SeeSaw Labs
How we build products that drive outcomes
Discover. Define. Design. Develop. Delight.
School Climate Assessment Platform
The Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health (TIEMH) at The University of Texas at Austin has partnered with Educational Service Center 16 and The Texas Education Agency to develop a web-based app that will support school districts and charter schools to conduct school climate measurement
The problem: Measuring what matters most
TIEMH needs a modern, integrated solution that captures authentic student and staff voices while providing actionable insights to school leaders. The platform must be accessible, secure, and capable of revealing patterns that drive meaningful improvements in school climate and mental health support.
School climate profoundly impacts student wellbeing, performance, and mental health outcomes. Yet many districts lack effective tools to measure and respond to these concerns systematically.
Conduct measurement
Without a unified platform, schools waste valuable time managing fragmented data sources instead of focusing on student wellbeing
Visualize results
Manual processes take weeks to compile and analyze survey data while real-time visualization turns data into immediate action
Make actionable decisions
Traditional surveys fail to reach all students, particularly those with disabilities or language barriers
Make goals and plans
Schools often create improvement plans in the dark, guessing at solutions rather than targeting interventions that will have the greatest impact on student wellbeing.
Our research approach: Delving deeper
Our research plan leverages expertise from TIEMH / UT Austin, reviewing all existing tools and data to identify knowledge gaps. We then employ targeted methods to gather insights, ensuring a feasible approach consistent with project timelines and budgets to accelerate development.
Qualitative research
Understand user motivations, thoughts, and attitudes through moderated interviews (applying the 5-user rule for efficient insights) and focus groups.
This captures rich insights and direct quotes to validate hypotheses and prioritize ideas.
Quantitative research
Measure product usability and link UX design to organizational goals and KPIs.
Methods include usability benchmarking (time-on-task, success/abandonment rate, errors) and standardized surveys like SUS or NPS, typically with 30+ participants.
Research synthesis
Synthesize findings through Affinity Mapping to identify primary themes and patterns.
An Executive Summary of research insights, complete with links to corresponding artifacts, is then generated for internal stakeholders.
Test → learn → align: Our iterative feedback loop
Plan & prepare
Define clear objectives, recruit diverse participants, and develop detailed test scripts and interactive prototypes to guide focused feedback collection
Execute sessions
Conduct asynchronous or moderated user testing sessions, facilitate feedback workshops with key stakeholders, and host internal alignment meetings to capture comprehensive insights
Analyze & synthesize
Collect and analyze all feedback, identifying recurring patterns, pain points, and opportunities. Synthesize findings into actionable insights and recommendations via executive summary
Iterate & align
Present findings to the team, prioritize improvements, and integrate feedback into design iterations. Ensure all adjustments maintain product vision and strategic alignment
Platform vision: An integrated climate assessment ecosystem
Based on our understanding, we're pursuing a comprehensive platform hypothesis that addresses the full lifecycle of school climate assessment from data collection to actionable insights.
Unified data integration platform
Centralized hub that aggregates and unifies climate survey data from multiple sources, enabling seamless integration with existing assessment tools and creating a single source of truth for school climate insights.
Intelligent survey management system
Flexible survey creation and management tools that allow administrators to build custom assessments or select from a curated library of validated, research-backed climate surveys aligned with best practices.
Multi-channel survey distribution
End-user engagement tools supporting SMS, email, and QR code distribution, ensuring maximum accessibility and participation across diverse student and staff populations with varied technology access.
Multi-level reporting & insights
Comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities tailored for district, school, and classroom levels, featuring comparative benchmarks, trend analysis, and AI-powered actionable recommendations.
Enterprise-grade user management
Modern authentication and authorization system with role-based access control, single sign-on (SSO) integration, and security configurations aligned with educational data privacy standards (FERPA, COPPA).
Integrated training & support
Multi-channel training capabilities including in-platform guidance, video tutorials, live webinars, and resource libraries to ensure successful adoption and effective use across all user roles.
Discovery & UI/UX research & Design phases
Review executed research
Review existing climate tools, user personas, and Qualtrics survey data to identify knowledge gaps
Define information architecture
Structure the application's content and flow logically, validating with stakeholders to ensure intuitive navigation
Wireframe & prototype
Develop low-fidelity designs and interactive prototypes for iterative user testing, gathering feedback early and often
Synthesize insights & make product decisions
translate complex user insights into focused product decisions
Priorities & documentation
Collaborate with the team to establish feature priorities and build a clear product roadmap for efficient development
Documentation deliverables
Our discovery phase culminates in a suite of essential deliverables, providing a clear foundation for strategic decision-making and product development. Each artifact is designed to translate research findings into actionable insights and concrete plans.
