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OCASA, School Website Redesign
A warmer, clearer, and more parent-friendly school experience.
Role: UI/UX Designer
Platforms: Responsive Website
Duration: 2.5 Months includes iteration
If you would like to to check out the website its live now - ocasa.org
Overview
OCASA is a K–8 school built on care, connection, and joyful learning. My goal for this redesign was to create a website that not only delivers information but also reflects the happiness, warmth, and emotional safety students experience at school.
The project focused on transforming a content-heavy, outdated, and difficult-to-navigate website into a modern, clear, and emotionally positive experience for parents.
The Problem
The previous OCASA website had multiple challenges:
Heavy text blocks that overwhelmed users
Poor readability because of unstructured content and small typography
Outdated design that didn’t reflect the school’s lively environment
Confusing navigation, making it hard for parents to find key information
Inconsistent UI components and page layouts, leading to an uneven user experience
Limited emotional connection very little focus on student–teacher interactions
Because of this, parents missed important details or struggled to understand essential school information.
The Goal
Redesign navigation to be simple, intuitive, and parent-friendly.
Improve readability and make content easy to scan.
Bring consistency across layouts, components, typography, and design patterns.
My Approach
Restructuring Content & UX Writing
I reorganized long blocks of text into:
Clear sections
Simple headings
Friendly, humble, parent-first copy
Short explanations instead of large paragraphs
The tone became more conversational and reassuring, making parents feel understood.
Designing Emotion Into the Experience
To reflect OCASA’s values,
I Used imagery showing happy kids, engaged classrooms, and teacher connections
Designed layouts that felt warm, open, and human
Reduced visual clutter so the message could stand out
This helped communicate the school’s core feeling:
“Your child will feel cared for, supported, and happy here.”
Fixing Navigation & Readability
To address the biggest usability challenges,
I Simplified the menu structure for direct access to key pages
Introduced better visual hierarchy with headings, spacing, and typography
Created clear paths for important journeys like admissions, programs, and school life
Parents can now browse effortlessly without feeling overwhelmed.
Modern, Interactive UI
I introduced subtle, thoughtful interactions to make browsing engaging and intuitive:
Clean header and footer structure
Card-based layouts
Consistent CTAs
Better spacing and breathing room
Mobile-first responsiveness for parents on the go
The Impact
The redesigned website:
Improves readability and clarity
Makes navigation intuitive for parents
Reflects the warmth and energy of the school
Highlights emotional and educational values equally
Helps parents feel confident about choosing OCASA for their child
2nd Challenge: Unclear & Outdated Header Design
Although the old header was functional, it created confusion for users. It wasn’t immediately clear which items were clickable, what sections had sub-menus, or how the hierarchy was structured. The overall design also felt outdated and visually inconsistent with the rest of the platform, making navigation harder and less intuitive.
My Solution
I redesigned the entire header for both desktop and mobile, following current UI patterns and clean navigation practices. The new version clearly highlights clickable elements, shows a proper hierarchy, and makes sub-sections easy to discover. With improved spacing, visual cues, and a modern layout, the updated header offers a smoother and more predictable browsing experience.
Takeaway
This project reinforced how powerful clear UX writing and human-centered design can be especially in education.
By focusing on readability, navigation, emotional storytelling, and user context, I learned how a website can speak not just through visuals, but through the comfort and trust it creates.
In the end, the goal was simple:
Make parents feel the same happiness their children experience at school.