My Design Process: IB Stickers

A teacher from JeffCo Public Schools (one of my favorite districts to work with outside Denver) sent me a suggestion last week. The moment I read it, I literally said out loud, "Why didn't I think of that??"

This is exactly why I treasure the educator community that's grown around Stickity. Teachers email me directly with ideas, and some seem genuinely surprised when I personally respond. I'm not some high-powered EdTech founder chasing investors. I'm a mom with a 4-year-old and an 11-month-old, juggling Stickity alongside a full-time job. I actually coded the most recent update one-handed while my newborn napped on my chest. And honestly? I think I'm crushing this balancing act... Either that, or my bar for success is incredibly low :)

I'm just a former teacher who loves designing and building things, especially when those things help incredible educators do their work. Every user should feel comfortable emailing me their ideas. I get genuinely excited about these suggestions, and teachers probably don't realize how much I value them.

This IB suggestion had me fired up to start immediately. I began researching how these skills graphics are currently used in classrooms and noticed they're mainly for labeling. But here's what really stood out: most existing resources just tell you what the skill is without showing what it actually means. There's a gap between the text and visual representation of these concepts.

That's core to Stickity's mission. These graphics don't just tell, they show AND tell. Students need to see what "communication skills" or "self-management" looks like, not just read the words.

The skills needed to look cohesive, like a proper collection. But here's the challenge: skill names vary wildly in length. "Social skills" is manageable, but "self-management skills" is a beast.

How do you make stickers look uniform when they need dramatically different sizes to accommodate the text? That's when stamps clicked for me. Same size, same shape, but the content inside can vary completely while still belonging to the same family. Perfect for pairing meaningful icons with the skill names.

Next up: learner profile traits. My research showed these are mostly used for labeling too, but they reminded me of the core values at my former school. We connected EVERYTHING back to those character traits. What if teachers could do the same with IB learner traits?

I redesigned these as badges so teachers could do way more with them. Awards, collectibles, conversation starters, real-time recognition tools. Each badge pairs visual elements with the trait name, making abstract concepts like "principled" or "reflective" more concrete and accessible for students.

How incredible is it that I get to create resources for classrooms? I've found a way to channel my passions (design and coding) into supporting the people doing the real impactful work. Teachers know exactly what they need. I just help make it happen.

Got ideas? Share them here.