Konstella

This UX research portfolio piece explores the end-to-end experience of users interacting with the Konstella App, a communication platform designed for parents, teachers, and school administrators. Konstella aims to simplify school-related communication by offering tools for messaging, event coordination, and parent engagement within a centralized digital space.

Overview and Research Goals

Konstella is a private communication platform designed to help parents, teachers, and school administrators stay connected and organized within a school community. It offers features like classroom and school-wide messaging, event coordination, parent directories, and centralized calendars with reminders. Parents can join interest-based groups, sign up for volunteer opportunities, and stay informed about school happenings—all within a single app. However, Konstella is only functional if a school has officially adopted the platform, meaning its value depends entirely on active school-wide participation.

The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the end-to-end experience of Konstella users as they interact with the Konstella app focusing on how well it supports users in achieving their goals. Specifically, the study sought to answer several key research questions: How effectively does the app support users’ ability to complete essential tasks? How does the app’s structure and organization impact task completion? Do users understand the app’s content, and does it aid in accomplishing their objectives? Additionally, the research explored users’ impressions of the app’s visual design and their overall perceptions of the platform. These questions provided a framework for assessing both the functionality and the usability of Konstella from the users’ perspective. While Konstella offers a range of features designed to streamline school communication and community engagement, its effectiveness ultimately depends on how well parents and teachers can navigate and use the platform in real-world contexts.

Initial Research

The first step in this UX research journey was to understand users’ perceptions and sentiment about the Konstella app. To gather broad, initial insights, I conducted a survey targeting active users of the app. The survey focused on uncovering first impressions, usage patterns, usability, and overall satisfaction. Key questions included: What was your first impression of the Konstella App?, How often do you use it during the week?, and How easy is it to use? To identify which features users value most, respondents were also asked: What functionality of the app could you not live without? and What is the most difficult part of using it? The survey also explored user satisfaction across several areas: app stability, security, visual design, and overall quality. Finally, participants were invited to suggest changes and give the app a score out of 10. These responses helped shape a clearer picture of how users experience Konstella on a day-to-day basis and pointed to areas requiring deeper exploration.

The Konstella app was found to be useful for keeping parents informed and connected within the school community, with features such as announcements, event sign-ups, the Parent Directory, Private Messaging, and the Classroom section being especially valued for facilitating communication. However, the app was reported to lack integration, as several tasks—such as creating events or sign-ups—can only be completed on a computer, reducing convenience. Users also indicated a need for improved calendar synchronization and more flexible notification options. In addition, the interface was described as confusing and overwhelming, with limited filtering options in the feed and challenges in managing multiple schools. A desire for greater customization to tailor the app to individual preferences was also expressed.

The findings suggest that while the Konstella app successfully meets users’ core needs for communication and community engagement, several design and functionality limitations are hindering overall user satisfaction and long-term adoption. The lack of full mobile integration implies that users may experience frustration or disengagement when key tasks cannot be completed on their preferred device. Similarly, the absence of calendar synchronization and customizable notification settings suggests missed opportunities to align the app with users’ daily digital habits. The confusing interface and lack of filtering options indicate usability challenges that could discourage frequent use and reduce the effectiveness of communication within the school community. Finally, the expressed need for greater personalization highlights an opportunity for Konstella to improve user retention by offering more flexible, user-centered design solutions that accommodate diverse preferences and multi-school management needs.

Useful

“Messaging and directory are everything for me.”

Integration

“It’s more difficult to access administrator-level functionality on the app.”

Confusing UI

“I can’t easily find my sign ups, I need to check the calendar day by day.”

Research Plan and Execution

A usability research plan was developed to guide this project, outlining clear objectives, methods, and metrics to evaluate the Konstella app’s user experience. The plan focused on identifying pain points related to navigation, task completion, and feature accessibility across devices. It included user interviews, task-based testing, and heuristic evaluations to gather both qualitative and quantitative insights. This structured approach ensured that the research was aligned with user needs and provided actionable findings to inform design improvements.

Once the research plan was developed, the recruitment process began with a recruitment email sent to potential participants, inviting them to take part in the usability study. Those who expressed interest were then asked to complete a usability test screener designed to identify individuals who met the target audience criteria and were willing to participate. Once participants were selected, a confirmation email was sent to provide essential details about the study, including the schedule, format, and expectations. This structured process ensured that qualified and engaged participants were recruited efficiently and consistently.

Usability Testing

5 Female participants

College graduated or higher

Between 40-49 years old

Bay Area Residents

Konstella
Users

During the usability sessions, each participant was asked to complete five key scenarios that reflected common tasks within the app: sending a private message, checking sign-ups, reviewing the school calendar, filtering the feed for one student, and checking user orders. This structure allowed for close observation of user interactions across multiple features, revealing usability challenges, navigation issues, and opportunities to improve task efficiency and overall user satisfaction.