The problem
Charts across the product suite use different colors, labels and shapes, and many show a number with no context. Teachers, administrators and parents have to relearn each one.
ClassLink · Frost · Design crit
Data visualization system
A modern, semantic way to draw ClassLink's charts, KPI heroes and dashboards so they look and behave like one product for teachers, administrators and parents. Built on Frost v.03, Inter and Edward Tufte's principles of clarity.
- Phase 1
- Foundations · audit, color, test case
- Phase 2
- Sketches · 70 across 7 categories
- Audience
- Teachers · Administrators · Parents
- Status
- Draft · For design crit
- Tokens
- Frost v.03 semantic roles
- Updated
- 2026-10-21
01 · The project
In brief
The approach
Audit what ships. Let color carry meaning. Prove the rules on one real page. Then explore many forms, so we can choose with evidence.
What we need today
React to the sketches: which directions feel right for each audience, what feels too playful or not playful enough, and what is missing.
02 · Guiding principles
Where the thinking comes from
03 · Phase 1
Foundations
Audit what exists, make color carry meaning, and test the rules on one real page.
Chart audit catalog
A living catalog of the charts and dashboard layouts in the product, with screenshots, what each shows and what to improve.
Open →Chart color and treatment spec
One color system and three treatments: role hues, measure palette, status rules and open decisions.
Open spec →Login Summary reskin: design notes
The brief behind the test page: what changed, why and how it follows the system.
Open notes →04 · Phase 2
Sketches
Seventy directions across seven chart categories, drawn with the Phase 1 rules.
05 · Next steps
What we do next
Converge on directions
Use today's crit to pick one or two directions per category, and per audience, then retire the rest. The outcome is a short list of chart forms for the system.
Settle color and make it tokens
Close the open decisions: the Parents role color, a colorblind check of plum against danger pink, the second measure color, and one status rule that agrees with the Frost status badge. Then ship them as semantic chart tokens with engineering.
Prove it beyond one page
Reskin more of the product, starting with the Analytics+ custom dashboard tiles, and test with real data and a short usability pass with teachers, administrators and parents, including accessibility and reduced motion.
06 · For today
Questions for the room
Which directions feel right for teachers, administrators and parents?
Decision: Pending
Where is "delight" too much, and where is it not enough?
Decision: Pending
Which sketches should we take forward first?
Decision: Pending
Before you dive in
A note on the data
Note
All figures in the sketches and the prototype are mock data, adjusted for layout. Plum, moss and azure are proposals. Nothing here is built into the product yet.