WHITE PAPER: Sarah Freitag

A Field Guide to UX Research: How (and why) to craft a customized research plan for your EdTech product

All products — yours included — are only as good as users believe them to be. Which means any EdTech product’s success hinges on its ability to anticipate and solve users’ most pressing problems, both in and out of the classroom. And it’s safe to say that without UX research, your product’s design is little more than a stab in the dark. 

Why is it, then, that so many EdTech companies struggle to appropriately leverage UX research in their product development process?  

In order to fill in unknown gaps and drive your product forward, you need to skillfully integrate UX research throughout the process. Fail to approach research appropriately, and you risk making costly mistakes — either by wasting precious design and research time or developing something that doesn’t engage your users. 

So how can you ensure your UX research efforts are perfectly tailored to drive value and make your EdTech product smarter? In this white paper, you’ll learn: 

  • The most common UX research methods — and how they work together 
  • Prevalent UX research pitfalls to avoid 
  • Questions to ask to uncover your unique UX research needs
  • Why a customized UX research plan is critical to your EdTech product’s success

  • Photo of Sarah Freitag
    Sarah Freitag

    As Director of UX Research, Sarah draws on her deep understanding of EdTech users and her background in research, design and business strategy to enable our clients to make confident decisions that result in products that solve real needs and create demonstrable impacts on their business’ bottom lines. Like her design-side counterpart at Openfield, Sarah is responsible for fostering collaboration, team development and for bringing new strategic initiatives and methodologies that allow our company to stay ahead of the curve of what EdTech users truly need to realize higher levels of learning and teaching success. Sarah is an avid reader and an adventurous explorer. Highlights from her favorite travels include Morocco, Peru, Italy, Denmark and France. With the recent pandemic-induced reduction in travel, she makes it a point to fulfill her wanderlust with another one of her passions, cooking and baking, by experimenting with recipes inspired by cultures around the world.

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