Every EdTech product leader wants to innovate in their space and make room for bold UX solutions that meet users’ unarticulated needs. But innovative solutions take time and resources to develop. The benefits are delayed — and they don’t always come with a guarantee of success. At the same time, your team likely feels pressure to stay on track with fast-moving development cycles and the perennial demand for measurable improvements. The result? Long-term design concepts are first on the chopping block as “quick wins” and inevitable fires jump to the front of the line every time.
You already know UX research is integral to developing EdTech products users can’t live without. Whether you’re launching a new product or taking an existing one to the next level, research is a skeleton key with the power to unlock your users’ needs, preferences, pain points, and mental models. But with each successive round of research, your insights can quickly add up to an embarrassment of riches. You can’t possibly tackle everything at once. Not only that, but not all UX research findings are created equal. So how do you choose which of the many findings your research team uncovers to focus on first?
The best EdTech products aim to meet the evolving needs of their users. What’s also true is that the best EdTech products are working diligently to uncover new opportunities for teaching and learning. In the world of education, meeting your users’ needs means more than simply crafting a seamless user experience. It means facilitating improved learning outcomes. The future of EdTech will be one in which products are evaluated for their usability and the efficacy of their educational content. In other words, does your EdTech product provide a better education for its users?
Today’s instructors and students expect EdTech products to offer actionable, data-driven insights that pave the way for smarter decisions and improved learning outcomes. So it’s no wonder data visualization dashboards are increasingly par for the course in the EdTech space. Unfortunately, though, not all data dashboards live up to their potential. Too many overpromise in appearance — but underdeliver in actual user value. You see, a lot of data dashboards function like information fire hoses. Rather than presenting a carefully curated selection of insights, they overwhelm users with a high-powered torrent of data points.
During the coronavirus pandemic, educators turned to EdTech to bridge the gap between traditional and remote learning environments. Demand for EdTech products spiked as companies like yours worked overtime to accommodate wave after wave of new users — and adjust to radically different user needs, too. It was a wildly turbulent year, one that required your team to work at a breakneck pace while managing the stress of living through a global pandemic. And it was equally wild from a business standpoint. With so much new demand, the past year was, for many EdTech companies, an unprecedented success.
