ensured critical tasks were completed faster, aligning the product with the needs of time-constrained parents.
Intentional hierarchy and interaction design reduce errors – Thoughtful CTA placement, wording, and content prioritization minimized cognitive load and improved task success, reinforcing user trust.
Accessibility strengthens both inclusion and credibility – Integrating WCAG standards enhanced usability for all users while signaling the platform’s reliability and commitment to equity.
Research-informed systems create scalable solutions – User insights guided not only interface improvements but also the development of a reusable, maintainable design system for cross-team collaboration.
Documentation and process leadership drive consistency – Providing clear design guidelines and interaction rules enabled multidisciplinary teams to deliver a coherent experience at scale.
Persona
What for ?
The persona helped us represent typical users to guide design and development by better understanding their needs and expectations based on the various user interviews.
Persona
What for ?
The persona helped us represent typical users to guide design and development by better understanding their needs and expectations based on the various user interviews.
The persona helped us represent typical users to guide design and development by better understanding their needs and expectations based on the various user interviews.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-
Aquitaine
Research and gamification
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Research and gamification
Let’s work together
Let’s elevate your project
ebecca
olombel
About me
Projects
AFD
School transports
Services
UX Research
UX Design
Wireframe
UI Design
Prototype
Illustrations
My artistic Journey
Socials
Région
Nouvelle-
Aquitaine
Research and gamification
Introduction
Audit
Interviews
Tests
Design system
Documentation
Insigths
Conception
Outcome
UX Research
UX Design
Overview
For the 2024 school year, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region aimed to redesign its school transport platform. Their goal is to strengthen brand consistency and place a greater emphasis on user experience.
The goal was to redesign the application to reduce friction, better meet parents' expectations, improve accessibility and overall usability. Alongside the design, building a scalable and sustainable design system and documentation to enable a smooth multidisciplinary collaboration between product, design and development teams.
Role
UX Research · UX/UI Design · Design System · Documentation
End-to-end product ownership
Users
Time restricted parents with strong expectations around efficiency, clarity, and reliability.
Challenges
Frictions
The existing interface no longer met user expectations in terms of clarity and ease of use leading to confusion and errors.
Technical and performance limitations affected task completion
Accessibility standards were not fully met, excluding some users
Lack of visual consistency reduced perceived reliability of the service
Goals
Address usability gaps identified in the existing interface
Minimize performance-related friction impacting user efficiency
Ensure inclusive access while reinforcing perceived reliability and trust
Establish visual consistency to strengthen brand recognition
Persona
What for ?
The persona helped us represent typical users to guide design and development by better understanding their needs and expectations based on the various user interviews.
Audit
Challenge
The UX audit was conducted upfront to identify structural usability, accessibility, and consistency issues, and to inform the definition of testing scenarios and interview guides.
Results
Design a more comprehensive onboarding flow to strengthen brand credibility and build user trust from the first interaction.
Make actions more explicit and visible to enable smoother navigation and reduce cognitive load.
Reinforce content hierarchy to help users quickly understand the interface, maintain their bearings, and complete tasks more efficiently.
Apply Gestalt principles more consistently to improve visual grouping, separation, and information scanning, allowing users to find what they need faster.
Comply with WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 by ensuring a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for standard text and 3:1 for large text, improving readability and accessibility for users with visual impairments and supporting a more inclusive experience.
User Interviews
Approach
Semi-structured interviews with parents to explore how they and their children use the Baobab app for homework support, uncover pain points, understand routines, and gather expectations around usability, clarity, and learning effectiveness.
Key insighs and results
User interviews revealed critical insights that directly informed both the product redesign and the creation of a scalable design system and documentation.
Device usage
Mobile usage dominated, leading to a mobile-first UX strategy and the creation of touch-friendly, responsive components and layout guidelines within the design system.
Usage frequency
Daily usage required instant access to key information, driving the prioritization of efficiency-focused layouts and navigation patterns.
Core features
Schedules, notifications, and route search were identified as critical journeys, shaping interface hierarchy and standardized interaction patterns.
Pain points
Small touch targets and unclear navigation highlighted the need for stronger accessibility standards, clearer interaction cues, and ergonomic system rules.
Overall perception
Moderate satisfaction revealed opportunities to improve clarity, consistency, and perceived reliability through stronger visual and interaction design.
User suggestions
Requests for saved routes and personalized alerts guided the design of scalable personalization patterns within the system.
User Tests
Approach
Scenario-based usability tests with parents and children to assess clarity, ease of use, and error prevention when completing school transport–related tasks in the transport app.
Problem statement
Evaluate how parents complete critical tasks in the app (e.g., registering children, managing subscriptions)
Identify friction points and errors in the user journey
Assess clarity, feedback, and ease of use of the platform
Gather insights to refine features, flows, and the overall experience
Insights
Main UX Recommendations
Simplify user flows and reduce cognitive load
Integrate timetables directly into ride requests
Redesign CTA hierarchy, wording, and layout
Improve content prioritization and information architecture
Enable PDF download of schedules for frequent use
Apply mobile-first ergonomics, touch-friendly spacing, and accessibility standards (WCAG contrast)
Key Problems Identified
Complex and unclear child ride request flow
High cognitive load when consulting schedules
Poor CTA hierarchy, wording, and placement
Lack of schedule integration inside requests
Insufficient mobile ergonomics and accessibility
Low relevance of homepage content hierarchy
Outcome
Impact on User Experience
The design improvements led to a smoother, more intuitive experience for users. Key impacts included:
Faster task completion – Parents and children can check schedules and manage transport quickly and efficiently.
Clearer understanding of actions – Users know exactly what to do at every step.
Reduced friction and errors – Thoughtful feedback and guidance minimize mistakes and frustration.
Increased trust and reliability – Users feel confident that the system works for them.
Design System & Documentation Outcomes
To ensure consistency and scalability, I developed a mobile-first component library and comprehensive documentation:
CTA hierarchy and interaction rules – Clear calls-to-action guide users effectively.
Touch-friendly spacing and layouts – Interfaces feel natural and easy to interact with on mobile.
Timetable input patterns – Streamlined for quick schedule management.
Accessibility standards integration – Everyone can use the system comfortably.
Benefits
The result is a more usable, engaging, and personalized experience for families:
This project demonstrates how thoughtful UX design, combined with a strong design system, can transform complex workflows into experiences that feel natural, reliable, and seamless.
Interactions are simpler and more intuitive, especially on mobile.
Users complete tasks faster, with fewer errors.
The system provides clear guidance and meaningful feedback, reducing stress.
Parents and children receive relevant, personalized information that supports their daily routines.
Key Learnings
Takeaways
Strategic mobile-first thinking drives efficiency – Designing with a mobile-first mindset ensured critical tasks were completed faster, aligning the product with the needs of time-constrained parents.
Intentional hierarchy and interaction design reduce errors – Thoughtful CTA placement, wording, and content prioritization minimized cognitive load and improved task success, reinforcing user trust.
Accessibility strengthens both inclusion and credibility – Integrating WCAG standards enhanced usability for all users while signaling the platform’s reliability and commitment to equity.
Research-informed systems create scalable solutions – User insights guided not only interface improvements but also the development of a reusable, maintainable design system for cross-team collaboration.
Documentation and process leadership drive consistency – Providing clear design guidelines and interaction rules enabled multidisciplinary teams to deliver a coherent experience at scale.
Let’s work together
Let’s elevate your project
ebecca
olombel
About me
Projects
AFD
School transports
Services
UX Research
UX Design
Wireframe
UI Design
Prototype
Illustrations
My artistic Journey
Socials