A peaceful study environment in the classroom: Swedish municipalities tries new approach with Trelson

An interview about the City of Gothenburg’s involvement in Trelson’s development work

2025-05-27/inUser experiences

In the beginning of 2024, Trelson took the initiative to solve a well-known problem in today’s classrooms: that digital devices, meant to support learning, too easily become a source of distraction. To understand the needs in depth, directly from those who face the challenges every day, and find the solution, we started a development project together with selected teachers, development leaders and ICT strategists, from several Swedish municipalities.

Now, just over a year later, we have a ready-made solution: Focus Room – a digital support that creates study peace in the classroom.

In this article, we particularly highlight the perspectives of two of the representatives from the City of Gothenburg, Malin and Josefine, who share what it was like to influence and shape future solutions in collaboration with Trelson.

Malin och Josefin

Malin Mogren and Josefine Nero, development managers at the City of Gothenburg

Examples of municipalities that contributed to the development project

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How do we create a classroom environment where students can focus better and learning really can take place? The City of Gothenburg chose to explore new opportunities through a joint development project with Trelson and other Swedish municipalities. Now that the project is over, we met Malin and Josefine – two of the representatives from the City of Gothenburg – to hear more about their experiences and how the ideas took shape and became reality.

City of Gothenburgs perspective: The challenge of digital distractions

In this interview, we talked to Malin Mogren and Josefine Nero, development managers in the City of Gothenburg with a focus on digitalization in schools. They highlight a key challenge that many can relate to: how to deal with students “(and adults”!) digital distractions. “You just have to look at yourself. Adults also find it difficult to focus when there are notifications here and there,” says Josefine. Malin agrees: “Self-discipline is the hardest thing there is.”

But at the same time, digital literacy is so incredibly important for students’ future – “It’s important to equip our students to take on the outside world when they leave school…”. Simply removing digital tools is therefore not an option. The aim was to help students focus while they used digital devices, without creating a privacy-sensitive monitoring tool.

A collaborative path to the solution with Trelson

Malin and Josefine described Trelson’s product development process as “exemplary”. They particularly appreciated the transparency and Trelson’s responsiveness to their input during the process. “The feeling was that what you thought and felt was taken care of,” says Josefine. Malin emphasizes that this transparent process, where they could see drafts and give feedback, was “not very common” and something they really appreciated.

Gruppbild på Malin, Mimmi och Josefin.

Malin Mogren, Mimmi Berg and Josefine Nero

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What was the process?

The representatives from the five municipalities and Trelson met on three digital occasions. At the initial meeting, a problem statement on digital distractions in the classroom was presented by the devices intended to be used for school work. Participants were asked to consider a fictional scenario where a teacher experiencing problems with distractions in the classroom could use Trelson to improve focus and structure – and what this might look like.

Based on the scenario, participants were asked to paint a picture of what service the tool could offer to motivate teachers to use Trelson to achieve the desired effects. We took these ideas and thoughts and created a draft in the form of sketches that were shared with the participants at the second meeting. There, participants were asked to provide feedback on the drafts to ensure that we had interpreted their thoughts and ideas correctly, or if we had missed something. From there, Trelson took the pen and sketched out a rich prototype, which was then presented to the participants at the third and final meeting. Our goal was to understand the needs of the classrooms, not just to assume.

Once the meetings were completed, the development work started at Trelson. In the final phase of product development, we managed to create a BETA version for all municipalities involved in this development project. The municipalities have had the opportunity to test, evaluate and give feedback on the focus room before it is released to all schools and municipalities with access to Trelson.

The result: Trelson Focus Room – A tool for focus and structure

The result of the development work was the Trelson Focus Room, a tool that already shows several important benefits according to Malin and Josefine:

Reduces digital distractions: Creates a protected digital environment that helps students concentrate in the classroom.
Focus without surveillance: Promotes focus without surveillance, respecting privacy – a key point for the municipality.
Structure and overview: Offers visual lesson planning, similar to a digital whiteboard, which is “incredibly important” for creating calm and peace of mind, especially for students in need of support.
Simplicity and integration: The tool is easy to get started with, recognizable to those who know Trelson, and integrates seamlessly with Google Classroom – “a really big deal”. A big advantage is that it is not perceived as “one more service”, something teachers often highlight.
Practical option: Seen as a relevant and more accessible choice compared to other tools.

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Visions for the future

The first impressions from the workshops and webinars on Focus Room in Trelson that the City of Gothenburg has invited teachers to are positive, with particular interest from special educators who see the tool’s potential for structure. Malin and Josefine see opportunities for future development, as collaborative functions, to strengthen the role of Focus Room going forward.

Some final words

For us at Trelson, understanding the real needs of classrooms is crucial. We don’t want to just guess our way through product development. The involvement of the City of Gothenburg and the other municipalities in this development project has therefore been invaluable. Through their input, we have been able to create a tool that we are confident will make a real difference in the classroom. We are particularly grateful to all the municipalities that participated and to the City of Gothenburg for sharing their experience of participating in the project.

Do you have questions about focus rooms? Discover focus rooms in the clip above or get in touch with us at support@trelson.com.