We’re sensing a lot of pent up desire to move on big picture initiatives in 2024. The past couple years were filled with many unknowns as investment in the sector was heavily scrutinized for both early-stage and mature EdTech products. If you’re like many product leaders we talk to, you may be looking at 2024 with continued trepidation but feeling the pressure to address underlying issues that are keeping your product from being the best it can be. But 2024 could shape up to be your best year yet — if you play it right. We compiled a list of critical trends that will be the biggest influencers on your business.
Following a period of reticence toward spending on longer-term strategic initiatives in favor of quicker wins, we believe there is pent up desire to tackle bigger picture initiatives. But the need to scrutinize big moves feels more important than ever as investment in the EdTech sector continues to reset to normal pre-pandemic levels. That means investors, stakeholders and buyers are seeking safe bets on viable solutions to well-researched user needs. Whether you are an early, mid, or late-stage EdTech product, you can’t afford to have a declining user experience.
Without proper user validation, many EdTech companies risk missing the mark with their products. If your concepts don’t actually resonate with your end users, they easily get lost in the crowded EdTech marketplace. It’s especially risky in light of funding fluctuations and the cessation of pandemic-era funding. You need to ensure that your products and services stand out as must-have solutions to users’ everyday needs. Our 3-step guide to validation will help your EdTech product get the best start possible.
Whoever receives a grant from your organization should assure you that those grant dollars will be put to good use. Especially if they’re an EdTech company designing products for better student outcomes, their ability to affect those outcomes is contingent on the quality of their UX research and design processes. Those elements are critical to their success as an EdTech — and yours as a grant foundation funding them. That means your grant program design must specify that applicants demonstrate a firm grasp of UX research and design best practices within the education industry.
Products, like people, don’t always age gracefully. When it comes to digital products, this aging process begins as soon as new features or bug fixes are introduced and it accelerates when you’re consolidating multiple products into one platform. Over time, as more and more changes take place, design debt (or internal inconsistencies that don’t match the product’s underlying design system) naturally begins to accrue. From minor visual discrepancies all the way up to broken functionalities, design debt fragments and undermines user experience.