Information Architecture (IA) diagram
Visualizing the application's structure and content hierarchy, ensuring intuitive user flow and logical navigation paths.
Stakeholder alignment matrix
Mapping key stakeholders, their needs, and project objectives to ensure strategic consensus and feature prioritization.
Research protocol & guides
Comprehensive guides for conducting user interviews and focus groups, ensuring consistent data collection and valuable insights.
Centralized feedback database
A structured repository for collecting, tracking, and analyzing user feedback, enabling data-driven iteration and improvements.
Comprehensive findings report
A detailed summary of all research insights, key takeaways, and supporting evidence, presented for internal stakeholders.
Product recommendations & roadmap
Actionable recommendations for product features and a clear, prioritized roadmap for future development.
Our plan for TIEMH: a customized roadmap
We've developed an implementation plan specifically designed for the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health. This approach balances speed with thoroughness, ensuring a successful launch while building strong foundations for long-term success.
Weeks 1-2: Foundation & alignement
Requirements finalization, stakeholder alignment, information architecture design, and security framework establishment
Weeks 3-4: Prototyping & socialization
Wireframing, prototype creation, stakeholder feedback workshops, and iterative refinement based on insights gathered
Weeks 5-6: Feedback & refinement
Comprehensive user testing sessions with students and staff, stakeholder feedback workshops, and usability testing to collect insights and inform refinements.
Week 7: Synthesis & product definition
Analyze all collected feedback, identify key patterns and themes, synthesize insights into actionable recommendations, and define comprehensive product requirements and specifications.
Week 8: Roadmap & iteration planning
Create an actionable, smart, and feasible roadmap for iterative development, prioritizing features based on impact and feasibility, establishing phased development milestones, clear timelines, and resource allocation for strategic delivery.
Deliverables
- Information Architecture (IA) diagram
- Stakeholder alignment matrix
- Research protocol & guides
- Centralized feedback database
- Comprehensive findings report
- Product recommendations & roadmap
Investment
- Team: Senior Designer, Product Research Lead, Engineer
- Engagement: 2 months
- Monthly cost: $24,000
- Total investment: $48,000
Success metrics
- 100% stakeholder alignment on product vision and priorities
- 20+ user interviews conducted across student, staff, and administrator groups
- 3+ validated prototypes tested with real users
- Prioritized roadmap with clear phases and resource estimates
About us: Partners in educational excellence
We bring over 10 years of combined experience designing and building education technology products that serve real classroom needs and scale across diverse learning environments. Our work is grounded in research-driven, human-centered design, partnering closely with students, educators, administrators, and families to deeply understand challenges before shaping solutions.
We focus on outcomes, not just interfaces. From improving student engagement and learning outcomes to driving adoption across districts and advancing equity through accessible, inclusive design, we build products that make a measurable impact. By blending qualitative research, data-informed decision making, and thoughtful UX/UI execution, we help education platforms move from intention to meaningful change.
Design for learning outcomes, not just features
Every design decision should directly support learning, growth, or insight. Success is measured by student progress, educator effectiveness, and meaningful adoption, not surface-level engagement
Always be human-centered and context -aware
Education happens in complex environments with real constraints. Design must respect the lived experiences of students, teachers, administrators, and families
Prioritize equity, accessibility, and inclusion
Technology should expand access to learning, not reinforce existing inequities. Flexible experiences that support diverse abilities and contexts are foundational, not optional
Make data insights understandable and actionable
Educational insights are only valuable when they leads to insight and action. Design should clarify, not overwhelm.
Iterate through research and evidence
EdTech must evolve alongside users, policies, and learning science. Research is continuous improvement informed by qualitative and quantitative data
Build trust through transparency and privacy
Schools and families place deep trust in EdTech products. Design must communicate safety, credibility, and ethical data use.
The Five D's framework
A simple, repeatable product model
Clear purpose at every stage—AI accelerates every phase to deliver faster, smarter results.
Discover
Research user needs
Define
Clarify goals and scope
Design
Create solutions and flows
Develop
Build and iterate quickly
Delight
Measure and refine UX
LMS feature: Grading assignments by question
Schoology is a leading Learning Management System (LMS) for K-12 that supports curriculum delivery and collaboration between teachers, students, and parents.​ Assignment grading is completed by educators directly in app for students and parents to access grades and feedback in real time.
Schoology's grading workflow required educators to take on entire assignments at once, starting at the first question and proceeding to the last, over and over again for every student. This led to significant context switching and a slow, frustrating grading experience.
