A comprehensive approach to EdTech product development means more stakeholders are at the table. But when groups who should be working toward the same goal are at odds, it slows down the process and the progress toward your product’s launch. Developers are now joined by teams from content, marketing, customer support and other product groups (just to name a few). This diversity of roles and disciplines now represented on the team leads to a better product in the end. But the growing number of personalities and perspectives increases the potential for conflicting priorities.
In the world of EdTech product development, accumulating some degree of debt is acceptable. Minimal levels of design debt (design-related inconsistencies that occur within a product over time) or technical debt (shortcuts in development that prioritize speed over perfect code) are a reflection that you’re constantly evolving and updating your product. What happens, though, when multiple debts mount over time and cause increased user frustration? The result is trust debt — an increasing lack of confidence in your product and your brand.
As an EdTech product manager facing time and budget pressures, you might be looking for a shortcut to get your product to market faster. In these instances, cutting UX research or testing may seem like the best approach. However, while many shortcuts are designed to make tasks quicker and easier, not all shortcuts produce desirable results. In the world of EdTech product development, cutting corners in UX simply isn’t an option.
One of the most common challenges we help product leaders work through is how they can plan, build and adapt UX budgets over months, quarters and years. It can be very difficult when setting yearly budgets, for example, when you know unforeseen challenges and opportunities will inevitably require you to pivot along the way. In many organizations, tension arises when internal stakeholders, not to mention CFOs, learn that discovery work has unearthed new insights that will require your team to incur additional costs to address.
Sure, it would be ideal if you could sit in on all your EdTech product’s test sessions. But as a product owner, it probably feels like there are never enough hours in the day. You simply can’t be present every time users test your product. But you also don’t have to wait until testing is complete to get up to date. When you access this Early Research Recap Worksheet, you can squeeze the most value out of each round of UX research. It provides a thorough report of what’s happening, as it’s happening — and the answers to your most pressing questions.
