Make Your EdTech Life-Changing by Applying These 5 LX Insights

For an EdTech entrepreneur, it's essential to understand the value of investing in the learning experience of your users, particularly adult learners. These individuals often have unique needs and requirements that differ from traditional K-12 students, which makes creating products and services tailored to their specific learning styles and goals more critical.

Imagine, for instance, a 40-year-old working professional who decided to "go back to school" to re-skill because their work in BPO is not future-proof and not compensated well. They likely juggle multiple responsibilities, including work, family, and other commitments, and may not have been in a formal learning environment for years. This learner needs an experience that is flexible, intuitive, and meets their needs. By investing in LX, you can design products that provide this kind of experience – one that is personalized and engaging for adult learners. This is likely to increase your total revenue: logically, if your students found it easy and convenient to acquire knowledge through your product, they’re likely to tell their friends about it or buy another product of yours.

Even if you’re following special techniques for adult education, such as motivational design, it’s almost impossible to take into account everything that might go wrong. At Refocus, we're creating 8-10 month programs that allow people with zero experience to find jobs in IT.

There are five insights we got from developing and constantly improving our users’ learning experience.

1. Never forget that nothing is obvious

Running an EdTech business in developing countries like the Philippines and Indonesia, I've learned that there's nothing obvious about education, which was one of the biggest challenges we've encountered. For example, what might be a straightforward process for me, like downloading an Excel file, could be a major hurdle for someone with a weaker computer or who is not tech-savvy. The amount of support we provide to learners impacts our expenses directly. But if one is willing to expand and cover the wider scope of learners, they have to pay attention to everyone’s needs, even if it requires extra work and costs.

It may appear to be a regional characteristic, but our experience in other countries shows: the challenges we face in creating compelling learning experiences are not unique to any one area or demographic. Whether operating in developed or developing countries, it's impossible to predict all the challenges your students will have before analyzing their feedback.

However, we do believe it's worth the effort to create courses that are accessible to and supportive of all learners. To do this, we decided to write step-by-step instructions with screenshots as soon as we saw that students faced significant difficulties, which were reflected by the following:

• a bunch of similar questions to mentors

• a drop in the completion rate

• a decrease in customer satisfaction

  
  

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Another challenge is that it makes the process longer and potentially slows down the overall pace of the course. However, I still believe that the slight decrease in completion rate that happens because users need more time is worthwhile.

2. Invest in “super support” at the very beginning

The next insight we got is connected to the previous one. Students find the first couple of modules the hardest part of the course, so the worst drop in completion rate occurs. Moreover, if your model implies some kind of payback guarantee, this period is also the riskiest in this aspect.

That's not surprising if you imagine yourself as a student embarking on a journey to learn something new. You're excited, but as you dive into the material, you start to feel lost and overwhelmed. You struggle to keep up with the pace of the course, and you start to feel like giving up. Maybe you are just not ready to work in tech? And you know, maybe if you find the very beginning difficult, you shouldn't even try?

When designing course modules, it's also important to keep in mind the complexity curve, which refers to the number of unfamiliar actions required to complete each assignment. When one is starting your course, each step taken is “new” for them — even downloading something or applying the most basic functionality if you’re speaking about education in tech. We try to add 5±2 new actions to each assignment the students are to pass. Striving for a simple and intuitive course structure can make a big difference in the ability of beginner learners to navigate and succeed in the course. At the same time, people who already have basic knowledge will get another chance to revise them.

Investing in early support for students is crucial to creating a positive and effective learning experience. By actively seeking feedback and valuing each learner's unique journey, instructors can build a community of engaged and motivated students who feel supported and valued. This investment may require some resources, but it pays off in the long run, resulting in higher retention rates and happier, more successful learners. For example, we have two times more live sessions during the first two modules than during the rest.

3. Hire community managers who truly understand your audience

One of the key reasons adults prefer to purchase educational products rather than study on their own is the sense of community and support they get. That’s why it's a great idea to have a dedicated team of community managers who interact with learners on a regular basis and provide support and motivation to help them succeed. In our case, they run live sessions, create informal interactions, and serve as a friendly and approachable resource for students. They are not just there to teach the material but to help students feel connected and engaged in the learning experience.

Another reason why community teams are essential for business is that they can become a link or some kind of gatekeeper to real difficulties and problems the students have. A good community manager can understand learners' needs and perspectives and relay this information to the content producer's team. They need to be able to speak the same language – not just literally but also culturally. This means understanding the unique challenges and barriers learners may face based on their backgrounds and experiences. In the best case, they have also studied what the students are learning, giving them a better understanding of the difficulties they face.

