Sezin School: Sezin post

Designing a hybrid education system during COVID-19

“The Sezin Post” was designed, produced, and delivered as a supplementary hybrid education system for and by students, parents, and teachers to create a remote learning environment and foster a sense of belonging.

400

Copies created

70

Students impacted

12

Parents interviewed

4

Quarterly posts sent

THE CHALLENGE

COVID-19 disrupted K12 education in unprecedented ways. K0 and K1 students and their parents were the most affected. The most pressing challenge was to supplement the remote education experience and create a sense of belonging to the school for students experiencing a learning environment for the first time.

THE TRANSFORMATION APPROACH

The design team followed human-centric design principles aiming at developing a holistic and evolving solution with and for all of its beneficiaries. Participatory design methods were employed in the workshops held with the school staff, children, and parents.

"When the post reached us, I was filled with hope. To be together with people who can think of such beautiful things, who value emotions, are nature-friendly, and creative...[is incredibly valuable]."

Parent Sezin School

THE IMPACT

In terms of scalability, “The Sezin Post” was designed in a way that mass production and delivery of over 400 copies was possible. Moreover, this product paved the way for new ideas in designing hybrid experiences in the future and is considered to still stay relevant in the post-COVID world—even so that the school is currently experimenting with commercializing this product as a white-label product.

THE COMMUNITY LENS

From a community-building angle, the participatory design practices helped build a sense of belonging for the parents, planting the seeds of future interactions. As the parents also contributed to the contents of the box during the co-design sessions, receiving the end product was turned into a joyful signature moment—a moment that was shared extensively on social media.

The solution is unique because the product was created by all stakeholders together in co-design sessions, meaning that their needs were heard and acted upon, giving them ownership.