Building a User-Centered Online Learning Platform
Background
I served as the lead UX researcher for the multi-year transformation of a learning management system (LMS) serving 7 million users at a leading online learning company. Working closely with product, design, engineering, and business stakeholders, I defined and executed a continuous research strategy that informed key decisions throughout development, launch, and post-launch optimization. This work helped shape a more reliable, scalable, and user-centered learning experience while supporting the organization’s broader technology transformation goals.
Upon launch, the learning platform won the ARELLO education award for its support of our real estate learners.
Research Strategy & Impact
Pre-launch prototype testing: Multiple rounds of moderated prototype tests revealed user needs, such as the desire for customization and progress tracking, and pain points such as finding course certificates. This research led to prioritization and refinement of key LMS features that were put into development.
Post-launch contextual inquiry: Immediately following the launch of the redesigned LMS experience, I conducted moderated contextual inquiries with multiple user groups to observe user behavior in the live environment. This research revealed the underutilization of key features due to poor discoverability, leading to the implementation of an onboarding tour that I designed and launched using User Pilot.
Survey intercept: A Qualtrics survey was integrated into the user experience to help monitor customer satisfaction (CSAT), usability and usefulness (UMUX-Lite), and open-ended feedback. Responses from dissatisfied users were routed to engineers and customer support to close the loop and fix critical errors in real time. Feedback directly led to navigation, messaging, and UI improvements. While initially strong, CSAT and UMUX-Lite ratings rose week-over-week, reaching 90% (excellent) for most brands over a 6-month period.
Usability testing, tree testing, and surveys: As more brands migrated to the platform and new features were needed to meet evolving needs, I continued to conduct user research to guide design and development. Tree testing helped validate designs to streamline a navigation menu that had grown unwieldy. Usability testing helped surface friction in the course purchasing process, leading to improved filtering and product display, leading to a 21% increase in user satisfaction with the course catalog and a 55% increase in quarterly revenue.
What I Learned
This project was a great example of how research can and should be baked into the development process and how having a dedicated researcher on the team makes everyone’s jobs easier. Engineering was able to spot critical issues that they may not have known about in order to keep the platform stable. Stakeholders had greater trust in the product knowing that we were listening to customers and acting on their feedback. Continuous improvements were made with a clear purpose in mind, time was spent on the right things, and ultimately users felt valued and supported in their learning.