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Elevate K-12 Teacher

 

Design Maturity | S&D Portal | Teacher Marketplace | Design Systems

Case Study: Redesigning the Teacher Marketplace

Background
The Teacher Marketplace allows teachers to browse and apply for teaching jobs. The original design was not mobile-friendly, and teachers often missed out on opportunities because they couldn’t apply quickly enough or were unaware of matching classes. Teachers were also frustrated with the interface’s cumbersome application process.

Objective
We set out to transform the teacher experience by designing a more efficient, accessible, and user-friendly sign-up process. Our goal was to enable teachers to seamlessly apply for relevant classes in real-time, regardless of location, while significantly boosting application conversion rates.

Approach

  • Customer-centered: Our approach included a comprehensive range of user-centered design (UCD) methods. We conducted contextual inquiries, focus groups, and teacher surveys to better understand teachers' real-world needs.

  • Usability Testing & Iteration: To optimize our designs, we conducted multiple rounds of usability testing with teachers, ensuring the final product was usable and valuable to our target audience.

  • Cross-functional collaboration: Working closely with product managers, engineers, and educators, we made design decisions that balanced user needs with technical constraints. We created a collaborative environment that leveraged frequent feedback and iteration while ensuring the design was feasible and impactful.

  • Design System Implementation: We integrated the newly created design system, ensuring the interface adhered to accessibility standards and exhibited improved craftsmanship across all components.

Design Strategies
We used several design strategies to tackle key pain points, significantly improving the user experience and backend efficiency.

  • Mobile Accessibility: We created a fully responsive version of the Teacher Marketplace. This shift allowed teachers to sign up and apply for classes on the go, making the process more accessible and timely.

  • Elegant Simplicity: We collaborated closely with teachers to understand the essential information needed to complete tasks and added and subtracted information accordingly. We simplified navigation by logically grouping content, reducing navigation levels, and streamlining menu options. We applied progressive disclosure, presenting additional details only when necessary to maintain a clean and uncluttered design. We minimized the number of design patterns, leveraged patterns from well-established job placement platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed, and optimized components for usability and graphics for clarity. Unnecessary graphics were eliminated, and color was used sparingly and purposefully to convey semantic meaning. This approach significantly reduced cognitive load and improved task efficiency

  • Real-Time Notifications: One of the most significant pain points was teachers' need for more immediate notifications. We implemented a text messaging system to notify teachers of matching opportunities, allowing them to apply quickly from their mobile phones before someone else claimed the class.

  • Streamlined Class Sign-Up: For classes with multiple sections at a school, our goal was to increase teacher sign-ups for all sections. We introduced an incentive: teachers who signed up for all sections of a class would be guaranteed the assignment. The interface was redesigned with a clear hierarchy and typography, making it easy for teachers to understand the offer and take action. This led to a significant increase in sign-ups and decreased effort for teachers.

Outcomes
We streamlined the interface to reduce friction, improve usability, and deliver a seamless end-to-end experience. The redesigned sign-up process led to several key improvements:

  • Increased Conversion: There was a 9% increase in conversion.

  • Increased Teacher Satisfaction: Teachers reported higher satisfaction ratings due to the more efficient and user-friendly sign-up process. The NPS score increased by 9 points, attributed to the redesign.

  • Increased Sign-Ups for Multiple Sections: The redesigned interface and incentive system led to a 30% increase in teachers signing up for all class sections, reducing administrative overhead for school leaders and ensuring consistent teaching across classes.

  • Reduced Teacher Assignment Time: The mobile-first approach, real-time notifications, and streamlined process drastically reduced the time for teachers to be assigned to classes.

  • Better Alignment: The improved matching process resulted in better alignment between teacher availability and school needs, likely contributing to higher teacher satisfaction and better student outcomes.

Challenges & Solutions

  • New Team: Most of our cross-functional team was new. I worked closely with my product and engineering counterparts to define and continually optimize processes. We led retros with the greater team and created a safe space that allowed the entire team to optimize our working methods.

  • Tight Timelines: Given the project’s tight deadlines, we leaned into collaboration and rapid iteration, constantly refining the design based on feedback and testing.

  • Junior Designer Support: As a mentor to a junior designer on the team, I provided early guidance, frequent feedback, and support when she faced challenges, such as advocating for design decisions or managing complex interactions with other partners. I helped her balance speed and quality, encouraging them to work confidently and avoid burnout.

  • Scope Creep: We faced scope creep throughout the project. I worked diplomatically with stakeholders to push back on unnecessary features and prioritized impact-driven decisions, ensuring that engineering resources were manageable. By focusing on high-impact features, we could deliver a valuable product without compromising quality.

Conclusion
The redesign of the Teacher Marketplace sign-up process at Elevate K-12 not only improved the user experience for teachers but also resulted in increased operational efficiency and better alignment between teachers and schools. Through cross-functional collaboration, user-centered design, and iterative testing, we were able to create a more accessible, intuitive, and effective platform that supported the needs of both educators and administrators. The outcome was a product more aligned with user needs and streamlined processes, ultimately contributing to higher teacher satisfaction and improved student outcomes.