# Embracing the Teaching Process — Lillio

**Designer:** Topp Brocales · Senior Product Designer
**Company:** Lillio (https://www.lillio.com) — childcare management platform for early childhood educators
**Feature:** Weekly Planner V3, one of Lillio's core features
**Role:** End-to-end product design (research, strategy, UX, UI, delivery)
**Timeline:** 2023–2024
**Launched:** July 2024

## Summary

Adapting a core feature to how educators already work — with half a team and no research budget.

## The Problem

Two versions of the planner had already shipped. V2 launched in 2023 as a visual improvement over the original but adoption was low. Topp was brought in to uncover why teachers weren't using it and provide a viable path forward.

The project was inherited with no proper handoff, a team where most people with domain knowledge had already moved on, and a pile of artifacts as the primary source of context.

Despite the improvements in V2, the planning experience was fundamentally the same as V1. The structure and format were too rigid. Setting new lesson plans required a lot of repetitive effort. And the functions were basic. It didn't reflect how educators actually plan their lessons.

## Redefining the Workflow

The teaching process turned out to be personal, non-linear and often built around reusable routines educators developed over time. Most were still using physical planners. The digital version wasn't giving them enough reason to switch.

The V1 and V2 approach gave educators basic and rigid paths. The updated V3 workflow opened this up significantly. Educators could now create a plan their own way.

Exploration was broken into two tracks — template (routines) and planner (the weekly view) — iterating with the team through a mix of synchronous working sessions and asynchronous feedback in Miro. Story mapping with the PM kept scope honest and the team aligned going into visual design.

## Getting Feedback

There was no budget for formal research. Feedback was pulled from the V2 beta program, in-house experts provided domain knowledge, and one opportunistic shot at real user feedback was taken at the NAEYC conference — an annual gathering of early childhood educators.

A self-guided wireframe prototype was built robust enough to run on tablets without facilitation. Feedback was casual and unstructured but the signal was consistent: educators responded well to the flexibility, and that was enough to get buy-in and move forward with confidence.

## Delivery

The project covered web and native apps across all states, with a dedicated workflow visualization page that served as the team's source of truth. Each section mapped to a Jira epic and linked directly to corresponding tickets.

Despite the constraints, all design requirements shipped on time. Planner V3 launched in July 2024, just in time for back-to-school. A more flexible, more capable planning tool that still felt simple to use.