Enhancing adoption and engagement of a survey tool
Overview
Panorama Education's survey tool, Check-ins, serves to assess student well-being and learning environment in a timely manner. My team and I were dedicated to enhancing the experience for both internal and external users by releasing its configurable content feature.
Timeline ~2 quarters (6-7 months)
Role UX Design, UX Research, UI Design
Tools Figma, Miro, Pendo, Tetra Insight, Slack, Google Docs
What is Check-ins tool?
Check-ins is a survey tool where district/school can get a quick pulse on student perceptions so they can deliver rapid support.
Educators can gather feedback from students on a more frequent basis with this tier-one support so they will understand what support the students need socially, emotionally, and academically. Educators can select the questions from Panorama's bank of 80+ check-in questions and send the check-in instantly through the platform. Results will appear as students submit their responses.
Data is for demonstration purposes only.
Flow of creating a check-in
Glossary of Project Terms (Reference for the terms)
Check-in - a Panorama Education survey tool
Content - Collection of questions designed for implementation in the Check-ins survey
Custom content - Collection of questions designed by users to align with their district's standardized language.
Understanding the problem
Although Check-ins achieved significant sales success post-launch, a noticeable disparity exists in adoption rates. Many districts have yet to utilize the tool for student responses. The company's objective is to strategically enhance Check-ins, with the goal of mitigating the risk of churn. By prioritizing client feedback and requests, the addition of the custom content feature reflects a commitment to enhancing user experience.
Design Goal
Identifying product challenges and formulating effective solutions, with the aim of enhancing user engagement for the Check-ins feature.
Business Goal
Enabling expanded access for external users based on their roles, with the potential to drive increased sales and renewals for the product.
Understanding the product
My primary focus was on simplifying the process for district leaders to gain support from end users, with a strong emphasis on understanding check-ins. Key questions throughout my ideation included:
How do users interact with this tool?
When do users utilize this tool?
Why do users choose to use this tool?
What aspects do users appreciate and find challenging about this tool?
The Check-ins tool involves crafting surveys, gathering responses, and generating results. The MVP of this project prioritizes enhancing the creation phase, specifically by integrating custom content.
Panorama’s Check-in features
Users
The user base is divided into two categories: internal and external.
In the case of large district clients, internal users help them through the check-in creation process. For smaller district clients, it's typically a self-service experience. Therefore, when introducing a new feature like custom content configuration, it's important to address distinct user needs and objectives for each category.
Internal user (full access)
CX (Customer Experience) Specialist
Account Manager
Internal user
Create & edit custom content
Manage privacy between all roles
Access all check-ins results
External user (full & partial access)
District Leader (full)
Educator (partial)*
District Leader
Manage privacy between all roles
Access all check-ins results
Educator
Access only their own check-ins results
Create & edit
custom content*
*case by case basis
“I check in with my students every two weeks. It’s quick to implement and the information is very easy to use.”
Insights from users:
“..if it’s possible to tweak the language in the questions and add unique questions..”
“By having a form of check-ins for staff, this may help reduce burnout and give a voice to educators.”
.. and more
Observing quantitative data
By examining client feedback data and closely analyzing product engagement metrics, I gained insights into user behavior. These observations will play a role in guiding our future decisions and arriving at a viable & scalable solution.
Robust engagement is notable during the initial stages of the school year.
A significant proportion, approximately one-third, of our clients have initiated at least one check-in.
However, there is a sharp decline in the number of clients who have launched more than 10 or 50 check-ins.
One last thing..
Competitive analysis often doesn't receive the recognition it deserves, yet our team places immense value in conducting this type of research. Exploring the dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of the K-12 industry allows us to gain insights into what other offerings are available and how they are shaping the field.
The research have sparked several key questions in my mind:
How might we leverage these findings to guide us toward the ultimate solution that aligns with our objectives?
How might we translate these discoveries into practical, actionable insights?
How might we strike a balance between user requests and our project objectives?
How might we architect a sustainable design for the Library UI that effectively addresses user needs?
The Drafts
Drawing upon the user flows and insights, I crafted multiple drafts for we are displaying the new library interface, allowing for directions and evaluating pros and cons.
Layout #1
I experimented with the layout on the creation page itself, exploring different arrangements to understand how best to prioritize the various features.
