Transforming a School’s Digital Presence to Strengthen Trust, Clarity, and Enrollment
Project Overview
Client: Escola SOS Ilha
My Role: UX/UI Designer + Creative Lead
Project Duration: 6 weeks
Year: 2023
Tools: Figma, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Notion, Google Analytics
The Challenge
SOS Ilha is a respected educational institution in Rio de Janeiro, but their digital experience was outdated, unclear, and difficult to navigate. Parents struggled to understand programs, requirements, and pricing; communication channels were inconsistent; and the website did not reflect the school’s values or credibility.
The school needed a modern, trustworthy, conversion-focused digital platform to increase inquiries and enrollment while making information accessible for parents and students.
Goals
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Improve clarity of information and reduce parent confusion
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Create a UX flow that supports enrollment and onboarding
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Modernize the visual identity and layout
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Reduce friction in navigation and key decision points
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Strengthen credibility and trust through a professional structure
Research & Insights
To understand the challenges, I carried out:
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Stakeholder interviews (administrators and teachers)
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Conversations with parents about main frustrations
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Evaluation of competitor school websites in Rio
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UX heuristic review of the current website
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Analysis of content gaps and message clarity
Key Findings
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Parents felt lost and overwhelmed with long text blocks and unclear sections.
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Enrollment information was available but difficult to find.
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Mobile experience was inconsistent and hurt trust.
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The school’s friendly, community-oriented personality was not visible in the design.
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Parents wanted faster access to WhatsApp, schedules, and pricing.
These insights shaped a redesign that prioritized simplicity, emotional clarity, and straightforward decision paths.
Strategy
I focused on creating a structure that answered the most important parent questions quickly:
1. Simplified Information Architecture
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Reorganized content into intuitive sections
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Reduced redundant pages
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Improved headings and logical grouping of information
2. Clear Enrollment Flow
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Step-by-step explanation of enrollment
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CTA placement for WhatsApp and forms
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Shortened the path from landing to contact
3. Trust + Emotional Connection
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Added photos, values, and mission
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Highlighted safety and learning structure
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Introduced consistent brand colors and educational visual tone
4. Mobile-First Approach
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Designed layouts to look clean and legible on mobile
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Reduced scrolling fatigue using modular blocks
Design Execution
Wireframes & Iterations
Early low-fidelity wireframes focused on organizing the content and solving navigation issues. After feedback, I iterated with:
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Larger typography
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Cleaner spacing for parents reading quickly
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Stronger visual hierarchy
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Clear CTA buttons with direct WhatsApp flow
Final UI
The final design features:
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A calm, trustworthy color palette
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Modular sections with clear headings
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Parent-focused explanations
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Simple enrollment steps
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Responsive components for all device sizes
It communicates what matters most: clarity, safety, and trust.
Impact
After publishing the updated design:
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Parents reported feeling more confident understanding the school’s offerings
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Internal staff received fewer repetitive questions
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WhatsApp inquiries became more qualified
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Navigation time decreased noticeably
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Users quickly located key information such as calendar, values, mission, and enrollment steps
Growth Impact & Lead Generation
During this project, I not only improved the UX of the SOS Ilha website, but also took full ownership of lead generation and campaign performance. Through a combination of Meta Ads testing, UX updates, and clearer enrollment flows, I was able to generate a high volume of qualified leads for the school.
To handle the increasing demand, I even built a small Python automation script that contacted new leads instantly — improving response time, engagement, and conversion into in-person visits.
The combination of UX optimization + paid acquisition + automation helped SOS Ilha reach families more efficiently and maintain a consistent flow of interested parents. I will include the screenshot of the leads below to illustrate the scale of this activity.
What I Learned
This project strengthened my ability to:
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Translate emotional concerns of parents into UX decisions
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Communicate complex school information in simple, visual language
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Balance business goals with user clarity
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Build trust through clean structure and thoughtful design choices
Role & Responsibilities
I led the entire UX/UI process:
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User research and content analysis
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Information architecture
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UX flows and wireframes
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High-fidelity UI design
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Visual branding refinements
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Client communication
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Implementation guidance
Tools Used
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Figma – Wireframes & UI
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Adobe XD – Mockups & prototype
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Photoshop – Image adjustments
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Google Analytics – Understanding user behavior
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Notion – Research organization & documentation
