SIMPLICITY IS
ACTUALLY QUITE
COMPLICATED.
People often confuse simplicity with minimalism. But
true simplicity is so much more than the absense of
clutter and ornamentation. It's about creating harmony,
order and hierarchy. Opening up Tracker+ and without
instruction knowing how to use it - that's simplicity.
ICT & DATA SERVICES GROUP
We designed every part of Tracker+. Every icon, every colour, every click.
Our design philosophy.
"Don't do good work. If you're going to sign your name to something it should be the very best work of your lives. Love what you do."
These words adorn the walls of our studio. Not because they're quirky or marketing jargon - but because they resonate within us - they are our values, our beliefs. It wouldn't be possible to achieve a product like Tracker+ without loving what we do.
We begin every design process the same way and with the same intention - make the user feel a sense of delight and connection with what we've created. The next step is detail and caring about the detail is essential. One example of this would be our icons; we spent months working with a graphics design agency to create icons that perfectly depicted their intended action and, at the same time, are beautiful. They're elegantly simple, efficient and consistent.
Choosing colour.
When it comes to choosing colour, there are no strict rules but there are many factors to take into consideration.
But colour coding something always makes it easier to understand, right? Not exactly. Take the humble traffic light; it's limited to three colours because it's important that we recognise what these colours mean without having to remember. We only use 4 colours in Tracker+ when colourising assessment data; Blue, Green, Amber and Red. Too often we see pupil tracking software with complex palates that lead to confusion. When using colour the palate has to be small and simple.
To the left you'll see our core palate. We spent months working with a design agency to create it alongside the interface for Tracker+. Every colour was painstakingly chosen. Take our shade of navy for example; we call it 13, 73, 103. We experimented for months to find the perfect blend of red, green and blue so that your eye is drawn to highlighted detail but is dull enough that it doesn't strain your eyes when you look at it for long periods.
This is just one example of the lengths we will go to in order to create perfection.
Our lovely tiles.
When we demonstrate Tracker+ in schools our tiles are always a talking point. Showing people the Tracker+ home screen, when for so long they've been used to complex, cluttered menu systems is a special moment. People know good design when they use it and the sense of delight and connection is immediate.
Even more importantly, navigation should never get in the way of the content. So often this happens in pupil tracking software because navigation is an afterthought. Caring about every single detail prevents this from ever happening - nothing is an afterthought.
One of the things you'll love about the interface of Tracker+ is it's consistency. It looks, feels, reacts in the same way wherever you are.
All of these things add up to simplicity.
Why bespoke?
From the very beginning we have believed every single school is unique. Different collections of people from different kinds of places. Diverse backgrounds all educating and learning together.
One powerful thing that we share with you as a school is the belief that we can make a difference in this world. Through our software, through our ideas, through our values – through who we are. For this reason we put schools at our very centre. We honour the individuality of schools – the things that make you unique.
We want schools to be themselves not change the way they work to fit our software. Building bespoke software that recognises your uniqueness inspires and empowers us all to do the very best work of our lives.