Competition in the EdTech space is fierce. So it makes sense that you keep a close eye on what your closest competitors are up to. You’re probably acutely aware of any gaps between your own product’s capabilities and those of your biggest rivals. So much so that achieving feature parity may be a top priority when planning your product’s roadmap. No doubt about it: It’s crucial to understand and keep pace with your competitors. But just because the most comparable EdTech product on the market offers a particular feature or functionality doesn’t necessarily mean you should, too.
Surveys are critical tools for UX researchers. In the EdTech space, they can be used to collect standardized feedback about your users’ needs as well as your product’s usability. Yet not all surveys are equally useful. The quality of your surveys, which depends on how they are written and structured, can significantly impact the value of your findings. Unfortunately, the ability to craft clear, effective, and unbiased surveys is a skill not all product teams (or even UX firms) possess.
As instructors, students, and casual learners alike embrace a personalized, learn-at-your-own-pace ethos, self-paced and adaptive learning products are growing in popularity. This approach represents a key opportunity for EdTech products like yours — but it comes with an added layer of responsibility. All EdTech products must be user-friendly to succeed. However, when it comes to self-paced products and adaptive products, the pressure to deliver a seamless and intuitive user experience (UX) is much higher.
Your EdTech product serves an international, multilingual, and multicultural audience. That’s true even if your product is only ever used in schools and colleges within the United States. You see, whether your product is geared toward K-12 or higher education, the demographic trends are the same: American schools are increasingly composed of non-native English speakers.
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?
