UX/UI 2026

UX/UI 2026

Climate Books For Classrooms

Climate Books For Classrooms

OVERVIEW

What started as an in-class internship grew into paid freelance work. The project set out to bridge the gap between educators and climate education. Partnering with a Boston College professor and her students, we designed a platform showcasing a curated, ever-growing collection of climate education books paired with instructional guidance to help teachers integrate them seamlessly into their lesson plans.

SERVICES

UX/UI

Research

Copy Writing

Our design and research work contributed to Climate Books for Classrooms being named a 2026 Carnegie-Whitney Grant recipient.

SERVICES

UX/UI

Research

Copy Writing

PROBLEM


Teachers don't feel supported enough to teach about climate eduction.

U.S. educators report feeling less supported when compared to other educators in other countries.

PROBLEM


Teachers don't feel supported enough to teach about climate eduction.

U.S. educators report feeling less supported when compared to other educators in other countries.

RESEARCH


Research revealed a striking gap: education has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 85 gigatons by 2050, yet only 17% of U.S. educators feel adequately supported to teach sustainability. This tension became the foundation of our research, understanding not just what teachers need, but why current tools were falling short.





Three Key Insights emerged that directly shaped our design:

These findings drove the core features of our design. Separately, user testing and ideation surfaced modal filtering as the most effective solution to one of the experience's biggest friction points.

RESEARCH


Research revealed a striking gap: education has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 85 gigatons by 2050, yet only 17% of U.S. educators feel adequately supported to teach sustainability. This tension became the foundation of our research, understanding not just what teachers need, but why current tools were falling short.





Three Key Insights emerged that directly shaped our design:

These findings drove the core features of our design. Separately, user testing and ideation surfaced modal filtering as the most effective solution to one of the experience's biggest friction points.

1.

Teachers plan lessons around holidays and seasons, making contextual organization essential

2.

Teachers hesitate to purchase books they can't preview, creating a barrier to discovery

3.

Grade-level filtering is a top priority when browsing educational content

JOURNEY MAP

Understanding users current struggles finding books for their classroom

JOURNEY MAP

Understanding users current struggles finding books for their classroom

SOLUTION



This project required designing a single product that served two very different users — a content editor continuously updating the database, and teachers searching for the right classroom book.


Journey mapping revealed filtering as the biggest pain point. Sidebar filters felt limiting and overwhelming when navigating many options, so a modal system was chosen to create a focused, uncluttered filtering experience that could scale as the client added more categories over time. Accommodating a constantly evolving database meant card components needed to flex with varying content lengths rather than fixed sizing, balancing the client's bold visual preferences with a layout that stays consistent regardless of what's added. To address a key drop-off point in the journey — teachers finding a book but unsure how to use it in their classroom — an icon system and word-to-image ratio scale were introduced to help quickly assess classroom fit.

SOLUTION



This project required designing a single product that served two very different users — a content editor continuously updating the database, and teachers searching for the right classroom book.


Journey mapping revealed filtering as the biggest pain point. Sidebar filters felt limiting and overwhelming when navigating many options, so a modal system was chosen to create a focused, uncluttered filtering experience that could scale as the client added more categories over time. Accommodating a constantly evolving database meant card components needed to flex with varying content lengths rather than fixed sizing, balancing the client's bold visual preferences with a layout that stays consistent regardless of what's added. To address a key drop-off point in the journey — teachers finding a book but unsure how to use it in their classroom — an icon system and word-to-image ratio scale were introduced to help quickly assess classroom fit.

KEY FEATURES



Use case Icons

Modal Filtering System

Words to picture scale

Real Life connection

KEY FEATURES


Use case Icons

Modal Filtering System

Words to picture scale

Real Life connection