From what we’ve learned, the following criteria of a community manager work best in terms of improving the learning experience and customer satisfaction:

• Strong communication skills: Community managers must be able to communicate effectively with learners, whether through written messages, live sessions, or one-on-one interactions, and always stay aware when an awkward pause occurs. We have noticed that the best-performing ones usually have experience in public speaking.
• Empathy: They must be able to relate to the challenges and frustrations that students may face and provide support and encouragement when needed.
• Enthusiasm: Community managers must be passionate about the subject matter and the learning process. Their enthusiasm can be infectious, which in turn, may help motivate students and keep them engaged.
• Creativity: A good community manager is always looking for new and innovative ways to engage learners and create a dynamic and engaging learning environment. This may include creating interactive activities, organizing group projects, or providing additional resources and support.

4. Find the most comfortable degree of privacy

When we study at school or university, we’re often asked out loud in class or have to show our solutions publicly and get evaluated, so having sessions where you solve problems together might look like a pretty natural thing to do. However, the situation may be significantly different in the case of adult learners. By default, they are more afraid to study because they might feel embarrassed or insecure about their ability to succeed. So analyzing the level of privacy is essential when building a supportive learning community.

It's pretty obvious that feedback on assignments should be shared personally, but we learned the hard way that people can also be incredibly afraid to ask questions publicly during live sessions out of fear of looking stupid or ignorant. When we asked if someone had any questions, no one spoke up, but the mentor received a bunch of questions from their DM later. This was a surprise to us as we never intended to come across as harsh or dismissive of anyone's concerns. Live sessions can be a fantastic way to connect with learners and build a sense of community, but it's important to balance that with respect for privacy and individual concerns.

We still decided to keep the live sessions to maintain an atmosphere of real-life training and encourage interactions. To ensure that learners feel comfortable asking questions and participating in live sessions, we started providing a very positive and supportive atmosphere that encourages growth and learning. Therefore, we work to create an environment that feels as safe and welcoming as possible, so students can feel free to express themselves and learn without fear of judgment or ridicule. It is essential to prioritize privacy and respect for each individual's concerns and needs, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. This helps build a sense of trust and community, which in turn, leads to more engagement and better learning outcomes for everyone involved.

We follow these rules even when the feedback is sent personally via email and try to make them as motivating as we can.

5. Add recognition and motivation

Incentives can make a big difference in how learners approach their studies, even though the majority of adult learners are studying to get more marketable skills and seem to have the consistent motivation to improve their family’s lifestyle. The reality is that learners face a lot of challenges, and additional motivation can be incredibly helpful. That's why it's so important to gather feedback and find out what kind of incentives work best for different learners.

For example, we were surprised to learn how powerful of a motivator certification is. It’s obvious that learners often work hard to build their skills and prepare for their careers. But it was less obvious how much people actually care about the certificates they get, even from free webinars. As we learned from qualitative interviews, they helped validate students’ efforts and gave them a sense of accomplishment. These recognitions can also serve as valuable additions to their portfolios, which can help them stand out to potential employers.

The same can be said about study projects. It may look like it’s just a way to improve one's skills and that it’s not that big of a deal, but it turned out that adult learners treat assignments much more seriously than school children or university students do. For example, our students almost had a fight once when some of them published their assignments to showcase to others. It was not related to chatting or anything like that, but other students were angry because they felt deprived of being able to do the task completely by themselves!

Moreover, another effective way to incentivize learners is through gamification. Adding elements of play to educational experiences can make them more engaging and increase students' willingness to stick with a task. For example, a learning platform might include a point system, where learners earn points for completing quizzes, participating in discussions, or achieving other milestones. These points can then be redeemed for rewards like badges or certificates.

However, it's important to note that these incentives are not the driving force behind learning. Rather, they are a booster that can help learners stay motivated and engaged as they work toward their goals. Ultimately, learners are pursuing education to build the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their chosen careers. But by offering additional incentives and recognizing their efforts, we can help them feel supported and encouraged throughout their learning journey. So it's crucial to gather feedback on what works best, whether it's through gamification elements or other forms of recognition.

But is it the key to success?

In conclusion, the field of LX is undoubtedly important in today's digital age, where user experience is crucial for the success of any product or service. However, it's important to remember that great LX alone isn't enough to make a product worth its cost. It's essential to focus on creating a product that solves real problems and provides real value to users.

Once that is achieved, investing in LX can be an excellent way to enhance user experience, build brand loyalty, and create a competitive advantage in the market. By putting users' needs and desires first and designing products that truly meet those needs, we can create more meaningful and impactful experiences that benefit both users and businesses alike. So let's continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with LX and use it as a tool to build products that make a real difference in people's lives!