Udacity

B2B Learner Retention Redesign

Product & Design strategy • user research & Synthesis •
UX, UI, & interaction design • Prototyping & user testing
About Udacity

Online professional technical education platform with B2C, B2B, and B2G verticals.

Company Problem

Low B2B retention/renewal.

Proxy Metric

Increase “Weekly Active Learners” (WAL). Higher learner engagement = higher client contract renewal rate.

Product Strategy

Additionally, the company was moving from a single-product access model to an “all access” model.

Results

Increased weekly active learners and program enrollment. Decreased helpdesk tickets and time to graduation. Saved time and money in efficiency gains.

01 - problem identification

Why is "Weekly Active Learners" low?

User Research

I led a cross-functional research team to investigate. There were a few key areas of opportunity identified in the research.

  • Learner burnout
  • Learners stopping at one program
  • Learners not seeing value in programs
  • Lack of learner motivation

Dashboard and Enrollment Pages

Usability Research

  • Lack of progress information
  • No motivation
  • Bland and not engaging

Classroom

Usability Research

  • Can’t easily navigate between nested content

Catalog

Usability Research

  • Can’t access B2B catalog from site navigation
  • Hard to filter/sort
  • Lack of program information
02 - Developing the solution

Moving Forward

Project Goals

(How Might We) Increase Engagement

  • Support shorter-form programs
  • Motivate learners to return
  • Showcase learner ROI
  • Increase manager/company engagement
  • Make site intuitive to navigate & use

Collaboration

Building Alignment

  • Align on problems (what, why)
  • Take everyone on the journey
  • Let everyone contribute
  • Develop relationships
  • Tie work back to goals & metrics

Brainstorming & User Feedback

Developing the right solution happened in three main steps.

  • Brainstorm
    Led a wider team brainstorm to address the main pain points found in research.
  • Gauge Interest
    Created prototypes of best ideas and ran them in front of users.
  • User Test
    Developed higher fidelity designs and prototypes and conducted user testing.
03 - the end result

Re-imagined B2B Learner Experience

Dashboard Details

Showcase more programs, add mobile support, and add recommendations.

  • + WAL
  • + Enrollment

Dashboard Details

Add weekly challenge, highlight "Knowledge",  showcase ROI, events, and new programs.

  • + WAL
  • + Enrollment
  • - Help Tickets

User Journey Overview

Relieving the main pain points on the user journey led to positive metrics.

Catalog Details

Simplified publishing process, reducing time  per page.

  • Reduce steps from 7 to 2
  • Marketing time -8 hours
  • Engineering time -12 hours
  • Content team time -4 hours

Catalog Details

Add catalog link, multi-account, collections, and filters

  • + Conversion
  • + Enrollment
  • - Sign Up Time

Product Details

Simplified architecture

  • Reduce debt and upkeep: 3 pages to 1
  • Reduce navigation confusion

Classroom Details

Update AI interaction, classroom navigation

  • Increase AI usage
  • Reduce  confusion
04 - Results

A Win for Users and the Business

Accomplishments

  • Built system that works for multiple verticals
  • Automated product publishing
  • Scaling for future business goals
  • Simplified site architecture
  • Upgraded UI using new brand and design system

Outcomes

  • Increased weekly active learners
  • Increased program enrollment
  • Decreased B2B helpdesk tickets
  • Increase speed to graduation
  • Save ~4,000 hours year
  • Unprompted, positive feedback from users!

View Other Case Studies

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