/ work /Zenda

CASE STUDY 02 · EDTECH · DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Zenda: replacing NYC's failing special ed system, so no student gets missed.

I led the redesign of 6 modules in the NYC Department of Education's new Special Education Data Management System (SEDMS), the platform that tracks whether students with disabilities get the services they're legally owed.

PROBLEM

A $130M system failing up to 800,000 times a day.

MY ROLE

Lead designer, 6 modules, research to handoff.

KEY DECISIONS
  • Future state, gradual shift
  • IEP goals inside notes
  • Compliance over flexibility
  • Progress at a glance
OUTCOME

Testers: "easy to learn." Handed off to engineering.

the problem

$130M+spent building the old system
800,000malfunctions a day, at worst
$38.5Min back pay to ~30,000 staff forced to work overtime on it
  • Legally binding dataEvery service a student receives is tied to their IEP. Mistakes have legal consequences.
  • A very wide range of usersTeachers, case managers, school psychologists and therapists, so everything had to meet WCAG.
  • People depend on it dailyWe couldn't just start over and leave existing users to figure it out.
  • A large, cross-functional teamDesigners, research, engineering and SMEs.

my role

  • User interviews and a heuristic review of SESIS
  • Wireframes for the related service provider experience
  • Weekly co-design sessions with SMEs, users and engineers
  • High-fidelity design for 6 modules
  • Components and patterns in the new design system
  • Usability testing and developer handoff

01RESEARCH

understand why people avoided the system

I interviewed users and ran a heuristic review of the old system, SESIS. Even stakeholders joined research so we shared one understanding of the rules.

Our process: research, analysis, ideate, co-design, design and test
Our process, from research to tested designs.
  • The system was so hard to use that people entered data offline instead.
  • Educators had complained for years that it was slow and time-consuming.
  • It didn't reflect what teachers actually experienced with their students.
  • Its flaws made it hard to know how well the city was serving students with disabilities.
The old SESIS home screen
The old system: SESIS.
A dense SESIS form with dozens of legally required fields
Dense forms with dozens of legally required fields.

02CO-DESIGN

design the future state, together

The system needed a fresh start, but thousands of educators relied on it daily. I designed "blue sky," then tested it every week with SMEs, users and engineers so the change felt gradual. All three groups were on board before high fidelity, which de-risked the build.

Co-design session board
Weekly co-design with SMEs, users and engineers.
Wireframes with design notes for each screen
Wireframes with a design note for every screen.

03FINAL DESIGNS

final designs

01

Put IEP goals inside the session note

THE PROBLEM
Writing one session note meant jumping between screens and tabs.
WHAT I DID
Put each student’s IEP goals in a dropdown inside the note, next to attendance and progress.
RESULT
The most-loved feature in testing. It cut steps from a daily task.
Final session notes screen with an IEP goal dropdown
Session notes with goals built in.
02

Choose compliance over flexibility

THE FINDING
Some text must stay exactly as written to comply with IEP rules.
WHAT I DID
Locked those fields, even though more editing would have felt friendlier.
THE TRADE-OFF
Less freedom, but records that hold up legally.
The new SEDMS encounter attendance screen
Attendance in the new system.
03

Make progress readable at a glance

THE PROBLEM
No one could easily see how well students were being served.
WHAT I DID
A dashboard with colour-coded goals, missed sessions, deadlines and links into each student’s record, built to WCAG.
RESULT
Every tester valued the colour-coded goals and direct links.
Group Progress dashboard
Group Progress dashboard.

Other modules I designed

Session Notes (mobile)Tracking Compliance & ServicesIEP DraftContracting Out Providers

outcome

Testers found it intuitive and "easy to learn." I documented every module for engineering and stayed close to the build. SEDMS was in development when my engagement ended.

WHAT I'D MEASURE AFTER LAUNCHHow long a session note takes to complete, how much data still gets entered offline, and how many students have services logged on time.

What I learned

In a regulated system, subject matter experts are your best design partners. Weekly sessions with them, users and engineers kept a complex project on schedule.