Jetspace

Case Study

Mobile AppSocialReal Estate

Overview & Process

Two teachers from Green Dot Public Schools came to us with an idea for a mobile app for their school. Locke High School is a public charter college prep school in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and its library had been converted into “JetSpace”, a center for technology-focused learning built around creative assignments and collaboration. It runs a regular lineup of speakers: NASA engineers, VANS designers, environmental advocates. Green Dot had basic designs and branding, and a project outline for an app that wanted to do a lot. The budget was fixed and small, the way school budgets are, so we worked with them to cut the feature set down to what would actually get built.

Planning

Worked with Green Dot teachers to define feature scope and technology stack within a strict school budget, prioritizing learning-focused objectives.

Design

Created designs that reflected JetSpace's creative identity, technology-focused learning with collaboration at its core.

Development

Built the app focused on creative assignments, speaker event schedules, and student collaboration tools.

Blastoff!

Launched the app for Locke High School students, enabling technology-focused learning and engagement with visiting speakers from NASA, VANS, and more.

Our Challenges

Quick EdTech MVP

We worked within a tight budget and a short timeline to launch this product for students

Accessibility Considerations

We had to make sure the app could be used on older devices and in locations with weak internet service

Rapid Design Process

We used the existing branding for the JetSpace to inspire the UI, and adapted popular UX flows to cover privacy concerns unique to EdTech

Controlled Access

JetSpace needed quick & easy admin ability for teachers to manage student-generated content

We developed JetSpace using React Native. This allowed us to use the same basic codebase for iOS and Android, and to branch off and write native code for areas of the app that required that accommodation. In this instance, the camera functionality required some adjustments in native languages, but the vast majority of the app used the same code for both platforms.

We designed the app using clean, crisp lines and the client’s icon and color scheme. The goal was to follow the structure of social apps we knew the students would already be familiar with - but add in some additional features: selecting assignments, points allocation, teacher accounts, and admin approval of all posts before they appear in the Feed.

We set up the backend to allow teachers to preview the videos and photos, as well as review the student comments about their assignments, before “approving” the posts. If a post is approved, the student gets points toward an internal reward system. Students can favorite other students’ posts, but only teachers can post public comments. This helps keep the app from being a vehicle for bullying or inappropriate content, but encourages the students to give positive feedback to their peers.

The Outcome

Technology in the Classroom

Once we published the app in the app stores, Shane and Kara spent an afternoon in the JetSpace talking to the students about how coding and technology can help them in their lives - whether they want to become engineers themselves or not. It was built in React Native, so one team shipped it to iOS and Android.