Nevada state education data is used by parents, policymakers, educators, and community advocates, each approaching it with different questions and needs. Through stakeholder conversations with each audience group, we uncovered shared frustrations with the old system: missing essential features, inaccessible visuals, and a lack of guidance for what the data actually meant.

By organizing needs and data points into these three mental models, we uncovered a clear pattern across audiences: they weren’t starting from data, they were starting from purpose. This exercise helped validate our IA approach and later informed the navigation framework: first anchoring a school’s location and context, then clarifying school type, and finally surfacing performance indicators in a way that feels progressively more meaningful rather than overwhelming.

We redesigned the school search to include refined filters for school location, context, and type, which help users quickly find relevant information. The optimized layout works seamlessly on desktop and mobile, and the new school comparison widget lets users compare schools without disrupting their browsing experience. This streamlined approach enables faster, more informed decision-making without cluttering the interface.

We began by focusing on the core user experience with mockups for key content pages, ensuring the design was both functional and visually aligned with the new brand identity. This approach allowed us to establish a seamless navigation experience across both mobile and desktop platforms.

The feature pages were designed to make complex educational data more accessible and actionable for users. Key features like the School Profile page, and data such as Equity Act data, and year-over-year comparison were integrated to help families, educators, and school leaders better understand and assess school performance.