Overview
IXL has been used by more than 17 million students and over a million teachers worldwide. As one of the most popular EdTech platforms, IXL is facing increased competition from up and coming EdTech platforms. We believe that IXL slowly phasing out is due to its outdated, complex interface.
Problem
K-12 students practicing academic skills struggle to stay motivated and engaged because they lack meaningful feedback and visibility in their learning progress.
Without an effective way to track their own growth or understand what to do next, skill-building becomes a repetitive chore, rather than a rewarding achievement, causing students to lose interest in what should be an empowering learning experience.
Its outdated and traditional interface makes it intimidating to approach, and its harsh penalty system discourages students from learning.
User Research Findings
Using the insights we have gathered from our user interviews, Prodigy and Khan Academy were commonly mentioned EdTech platforms that prioritize student motivation through a gamified way of learning and clear progress tracking. Additionally, our interviews with K-12 students uncovered three main points that create a disengaging learning environment.
1. Poor visual hierarchy forces students to scroll through "text-heavy" websites
“...a lot of classes have their own unique names, and it might not necessarily be the same way they would name them.”
We even paid close attention to workarounds/shortcuts that were used (CTRL + F). One particular interviewee found themselves in a loop, searching for "shapes," then immediately searching for "triangles" to align with the lesson they are currently learning in school. As soon as the interviewee started the lesson, they realized that this is not what they are learning and exited the page.
2. Students want to learn from their mistakes and understand why they got a question wrong
Although IXL shows an explanation for why the answer is incorrect, it is brief and does not provide any diagrams or visuals, along with any follow-up examples or practice problems that allow students to retry the problem and depthen their understanding.
Especially for math, students learn best through continuous practice. Not being able to go through trial and error without a harsh penalty discourages students from learning.
3. No designated "student home page/dashboard" makes students feel anxious, not knowing what needs to be completed or if anything has been completed at all
The current student home page/dashboard is lackluster with little to no information regarding progress or completion of assignments. Students feel organized, focused, held accountable, and motivated to learn when these vital pieces of information are made clear upon initial login.
Introducing our Redesign
A central dashboard that prioritizes progress tracking through gamified features that make skill-building engaging and motivating.
Topic preview and selection made easier!
Forget the text-heavy interface. All lessons have been categorized into their respective math topics through drop-down menus.
Lessons pages combine visuals and examples to guide student understanding in preparation for practice problems.
A/B Testing
We had returning participants from our initial user interviews to give us feedback on our redesign through A/B testing. We conducted one interview remotely and another held in-person. We created two different interview guides to structure our user testing with various tasks that they can perform on our prototypes.
What was Changed?
As a result of our findings, we implemented changes to our redesign to address any confusion from the A/B testing. The main concern was the practice page.
"There should be some text or image that shows that the toolbar is there"
"It would be nice to also include [more resources] during the questions instead of as needing help"
By providing the total number of questions ahead of time, students can prepare for the time it may take for them to complete the lesson–students have the flexibility to choose how they would like to approach the lesson.
The settings icon did not serve a beneficial purpose and figured that students may not be concerned with the time elapsed on a single lesson or how many questions were answered. Both students mentioned that the previous toolbox sidebar was hidden from their view. We redesigned the toolbox sidebar into its own designated icon that is now in place of the settings to improve the visibility and reassure students of the presence of a toolbox.
We also thought about how “needing help” can sometimes be a feeling that students are afraid to admit, and may have feelings of shame when clicking on the “Need help?” button. We decided to ease this anxiety-inducing feeling by redesigning the “Need help?” button into its own designated icon, right underneath the toolbox icon. Clicking on the resources icon opens a message that says, “More resources” and directs the student to additional resources that may help them with the lesson.
Reflection
10 weeks flew by so fast! This is my first time taking on a project surrounding the EdTech field and honestly, I really like what we came up with.
As someone who works with K-12 students, it is crucial that these tools are easy for students to use. I appreciate the efforts in the design of these platforms to ensure that students from various learning backgrounds can utilize and benefit from them. Education is truly the future, but so are the tools that fuel the learning.
To combine my work in STEAM outreach with redesigning EdTech platforms to accommodate the needs of the students is a route that I want to continue exploring, especially as I transition into post-grad.
If I had more time, I would have actually loved to connect with nearby K-12 schools and conduct interviews in their classrooms. Our team did run into a small obstacle, as we've recognized that IXL is an EdTech platform that is not commonly used in classrooms, but having more insight from nearby schools and students would allow us to understand the changes that need to be implemented to ensure that IXL can be a useful EdTech platform. And even if IXL may not be the solution, maybe this can inspire the development of an entirely new EdTech platform!