A worldwide, non-profit educational organization asked Axis41 to create a better lesson preparation experience for their teachers. Teachers were jumping from one tool to another, some offline and some online. There was not a consistent or convenient way to prepare a lesson, or to seamlessly carry that lesson into the classroom. Below are the steps we took to create a great user experience, allowing teachers to more efficiently and effectively prepare lessons.

Created a project plan outlining the audience research approach and other UX deliverables.

We arranged and conducted a focus group with 15 teachers in order to identify common challenges, needs, and motivations. Insights from focus group were used to design and conduct an international survey with 500+ teachers in United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Philippines, and Australia. This data was synthesized to clearly define pain points and opportunities.

Three different personas were created to intimately understand teachers’ needs, motivations, and how they might differ depending on their level of experience and teaching styles.

Two different experience maps were created; one to define their current experience, and a second map to define a proposed experience. Both maps defined common mental models and how those interacted with lesson preparation tools.

We mapped features to personas through scenarios and user stories. This ensured that all features were relevant to the audience.

Interactive wireframes were designed along with a usability study. The study ran with 12 teachers; 6 starting on mobile then moving to desktop, and swapping the order the following day. This allowed us to test usability across devices.

The usability study yielded great results, with the majority of participants indicating they would use the app. We also gained great insights into possible refinements and feature recommendations for MVP and beyond.