Reflection – Learning Launch

Challenge:  I am a member of my company’s product team. We are in the EdTech industry with focus on  school-math. Our challenge is to improve retention of one of our products. Which has had a  negative trend for some time. When we look into our analytics we see that the usage drops  significantly after the majority of users have done his/her first exercises in the product. The  hypothesis is that there are improvements to be made in that particular area. We call this area   in the product the “exercise scene”. We will focus on trying to uncover why users tend to drop  out after experiencing this area.     Selection:  At our company we believe that we have a good understanding of what our user group looks  like. We have done mostly interviews with users on previous occasions. The product team has  also on previous occasions used some design thinking tools such as visualisation to create  common understanding of the typical user and its needs. This time we will use Learning Launch  because we believe that by being able to quickly test different ideas / prototypes we will be able  to gain insight and understanding of the usage.    Application:  The "exercise scene" is an area where users practise exercises in math. The exercises often  consist of a lot of text. The interaction usually requires some typing. One assumption is that this  requires some extra commitment from the user. And that this can be a reason for low retention.    In our first experiment, we want to focus on making the interaction pattern easier. We want to  test whether we can increase engagement by simplifying the answer options from entering the  answer by typing, to entering the answers by pressing buttons with ready made answer options.  Since we have a pretty clear idea of what we want to test but unsure if this is a success. We  want to test it fast to be able to test more ideas. Therefore we chose Learning Launch as our  Design Thinking tool.  At the same time we want to test, in a second Learning Launch, if a reward system where the  user gets ratings and rewards after completed exercises, can lead to a greater commitment.   We invited two test groups to the office for observation while they were using the experiment  prototypes. By applying these tests we hope to learn more about our users behaviours.     Insight:  When we put together the results from the observations on the different tests, we experienced a  more satisfied test group on Learning Launch 1. The test persons seem to appreciate the  simplicity of not having to type in the aswars. This made us ask further questions: In what  environment, and when, do you use the app in your everyday life? Several responses from the  test group were that they use the product in short sequences. For example, when they are  sitting on the bus, when they are waiting for a lesson at school or when they have some time  over. One insight we gained from this was that the interaction time for usage is shorter and  faster than we previously thought. On previous occasions we have assumed that much of the

usage takes place at home for example at the kitchen table or in a more calm and sedentary  environment where you have more time for studying.   In the second experiment with reward systems and ratings on tasks performed, we did not get  the same positive response. Users did not experience the satisfaction we expected. The insight  here after observation is that it is still too painful to type in answers. Grades and rewards do not  help as motivation to increase usage here.     Approach:   Next time we face a challenge, I think we will divide it in two steps. Maybe we can use several  tools? In this case, I think we went a little too fast to test ideas before we had a clearer picture  and understanding of the user's behavior. We have been a little too confident over our analytics.  We usually have a lot of data available but it can be very abstract. It is easy to dig too deep into  data analysis and miss out on human centered design thinking. I have been thinking about  using the Storytelling tool as a first step in the design thinking process next time. With the help  of this, we can create a better picture and understanding of the user base for the team. After  that we can have workshops to generate ideas that are more human centred which we can then  test in a Learning Launch.


Reflection – Learning Launch Challenge : I am a member of my company ’s product team . We are in the EdTech industry with focus on school - math . Our challenge is to improve retention of one of our products . Which has had a negative trend for some time . When we look into our analytics we see that the usage drops significantly after the majority of users have done his / her first exercises in the product . The hypothesis is that there are improvements to be made in that particular area . We call this area in the product the “ exercise scene ” . We will focus on trying to uncover why users tend to drop out after experiencing this area . Selection : At our company we believe that we have a good understanding of what our user group looks like . We have done mostly interviews with users on previous occasions . The product team has also on previous occasions used some design thinking tools such as visualisation to create common understanding of the typical user and its needs . This time we will use Learning Launch because we believe that by being able to quickly test different ideas / prototypes we will be able to gain insight and understanding of the usage . Application : The " exercise scene " is an area where users practise exercises in math . The exercises often consist of a lot of text . The interaction usually requires some typing . One assumption is that this requires some extra commitment from the user . And that this can be a reason for low retention . In our first experiment , we want to focus on making the interaction pattern easier . We want to test whether we can increase engagement by simplifying the answer options from entering the answer by typing , to entering the answers by pressing buttons with ready made answer options . Since we have a pretty clear idea of what we want to test but unsure if this is a success . We want to test it fast to be able to test more ideas . Therefore we chose Learning Launch as our Design Thinking tool . At the same time we want to test , in a second Learning Launch , if a reward system where the user gets ratings and rewards after completed exercises , can lead to a greater commitment . We invited two test groups to the office for observation while they were using the experiment prototypes . By applying these tests we hope to learn more about our users behaviours . Insight : When we put together the results from the observations on the different tests , we experienced a more satisfied test group on Learning Launch 1 . The test persons seem to appreciate the simplicity of not having to type in the aswars . This made us ask further questions : In what environment , and when , do you use the app in your everyday life ? Several responses from the test group were that they use the product in short sequences . For example , when they are sitting on the bus , when they are waiting for a lesson at school or when they have some time over . One insight we gained from this was that the interaction time for usage is shorter and faster than we previously thought . On previous occasions we have assumed that much of the usage takes place at home for example at the kitchen table or in a more calm and sedentary environment where you have more time for studying . In the second experiment with reward systems and ratings on tasks performed , we did not get the same positive response . Users did not experience the satisfaction we expected . The insight here after observation is that it is still too painful to type in answers . Grades and rewards do not help as motivation to increase usage here . Approach : Next time we face a challenge , I think we will divide it in two steps . Maybe we can use several tools ? In this case , I think we went a little too fast to test ideas before we had a clearer picture and understanding of the user 's behavior . We have been a little too confident over our analytics . We usually have a lot of data available but it can be very abstract . It is easy to dig too deep into data analysis and miss out on human centered design thinking . I have been thinking about using the Storytelling tool as a first step in the design thinking process next time . With the help of this , we can create a better picture and understanding of the user base for the team . After that we can have workshops to generate ideas that are more human centred which we can then test in a Learning Launch .