Daycare places fully booked long in advance
Challenge
Two childminders joined forces to create a large childcare facility and needed a website to establish their presence. The website had to appear both child-friendly and professional, build trust with parents, and present key information clearly and convincingly.
User Research
Quantitative:
Using AI-powered online tools, we analyzed frequently asked questions from parents. Key topics were identified and prioritized (e.g., costs, flexibility, care hours).
Qualitative:
Interviews with the childminders were conducted to explore:
- What advantages do parents expect from a childcare facility?
- What specific concerns or fears do they have?
- What information do parents need to feel reassured?
- What are their expectations regarding flexibility and daily routines?
Key insight: Beyond factual information (opening hours, prices), a positive emotional connection was critical in parents’ decision-making process.
Concept and Implementation
Content & Structure:
- Development of a clear, intuitive information architecture based on research findings.
- Focus on addressing parents' most frequent questions: benefits, costs, care hours, and flexibility.
- Building trust through testimonials, authentic photographs, and friendly illustrations.
Design & Development:
- Creation of a minimalistic color scheme using natural tones to match the "forest" theme.
- Design and hand-painted finalization of a custom watercolor logo.
- Creation of wireframes, followed by website development using React, Gatsby, HTML, and CSS.
- Integration of subtle animations in the benefit sections to increase user engagement.
- Accessibility improvements through optimized color contrast and enlarged typography.
- Custom illustrations for the website and the daycare entrance area to support the child-friendly atmosphere.
Optimization:
- SEO optimization: Structured content, meta descriptions, keyword integration.
- Page speed optimization: Compressed assets and faster loading times.
- Optimizing the accessibility of all pages to provide a good user experience for everyone.
Testing and Validation
- Iterative heuristic markup reviews to quickly identify and resolve UX issues.
- 5-second tests on key pages to ensure clear messaging and immediate user understanding.
- Continuous improvements based on test results.
Result
- The website is regularly cited as a key deciding factor by parents choosing the daycare.
- Childcare slots are fully booked or reserved well in advance.
- The large childcare facility and the childminders successfully established themselves with a strong reputation beyond the local community.
Conclusion
- The case study showed how strongly a calm, natural design affects parents who are looking for reliability and security in childcare. In contrast to the often overloaded competition, the website was able to build trust with a clear, harmonious design - without any loud stimuli, but with substance.
- At the same time, the importance of not stopping at the first draft was confirmed. Continuous iterations and targeted questioning resulted in a website that focuses on the essentials: clear information, a warm atmosphere and intuitive user guidance.
- The strong demand for childcare places shows that UX has an impact far beyond design - it can create trust, make decisions easier and have a real impact on everyday life.
Illustrations
