Introduction
In the evolving landscape of online education, a pioneering platform sought to provide students with university course previews, giving them a glimpse into potential degree courses. However, as the platform grew, it encountered certain challenges in ensuring an excellent user experience at scale, limiting the company’s growth potential. This case study explores how these challenges were addressed and the transformation that ensued.
Course taster experiences
The platform’s flagship feature offers interactive, cinematic course taster experiences, designed to help high school students consider their next steps into university.
Collaborating with esteemed academics from leading university institutions, the primary aim is to provide prospective students with a chance to experience degree courses in short, 1-hour sessions. Specifically targeting KS4 school students, these previews serve as a pivotal tool for students assessing their academic options.
Overcoming tech constraints to enable growth
Limited Learning Management System
The client’s reliance on a third-party LMS presented growth limitations due to its SaaS nature, causing UX, functional, and integrational constraints that would limit growth.
Innovation and differentiation
Restricted tech capabilities hampered innovation efforts. Furthermore, the emergence of platforms with similar offerings intensified competition.
Integration issues
API limitations resulted in hindered or slow integration processes, causing potential data mismatches and preventing learners from fully engaging with the content.
Data management
Data collected by third-party apps was not streamlined into a central system, making data analysis difficult and impeding their ability to use data to make better business decisions.
Our Goals
- To design a versatile LMS that would reduce dependency on third-party solutions, free them from technical constraints and amplify their unique offerings.
- Boost student satisfaction scores by gauging improvements across:
- User growth rate
- Percentage of activated users
- Student CSAT experience ratings
- Ensure cost-effective scalability to brace for future business expansion, with a focus on both system architecture and workflow automation.
Futureproofed LMS revamp
A new, flexible learning management system was designed, diminishing the need for third-party solutions and facilitating platform differentiation and scaling.
This ensured the LMS met the business and user needs of today while ensuring it could keep up in line with the changing business, learner and regulatory requirements.
Mobile experience enhancement
With mobile learning becoming more prevalent among school students, the mobile user experience underwent significant improvements to ensure learning was accessible anytime, anywhere.
Unified data management
Data collection processes were overhauled, integrating third-party app data into a singular system. This approach not only eased data analytics but also paved the way for a rich, personalised content recommendation engine that would help learners to engage with suitable courses.
School engagement model
New formats were devised, tailored for classroom integration, allowing the platform to be seamlessly incorporated into school curriculums, expanding their user base.
Anticipated benefits
We anticipate the platform to experience a significant uptick in user growth and engagement. The envisioned LMS enhancements, alongside an improved mobile experience, are expected to boost user satisfaction. Additionally, a unified data approach may pave the way for more precise content targeting, aiming to uplift the overall student experience.
