EDU Research: Roadmap & Overview
Panopto
A research initiative to elevate our understanding of EDU customers and their needs
As a Tech Org, we have very little insight into the world of EDU, and as a result, we do not truly understand our customers' use cases, needs, and priorities
An in-depth research study to enable everyone at our org to see the world through our customers' eyes
PROBLEM:
SOLUTION:
This is Part 1 of Panopto EDU Research initiative:
Why did we need this research?
Before this formative research effort, we did not have a clear understanding of how EDU orgs use our product. More importantly, we did not have clarity on how EDU orgs operated to begin with - who did what, how courses were scheduled, what were the key workflows and and which roles were responsible for completing them. We needed this knowledge to create meaningful, impactful improvements for our EDU customers.
My role:
SVP of Kindle asked me to explore ways to "X-Ray" a text and display the "bones" of the book - key concepts and ideas visually
I defined the requirements, created and iterated on UX until we reached executive sign-off and alignment with other Kindle teams
Collaborated with PM and Dev to get the feature built and shipped to customers.
GOALS:
Panopto did not have a research team, or a framework that would make it easier to recruit participants, so I had to set up a process and a process and f
-
Understand how customers experience the world of EDU
-
Understand where Panopto fits in
-
Who are the customers? What are the roles?
-
List of all key use cases and workflows
-
Understand key usability issues in-context of the workflows
-
Talk to users (instructors) , not just customers (admins)
THE PROCESS:
Panopto did not have a research team, or a framework that would make it easier to recruit participants, so I had to set up a process and a process and f
1. CSA Outreach & Interviews
Before this formative research effort, we did not have a clear understanding of how EDU orgs use our product. More importantly, we did not have clarity on how EDU orgs operated to begin with - who did what, how courses were scheduled, who did what. Before this formative research effort
2. Used Calendly for seamless scheduling
Before this formative research effort, we did not have a clear understanding of how EDU orgs use our product. More importantly, we did not have clarity on how
3. Forum post for recruiting and feedback
Small, implementable changes lead to big impact over time
4. Structured interviews to use time efficiently
Small, implementable changes lead to big impact over time
-
Part 1 - What describe your org, your role in the org, and what you do
-
Part 2 - Please show me what happens over the course of semester
-
Part 3 - Please show me how you use the product
-
Part 4 - Please show me your key usability issues with our app
6. Supplementing with Online Research & Chat GPT
As I worked on this project, I realized that some questions about EDU processes and workflows could be answered by conducting online research, and started reading articles about how EDU orgs function. I also used ChatGPT to get answers to specific questions (What is the difference between" Instructional Designer and Instructional Technologist")
INTERVIEWS
CSA Interviews
Even though half of our customers were using an LMS, not everyone in our org knew exactly how it worked (including me, at the start of the research process). To address this, I created a mini crush-course on LMS. The org needed this basic shared knowledge to have a meaningful conversation about use cases
Customer Interviews
Even though half of our customers were using an LMS, not everyone in our org knew exactly how it worked (including me, at the start of the research process). To address this, I created a mini crush-course on LMS. The org needed this basic shared knowledge to have a meaningful conversation about use cases
COLLECTED DATA OVERVIEW
2. Customer Analysis
How many customers do we have in each category?
.png)
.png)
SHARING FINDINGS WITH THE ORG
This is an overview of all the data that was collected during the research. For details on each area, please see Part 2: Definitions, Roles and Workflows
LMS Crush-Course
Even though half of our customers were using an LMS, not everyone in our org knew exactly how it worked (including me, at the start of the research process). To address this, I created a mini crush-course on LMS. The org needed this basic shared knowledge to have a meaningful conversation about use cases
A systematic way to share complex data
Even though half of our customers were using an LMS, not everyone in our org knew exactly how it worked (including me, at the start of the research process). To address this, I created a mini crush-course on LMS. The org needed this basic shared knowledge to have a meaningful conversation about use cases
IMPACT
INTERNAL IMPACT:
-
Established a research discipline from scratch
-
Elevated orgs' understanding of EDU customer needs
-
Videos of my presentations used for employee onboarding
-
Proved the value of research to stakeholders and org
-
Elevated the quality bar for presentations and research
.png)
CUSTOMER IMPACT:
-
Build relationships with customers for future research
-
Made customers feel heard and included in the design process
-
Demonstrated our commitment to quality CX and Design