Spacer
End-to-end product design for an EdTech venture building healthier digital habits in schools - from onboarding flows to a scalable design system.
About Spacer
Spacer is an EdTech product designed to reduce smartphone distractions in schools without relying on physical phone pouches, lockers, or confiscation.
As the product designer, I shaped the experience end to end. From early product thinking and UX flows to UI design and the product’s visual language. The system had to work for three very different audiences: students, teachers, and school administrators.
The Challenge
Schools need a way to enforce phone policies without creating another daily task for teachers. At the same time, students still need access to essential communication, educational tools, and their phones in case of an emergency.
The challenge was to design a system that feels strict enough to work, but flexible enough to be trusted.
Designing a System, Not Just an App
Spacer works across several connected experiences. Students use the mobile app, while school staff manage policies and monitor compliance through a centralized dashboard.
This meant designing the product as one ecosystem rather than a collection of isolated screens. Every interaction needed to communicate the same core idea: the phone is still yours, but distractions are temporarily paused.
A Low-Friction Student Experience
For students, the goal was to make compliance almost invisible.
After a one-time setup, Space Mode can activate automatically based on the school’s schedule and location. Distracting apps are paused while essential apps and school-approved tools remain accessible.
The interface focuses on clarity. Students can immediately understand whether Space Mode is active, how long it has been running, what they can still access, and what happens when they leave school.
Giving Schools Control Without Creating More Work
The admin experience was designed around centralized policy management and visibility.
Schools can configure schedules, locations, restrictions, and approved apps from one place. The system is designed to reduce the manual enforcement teachers normally deal with and make exceptions or policy changes easier to manage.
Designing for Trust
Because Spacer operates on students’ personal devices, trust became a product requirement rather than just a brand message.
The experience was designed around transparent permissions, clear system states, limited access to the device, and an emphasis on privacy. Instead of making the phone feel confiscated or controlled, the product communicates exactly what is paused, what remains available, and when normal access returns.
Balancing Control and Autonomy
Spacer challenged me to design around a tension rather than eliminate it: schools need stronger boundaries around smartphones, while students need autonomy, safety, and trust.
The resulting product experience treats those needs as part of the same system. Automation reduces the burden on teachers, clear controls give schools flexibility, and students keep both their phones and access to what matters.
From Product Idea to Product System
Working on Spacer meant moving beyond individual screens into product strategy, interaction design, system behavior, visual identity, and communication.
It became an exercise in turning a complicated policy problem into an experience that feels simple.
