Cordelia
A transparent, relationship-centered admissions experience guiding families from inquiry through enrollment.
Overview
Role
Product Designer (UI/UX)
Timeline
5 weeks (80+ hours)
Tools
Figma
Background
For my five-week Designlab capstone, I partnered with Clever Education Solutions (CES), a small team developing Cordelia, a management platform for Montessori schools. Because CES had not previously worked with a product designer, the team initially prioritized building functional software that could support schools’ operational needs. They invested significant time in onboarding users and working closely with school administrators to resolve issues as they arose.
Problem
CES had received feedback that parents did not find Cordelia intuitive, particularly while navigating the admissions journey from inquiry through enrollment. A confusing parent experience could make it harder for schools to build trust and retain families, while also affecting schools’ continued use of Cordelia. CES needed insight into parents’ needs, expectations, and emotions to create a clearer and more supportive admissions experience—one that reassured families while making the process more efficient for school administrators.
Project Goals
The goal was to redesign Cordelia’s parent-facing admissions journey—from initial inquiry through tour, application, decision, contract, and enrollment—as one clear and connected digital experience. The solution needed to:
Help families feel informed, reassured, and supported throughout an emotionally significant decision.
Make progress, responsibilities, and next steps clear at every stage.
Reduce confusion and unnecessary administrative follow-up while preserving the warm, personal relationships Montessori schools build with families.
Understanding User Needs
Research & Insights
Affinity Map
Overview
Uncovering Workflow and Communication Gaps Through Stakeholder Research
I conducted interviews with Montessori school administrators to understand how they managed admissions, communicated with families, and built relationships with prospective parents. My background as a Montessori educator helped me ask informed questions and recognize the importance of maintaining a personal connection throughout the process.
The research revealed that admissions tasks were often fragmented across different tools for scheduling tours, collecting applications, signing agreements, and processing payments. Administrators compensated for these gaps through manual emails and back-and-forth communication, which increased their workload and made it more difficult to provide every family with a consistent experience.
I also learned that parents needed more than functional instructions. They wanted clear information about the school, Montessori education, tuition, the admissions timeline, and what would happen after each step. The school tour emerged as an especially important moment for establishing trust and helping families determine whether the school was the right fit.
Affinity Map
The affinity map revealed four key themes: parents’ common questions and concerns, the importance of building trust with families, usability challenges for both parents and administrators, and the value of CES’s personalized customer support. Because this warm, trusting support distinguishes CES from its competitors, the digital experience needed to reflect the same sense of guidance and connection.
Creating the Framework
User flow
Overview
Translating Research Insights Into a Clear User Flow
I synthesized the interview findings to identify recurring pain points, user needs, and opportunities for improvement. This process helped me define the central design challenge: creating a transparent digital journey without losing the warmth and personal guidance that families expect from a Montessori school.
I mapped the journey from inquiry through enrollment to clarify the sequence of events and distinguish between parent and administrator responsibilities. This revealed where parents needed to take action, where they needed to wait for the school, and where the existing experience did not clearly communicate the difference.
Based on these insights, I prioritized visible progress, and consistent next steps. I also identified opportunities to reduce uncertainty during waiting periods and give families enough context to make confident decisions at each stage.
Let’s Start Designing!
Low fidelity wireframes
Overview
Prototyping a Responsive, Context-Rich Experience
I translated the user map into wireframes and an interactive Figma prototype covering the inquiry, application, decision, contract, and enrollment stages. The interface used step-based cards and status indicators to show families what they had completed, what was currently in progress, and what would come next.
Before asking parents to submit an inquiry, I added more context about the school, its Montessori approach, and the admissions process. This decision responded to the need for reassurance by helping parents understand the school and know what to expect before sharing their information.
Usuability Testing
Usability test findings & iterations
Overview
Validating and Refining the Flow Through Iterative Usability Testing
I conducted usability testing using realistic tasks that asked participants to submit an inquiry, identify the next step, begin an application, review an admission decision, and continue toward enrollment. I evaluated whether users understood the terminology, knew what actions were available, and could recognize their current status within the process.
Testing showed that the initial inquiry needed to feel simpler and more personal. Participants also wanted clearer information about required uploads, the ability to understand their application progress, and more explicit guidance about what would happen after submitting each stage.
I used these findings to simplify the inquiry, improve application instructions, clarify file-upload requirements, and strengthen the distinction between actions and waiting periods. I also refined progress indicators, confirmation screens, decision messaging, contact information, and calls to action so that families could move through the experience with greater confidence.
Final Design
Final design
Impact & business value
Reflection & next steps
Overview
Balancing Parent Reassurance With Administrative Efficiency
Parents’ emotional needs informed decisions throughout the inquiry and application flows. I considered where they might feel uncertain or anxious—particularly after submitting information or while waiting for a decision—and used clear status messages to reduce that uncertainty.
The final experience provided families with more information before committing to an inquiry, acknowledged the completion of important tasks, and explained what would happen next. Admission updates and next-step guidance helped the experience feel supportive even when the school, rather than the parent, was responsible for moving the process forward.
I also designed responsive layouts for mobile, tablet, and desktop. Throughout the interface, I used clear content hierarchy, supportive messaging, confirmation screens, and visible calls to action to make a complex, multi-step process feel more approachable.
The resulting solution transformed a fragmented admissions process into a cohesive, relationship-centered journey. It helped families feel informed, supported, and connected from inquiry through enrollment while giving administrators a more consistent and efficient way to guide each family.
Impact & Business Value
The redesigned experience brings the entire admissions journey into one clear, connected flow, reducing the need for manual follow-ups and helping administrators guide families more efficiently. Greater transparency, supportive messaging, and clearer next steps can build trust, reduce drop-off, and encourage prospective families to complete the admissions process. For Clever Education Solutions, the solution strengthens Cordelia’s value as a relationship-centered platform that can support the operational needs of different Montessori schools as they grow.
Reflection & Next Steps
This project reinforced that a successful admissions experience must respond to both families’ emotional needs and schools’ operational realities. As a next step, I would continue gathering feedback from parents and administrators to evaluate the experience in real-world use and identify opportunities for refinement. Because every Montessori school has its own processes, priorities, and community, Cordelia should remain flexible enough to adapt to individual school needs. Through ongoing research and iteration, the platform can help schools build trust, retain families, and extend the same warmth and sense of connection they create in person into every digital interaction.