My role: UX Engineer | Technologies: Gatsby, React, HTML, CSS, JavaScript

Daycare places fully booked long in advance

Programming my designs - Case Study "Waldschnecken" — ↑ Fig. 1: The finished homepage of the "Waldschnecken" website, with a long introductory text summarizing the essentials.

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

Case Study "Child day care association" - Questions from others — Fig. 4: AI-supported user research to find out what the advantages of childminders are and what parents consider most important when it comes to childcare.

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

First Designs - Kindergroßtagespflege Waldschnecken - Case Study — ↑ Fig. 2: Prototyping in Penpot. Structure of the information architecture, the layout and setting the color harmonies.

Kindergroßtagespflege Waldschnecken Illustration - Case Study — ↑ Fig. 3: A number of illustrations were created for the individual pages and the entrance area to create a child-friendly atmosphere.

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.