Stund

Parenting a primary school child in Reykjavík demands a lot of organization and mental load. School-related communication is fragmented across a legacy school app (InfoMentor), Google Classroom, school websites, email and Facebook groups.

Parents who are genuinely interested in their children’s education and well-being have to navigate multiple information channels and compile their own overview of events, homework and non-standard school days. The legacy app is slow and navigation is broken. Additionally, grades are difficult to interpret due to lack of context.

I did a survey of parents and teachers to gather their opinions and wishes, as well as interviews with parents and a survey of other school apps in the Nordics. Among the main research questions were:

• How satisfied are parents and teachers with current tools, and where are the gaps in functionality?
• What are the main frustrations of parents with the current tools?
• What ideas do parents and teachers have about ideal tools?
• What are the most crucial features of parent-to-school apps and why?

The survey quantified the dissatisfaction at NPS = -82 and a mean satisfaction score of 3.78/10. Judging from responses, common frustrations with the current app are navigation complexity, broken notifications, grades display, slow performance and lack of information prioritization.

I created lo-fi wireframes for key screens. I sketched them by hand, then used Claude to mock up in Figma in lo- to mid-fi as per the sketches and finally refined them manually in Figma for testing.

The lo-fi wireframes were tested to validate the information architecture and basic flow before committing to visual design.

I used the research and discovery work to identify the brand values: presence, reliability, clarity and curiosity.

The name Stund means “a while” or “moment” in Icelandic and Scandinavian languages. It is also part of the Icelandic words “stundatafla” and “kennslustund” which mean “class schedule” and “class” respectively.

The color palette consists of only one primary color, Cosmic Violet. Violet is the highest-energy color the human eye can see, associated with dreams, imagination, creativity and thoughtfulness.

The logo shows a checkmark when zoomed out (reliability), and can also be viewed as a clock (schedule, “stund”). The main metaphor is the big pencil helping the small pencil write, standing for the empowerment the product gives parents to engage and support their children in their primary education.

The font, Onest, is a modern geometric sans-serif with humanist warmth. It is highly legible, screen-optimized and versatile across a broad weight range, with a quietly distinctive personality.

After developing the brand, I designed an on-brand UI library that expanded with each screen.

The home screen addresses busy parents’ need for an at-a-glance look at their children’s school day. They can instantly see when their children will be attending school today, what’s for lunch and the commonly used absence reporting button is available without any need to search for it.

Below this view are announcements that apply to their children. Currently announcements are sent by email, with no way to view them in context or per child. Stund allows parents to filter the content by child and respond to announcements via the in-app messaging.

The grades screen is an immense improvement upon the current situation. Grades can be viewed in a latest-first order, tied directly to the assignment or exam that is behind it.

By tapping a grade in the overview or in a notification, the grade detail screen opens. The parent can view the breakdown with regard to competence criteria and contact the teacher via the in-app messaging feature also shown below.

Parents in Iceland are unhappy with digital school communication. Not only because of a legacy app with broken navigation and core features, but because of the fragmentation of information and controversial grading methods that were adopted for primary education in Iceland about a decade ago.

Stund resolves most of these issues and the concept is validated by parents who tested the MVP prototype. They all agree that it would make them better informed and more engaged in their children’s education, with much less effort.