Launching Learning Success
Redefining EdTech navigation for clearer educational paths.
Subscription Platform/Desktop/Mobile
The subscription-based platform provides educators with learning materials. Users need to easily locate specific content that aligns with particular qualifiers in order to use these materials in the classroom.
The Problem
Users with access to specialized product features were unaware of their availability or how to access them, leading to retention challenges.
The Solution
Enhancing the UI and platform homepage to effectively guide users to tailored lessons by implementing prominent calls to action.
Role
UX Designer
UI Designer
Project Type
Long-term
Modification
Platform
How might we solve the attrition of Techbooks and, ultimately, enhance the overall retention of the Discovery Education platform?
Evaluation and Research
We needed to understand the demographics of our audience, understand the extent of engagement (or lack thereof), and identify the factors contributing to the limited interaction with purchased Techbooks.
90%
of users who access a Techbook and navigate directly to the search bar during their initial session do not return to the platform.
5%
of users who access a Techbook during their first session return to the platform for subsequent sessions.
63%
of school districts with Techbooks are opting out of their subscriptions during the subsequent Back to School purchasing season, citing insufficient usage.
*Data obtained via Looker
The Techbooks were displayed as tiles on the homepage with minimal context. Without an onboarding process that included a step-by-step tour, users tended to overlook these tiles as they quickly scrolled through, given their limited time to explore and familiarize themselves with a new system.
Why Were Users Skipping the Techbooks?
Navigation and Hierarchy
The Techbook tiles were situated under other tiles, lovingly known as the "rainbow nav." However, users often bypassed both the Techbook tiles and the rainbow nav, opting to go directly to the search bar. This user flow essentially rendered the homepage unnecessary.
Concepts
Storyboards and sketches were compiled to delineate fundamental user pathways ("red routes") and streamline the process of creating digital mock-ups, optimizing time efficiency.
Leverage the Homepage
Users consistently overlooked the homepage, relying on the search bar to find features and products for classroom and lesson management, despite the presence of tiles guiding them to these resources.
A proposed redesign involves transforming the homepage into an interactive dashboard, featuring strategic calls to action that serve as launch pads to various platform features. The framework would dynamically adapt based on user activity, reorganizing the launch pads in order of user preference.
Inspiration
Interviews with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) unveiled that the tiles lacked intuitiveness in conveying that they represented electronic textbooks. Users expressed, in discussions with sales, SMEs, and outreach teams, that if the Techbooks appeared less like static images (which users weren't aware they could interact with), they would be more inclined to engage with them.
One proposed solution is to redesign the Techbooks to resemble physical books, akin to the format used in Kindle.
Mapping
Shifting the locations to guide users into various features necessitated considering similarities between product features to streamline navigation pathways.
Features requiring exploration and content searching, which are surfaced based on user activity data, were consolidated under the "Recommended for You" launch pad. Classroom management tools were grouped together, and enhanced visibility was granted to saved content.
Research with Subject Matter Experts
To ensure designs aligned with user needs, we enlisted individuals from the education field to compile their wish list. Notably, the homepage was being overlooked, as users preferred searching for classroom and lesson management features directly from the search bar, bypassing tiles.
The proposed redesign envisions the homepage as a dynamic dashboard featuring strategic calls to action, serving as launch pads to various platform features. The framework adapts based on user activity, reordering launch pads based on user preferences.
Interviews
Interviews with teachers and curriculum specialists from Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado, and Maryland provided insights into their preferences and desires for the current platform. Occasionally, their wishes aligned with features already available but undiscovered. They also shared their product usage and provided contextual details about specific use cases. Their top 5 wishes were:
Classroom management
Learning Management System synchronization with grade books
An easier way to find their saved/favorited lessons, videos, audio files, quizzes
Returning to where they left off (like a bookmark)
Progress reporting
The Build
Following the identification of key calls to action, we initiated the construction of the launchpads.
Techbook Launch Pad
Although the initial concept considered reimagining Techbooks as book covers, user desires for an efficient way to resume where they left off and easier content retrieval prompted the integration of these features into the Techbook launch pad. This consolidation not only maximized space but also eliminated redundancies.
Another motivation for transitioning to this tabbed version of Techbooks is that some districts only acquire a single Techbook, minimizing dead space on the page in that section.
Classroom Launch Pad
User requests sought a solution for managing classrooms, assignments, monitoring progress, and integrating Learning Management Systems (LMSs) with grade books. Previously, these features existed as individual products within the platform, scattered and hidden in various navigation sections.
The introduction of a classroom dashboard now enables users to seamlessly navigate between all relevant classes or subjects, providing a centralized location to monitor all aspects associated with each class.
Recently Viewed and Explore Launch Pads
Understanding that there is a common behavior of teachers and curriculum specialists who might be assembling assignments, lessons, and other resources to quickly achieve their goals for the day, a call out heard several times indicated a need for a viewed history.
Because there are so few hours in the day, and even breaks for lunch are being used to continue finding materials to support classrooms, users didn’t always have the time to bookmark content they came across, or saw content that caught their eye but kept moving forward with their tasks at hand and wished they could have a way to see what they had hovered over or clicked into briefly in recent searches instead of having to try to remember keywords that could surface the content again.
Results
Metrics on the integration with the platform.
27%
Increase in rate of return first-time users captured after Q1.
60%
Of first-time users entered their subscribed techbooks in Q1.
Before the redesign, categorically, users needed to be told to use the Techbook(s) their School Districts added to their subscriptions and where to find them on the platform. The redesign positioning the Techbooks higher on the page and visually calling attention them as distinct offerings within the platform had a great impact on first-time user engagement, indicating that users could find the product easily and leverage it. The integration of the Recently Viewed feature also saw more activity within the Techbook since lessons and chapters from the Techbooks also render within the launchpad after user engagement. Return users navigated back to specific sections within the Techbooks via the displayed cards under Recently Viewed section, increasing the number of sessions a first-time user entered a Techbook.
*Data obtained via Looker
Conclusion
Leveraging the Homepage as an interactive dashboard with prominent calls-to-action and contextual information encouraged increased interaction with the Learning Management System components of the platform. This strategy effectively directed first-time users straight to the Techbooks.