Identifying the problem
Through direct feedback, teachers expressed a clear need, that they wanted to grade by individual question, staying focused on that same question across multiple student's submissions for comparison, rather than switching context to start over at the beginning of each full assignment.
- Gathered insights from over 200+ educators through surveys and interviews
- Conducted in-depth user interviews with 23 teachers to understand pain points
- We found that teachers loved staying in context for one question, rather than switching between various questions and question types
- Mobile break points were important for updates on the go
Example of user flow from testing
Insights from usability testing and satisfaction rating
- Executed click-test surveys via Pendo guides and Optimal Workshop for comparative analysis
- Teachers praised the ability to grade by question, citing better context and focus
- Positive feedback on mobile breakpoints for flexible, on-the-go editing capabilities
- SUS score of 87 (anything above 68 is considered average)
- CSAT score of 83%
Faster grading workflow resulting in significantly reducing time spent on assignments
Customer feedback
Post-launch, the feature exceeded expectations. Key workflows became faster and more reliable, validating the design decisions and research insights that guided the solution. Early feedback confirmed that the experience was intuitive, solved the core problem it was designed for, and delivered measurable impact within weeks of release.
Archway health
SeeSaw Labs partnered with Archway to design and deliver a secure, scalable mobile platform connecting organizations with data-driven self-insurance models, balancing cost and care quality. Our proven Five D's Framework guided every step.
Discover
Identified critical needs for a secure digital interface and intelligent algorithms to optimize healthcare costs and quality.
Define
Scoped an MVP mobile app prioritizing HIPAA compliance and usability for benefits leaders, ensuring rapid delivery and strategic impact.
Design
Crafted intuitive iOS/Android experiences with clear data visualization, frictionless onboarding, and transparent algorithmic logic, balancing compliance with user-centered design.
Develop
Built with React Native, integrated with a HIPAA-compliant Java API, PostgreSQL, and secure AWS infrastructure, emphasizing scalability and continuous QA.
Delight
Launched the app successfully, enabling data-driven self-insurance, and continuously evolving the platform based on early user feedback to become a strategic healthcare management tool.
Rendevor Dialysis
SeeSaw Labs partnered with Rendevor Dialysis to modernize how performance data was generated, analyzed, and shared across dialysis facilities. Our proven Five D's Framework guided every step.
Discover
Evaluated manual scorecard generation, inconsistent data, and delayed reporting. Identified the need for automated scorecard creation to improve accuracy, consistency, and speed of insights.
Define
Scoped an MVP centralized dashboard for automated scorecard creation, prioritizing data accuracy, executive usability, standardized reporting, and scalable infrastructure.
Design
Crafted intuitive dashboards for executives and facility managers, translating complex clinical metrics into clear visualizations with fast-glance summaries and drill-down capabilities.
Develop
Built the platform using ReactJS, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, and AWS. Key outcomes included automated data aggregation, real-time scorecard generation, and improved data consistency.
Delight
Successfully launched dashboards delivering real-time insights, enabling faster decision-making, eliminating manual bottlenecks, and empowering facilities to focus on patient care.
Hospice Pharmacy Solutions
SeeSaw Labs partnered with HPS to reimagine their customer service and claims infrastructure, delivering measurable operational and customer impact. The goal was to eliminate medication approval delays, lower administrative costs, and create a secure, scalable experience. Our proven Five D's Framework guided every step.
Discover
Analyzed inefficiencies in existing customer service and claims processes, uncovering significant delays in medication approvals due to manual routing and fragmented systems, alongside high administrative costs.
Define
Scoped an MVP customer service ecosystem, prioritizing a centralized issue tracking system, a secure self-service portal, and automation features to reduce manual workflows and speed up approvals.
Design
Crafted role-based UX/UI for internal staff and customers, ensuring intuitive navigation, clear status indicators, and secure data handling, all anchored in compliance and accessibility standards.
Develop
Built the platform using React and NX, hosted on Azure Cloud with 2FA. Key components included secure authentication, automated workflow routing, and seamless integration with existing HPS operational systems.
Delight
Delivered immediate measurable impact: medication approvals became 5x faster, operational costs dropped by 15%, and customer satisfaction significantly improved, strengthening HPS's ability to scale.
Reference clients
We're proud of the relationships we've built with our clients. Below are partners who can speak to our work, approach, and results.
Rendevor Dialysis
Jason Combs, CEO
jason.combs@rendevordialysis.com
W.R. Berkley
Vince Isreal, VP of Engineering
visrael@wrberkley.com
Legacy Community Health
Blake Nolinberg, Clinical Solutions Architect
bnolingberg@legacycommunityhealth.org