Pros
Same entry point - similar interface and familiar experience
Cons
Not scalable enough
Insufficient space to accommodate multi-question inquiries
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Layout #2
In this iteration, I've chosen to allocate an entire page exclusively to the library. This time, my focus is primarily on refining the layout and enhancing the functions related to content within the library.
Top vs. Sidebar placement for Category Filter
Pros
User-friendly and readable full-page library interface
Cons
The landing page feels overwhelming with excessive content.
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Layout #3 (FINAL)
Based on the positive feedback we got for layout #2, we're excited to move ahead with the final concept. This version has been favorably received for its preferred, simplified, and user-friendly approach. The next step involves refining this concept into a high-fidelity design and preparing it for usability testing. This phase aims to gather additional insights and validation from clients.
Usability Testing & Insights
My team and I conducted moderated usability testing with 7 participants from different districts.
We had 5 simple tasks, each with specific goals, to evaluate the new feature. This helped us understand user experiences and improve our design.
Tools: Zoom, Figma (prototype), Tetra Insight
Task 0: Acknowledgment of the new feature
Insights:
Most participants understood the library page purposes as questions bank
Most participants understood topic categories
Some participants didn't have the reference to compare current vs. new check-in flow because of unfamiliarity
"I'm guessing this is probably like the massive question bank that I would use to build a check-in."
"I would assume this is the district level"
"I do like the custom topic piece because like I said, I think teachers are doing their own things, so they may already have their favorite question bank."
Task 1: Creation flow
Insights:
All participants recognized wizard flow.
Some participants prefer to have more question types besides free response and multiple choice.
Certain participants took longer than others because they explored available content before creating a custom topic.
"I think it gives them that sense of teacher autonomy. That sense that they can create their own three or four questions survey is huge."
"If this is the first time I was doing it, I would probably take a look at like how to best write my question."
Task 2: Editing flow
Insights:
Everyone used the single-question edit flow, not the universal one, due to factors like task details and expectations.
Overall, there's no confusion regarding edit flow in general, just from the entry point factor.
"The pencil is the most immediate thing that people saw. So their attention is to the question, not to the upper right."
"I actuall would've just clicked on the little pen."
Task 3: Hiding content
Insights:
Noted confusion with the hidden toggle, later resolved by discovering the Hide Button.
Participants unfamiliar with check-ins took more time finding the topic prompted to hide.
"I was looking right here. I did not notice this up here."
"It'd almost be easier if I could just toggle it right here."
Task 4: Exploring content management and check-in creation relationship
Insights:
Everyone seemed to understand the connection between the library and creation.
"It can be a bit tricky when the languages available vary, because you might not always remember that they're not offered for both types of surveys."
"It would be cool to have an opportunity for a teacher to put a question in a question bank to create on district level."
Actionable insights:
After analyzing the data and discussing it with the team, we reached a consensus. Considering factors like technical limitations, timelines, and user needs, we've chosen to focus our major iterations on the following tasks:
Editing Content: Reassessing user edit access at the topic level vs. the question level.
Hiding Panorama Content: Refining the hide function based on observed user behavior with the toggle vs. the button.
Other Improvements: Enhancing engagement for both first-time and existing check-in users through impactful UX copy.
Final Iterations
Insight 1: Redefining edit flow
To improve the user experience and emphasize the editing functions, I restructured the flow by assigning priority to the primary and secondary buttons. This design eliminates the need for individual edit buttons on each question and consolidates the topic edit button under the "More Actions" menu. The goal is to promote and highlight the editing capabilities on this page.
Insight 2: Iterating hide components
For non-custom content, we've restricted users from editing the information; however, they can still opt to hide it. To enhance accessibility and user-friendliness, we've opted for a toggle instead of displaying an edit button. The toggle conveys an immediate action, aligning with our accessibility goals.
Other iteration: From multi-step form to single-page form
Due to technical constraints, we had to make a decision to convert our multi-step form into one single-page form.
The Handoff~
As I transition to a new project, the moment for the handoff has arrived. I ensured consistent communication and transparency throughout this project to provide developers with a clear grasp of interaction and UX choices.
My thoughts
An important aspect not explicitly shown in my process and results is the extensive usability testing. This testing highlighted the value of pre-screening participants to gauge their familiarity with the product, potentially saving time. Additionally, I encountered timeline and technical adjustments that demanded quick decision-making and adaptation to the circumstances.
