Project Overview
BeAKid connects parents with local afterschool activities, events, and summer programs for their children. While the platform offered valuable services, parents struggled to efficiently search and compare options that matched their kids’ specific interests, ages, and locations.
Our team conducted UX research and redesigned the platform so parents could stop searching and start finding, making relevant children’s activities easy to discover, whether at home or traveling.
The Challenge
The core problem: Parents couldn’t efficiently find activities that matched their children’s interests and needs because the platform lacked intuitive navigation, effective filters, and clear activity categorization.
Specific pain points:
- An overwhelming number of activity categories (122) made browsing difficult
- Location filters surfaced activities 2-3 hours away instead of nearby options
- No way to compare multiple activities
- Unclear distinctions between events (one-time), programs (recurring/enrollment), and activities (self-directed)
- Parents were hesitant to create profiles due to privacy concerns and were unclear as to the benefits of profile creation.
Business impact: These usability issues resulted in low parent engagement and prevented BeAKid from achieving its secondary goal of encouraging profile creation. Low parent engagement also discouraged activity providers from purchasing premium listings.
Research & Discovery
Our team conducted comprehensive research to understand the market landscape, identify usability issues, and uncover user needs through competitive analysis, heuristic evaluation, and user interviews.
Heuristic Evaluation: BeAKid’s site had significant usability gaps: inconsistent navigation, 122 overwhelming categories, unclear activity type distinctions, location filters showing activities 2-3 hours away, and no comparison functionality. Download full heuristic evaluation PDF
Competitive Analysis: While competitors offered basic filtering, none provided robust comparison tools. Successful platforms prioritized clear information hierarchy and trust signals like reviews and verification badges.
User Interviews: We spoke with parents to understand their activity search behavior and decision-making process.
Synthesis: Through affinity mapping of our discoveries, several critical patterns emerged:
- Parents wanted flexible browsing but needed specific details (cost, time, skill level) to decide
- Privacy concerns were the primary barrier to profile creation
- Local proximity mattered intensely — activities over 30 minutes away were irrelevant
- Comparison capability was essential for decision-making
Persona & Journey Map
Meet Jill: A 45-year-old working parent managing two children with different interests. She wants a centralized platform to save her kids’ interests and find relevant activities without hours of research, but worries about sharing family information online. Download Persona (PDF)
Her journey revealed significant usability issues, including confusing navigation, misleading “Pricing” labels that suggest user fees, lack of filtering options for search results, irrelevant activities appearing in “local” searches (including distant locations and daycare programs), and advertisements that blend in with legitimate content.
Our journey map identified opportunities to improve the platform through consistent navigation architecture, audience-segmented menus, robust filtering by location/age/activity type, geographically accurate search results within 10 miles, tag-based search functionality, visually distinct advertisements, and email campaigns to drive user retention and loyalty. Download Journey Map (PDF)
Defining the Solution
Filter System: Our proposed filtering system gave parents the tools to search by what matters most to their family. Filters cover age group, distance, activity type, and their child’s specific interests. This approach, combined with a keyword search feature, transformed an overwhelming browse into a focused, efficient way to find the right activities.
Category Consolidation: The most impactful change was reorganizing the information architecture. We consolidated 122 existing categories into 10 intuitive primary categories. Rather than deleting the original categories, we recommended repurposing them as backend metadata tags. This preserved SEO value while dramatically simplifying the user-facing navigation and enabling more sophisticated filtering.
Comparison Tool: Parents can compare 2–5 activities in an organized list view that presents critical details — cost, programs, location, and age group — in a consistent format for easy evaluation.
Design & Testing
We created a mobile-first prototype in Figma and tested it with six parents using realistic tasks like finding a summer camp within 15 miles or comparing three soccer programs.
What Worked:
- The 10-category system felt intuitive and comprehensive
- Filters were easy to use and effectively narrowed results
- Comparison view accelerated decision-making
- Clear activity type labels eliminated confusion
What We Refined:
- Added a back button to pages to improve browsing
- Redesigned the profile internal ad to include privacy language and benefits
- Enhanced age range visibility on activity cards
Mobile Designs
Activity Page
This is the default activity page where users can perform keyword searches and access filters. Activity providers are automatically displayed based on the user’s location.
Expanded Filters View
This view shows the expanded filter panel. Users appreciated being able to search by distance, age group, and category of interest to narrow down activity options.
Category Results
This view displays search results when users apply a category filter, such as sports. Providers matching the selected criteria appear in an easy-to-scan tile format.
Activity Provider Page
This page uses tabs to organize content and reduce scrolling. Users can add providers to their favorites, which are saved to their user profile for easy access later.
Comparision Tool
This feature allows users to select 2-5 providers and compare their age ranges, programs, and other key features side-by-side to make informed decisions.
Desktop Designs
Activity Page: Tile View
For the desktop view, filters were displayed in the left column with search results shown as tiles. A sort feature was added to the top of the results for easy reordering..
Activity Page: List View
We provided an optional list view for easier scrolling and faster scanning. In this view, images were removed, and the ability to compare providers was more prominent.
Provider Page
This page included a photo gallery and a contact form for parents to request more information. An internal ad invited parents to create profiles for personalized recommendations.
Event Page
Events differed from activities in that they occurred at a set time and were not recurring. The date was displayed prominently, and providers were listed in chronological order by default.
Outcomes & Reflection
Client Response
The client was enthusiastic about the research findings and design direction, noting that the category consolidation strategy aligned with their SEO goals while dramatically improving usability.
Key Learnings
- Parents want flexibility
Robust filtering options enable efficient searching. Providing the distance from the activity to the parent’s zip code respects parents’ time and shows platform understanding of user needs. - Trust is earned through transparency
Privacy concerns were the primary barrier to profile creation. Addressing this required clear communication, optional data fields, and demonstrating value before asking for commitment. - Information architecture drives everything
The category consolidation had cascading positive effects: easier navigation, better SEO, clearer mental models, and enabled better filtering. Sometimes the biggest UX improvements come from organizational changes rather than interface polish.
Documentation Delivered
- Complete design system and style guide
- High-fidelity mockups for key user flows
- Interactive prototype with annotations
- Research findings and recommendations report
- Implementation guidelines for developers