UX in EdTech

stories for humansrick.cusick

futura =

UX in EdTech

stories for humans

@rickcusick

art: jon muth

there are excellent tools & patterns. understand why some work (or don’t) for your culture.

take 3 things away

humans. not users. not customers.

shared understanding.

holy grail of designing product at scale:

shared understanding.

shared understanding as quickly as possible.

culture. tools.

culture happens.

culture informs language. language shapes culture.

the language of the humans you serve.

More than 60% of students who completed 13 years of public

education (K-12) were unable to read at a grade-appropriate

academic performance level by the time they graduated from

public school in 2009

(The Nation’s Report Card, NCES, 2010)

the road to MVEStudents: Create a fun and engaging

experience that inspires a love of reading.

Educators: tools to facilitate that journey.

Story Mapping User Experience

Spikes / Prototyping

User Personas

Tools

Story map as backlog

Descriptive

Prioritized

Stories sized right

Experience / Release

UI Details

Dashboard Messages Stories Questions

Log In Read Messages

Reply to Messages

Select Story Read Story Answer Questions

User Story Business Logic Business Logic User Story User Story Business Logic

Sub Task

Business Logic

User Story

UI Details User Story

UI Details UI Details

Business Logic

UI Details UI Details

MVE

M2

M3

the small humans

user research personas

Goal: To help her students see their potential and have new

focus in their lives.

Background

Meredith is a Reading Specialist at Deer Valley Middle School. She has been

teaching for 5 years. She recently received her Masters in Reading after taking

evening and summer courses for the last 3 years. Meredith works with the

school’s lowest performing students for intervention and remediation; she

needs to increase their test scores before they can move on to high school.

She is not currently married and has no children.

Attitudes

Motivations

The benefits are real. “They don’t

know it’s happening to them as

they’re doing it, they’re just enjoying

reading more and they notice their

own speed.”

Works for everyone, even ESL and

special-ed students.

Students’ fear of reading disappears.

Reading Plus helps with stamina.

“They pay attention to the print,

actually looking at the text. That

doesn’t come naturally to them.”

Kids say in math class they’re able to

read a problem faster and under-

stand it better.

Points for professional development

workshops to help renew teaching

certificate.

Frustrations

Average comprehension display leads to misconception.

“Teachers aren’t digging in to see where that score came

from, they’re just scanning.”

Just after student levels up, they’re immediately going to

have a lower score. “They’ve just gotten an award and

there’s a setback....Everything changes at once on them.”

Relevance: “What if they didn’t study the Civil War in Haiti?

They can’t relate. A story about snow? They can’t relate.”

Analyzing college application, job prospect outlook, other

appropriate non-fiction.

Students read the stories they know they’ll like first, but

then they’re stuck with the ones they don’t.

Pictures would help with engagement. “Students need

more than text. Reading happens in charts and infograph-

ics too.”

She is getting judged by her administrators for overall

student performance, but they have no context. “I want to

put a hold on a student who’s always away so he doesn’t

bring down my scores.”

“Exception” students’ grades get factored into the class,

bringing down the average.

Skill sheets are helpful for other teachers, but aren’t geared

to the standardized tests. “They look flimsy to me, not

substantial.”

Copy-and-paste between Reading Plus and grade book

doesn’t work, “because it’s in Java, that’s why.”

Some kids try to get around using it, ask their moms to do

it for them. “How silly are the parents to take that advan-

tage away from their kids?”

Computers are old and freeze at least once every day.

Depending upon where student is in the session, might

lose their work.

County schools are moving to the Core Curriculum and

she worries that Reading Plus might not correlate.

Tech Use

Has a MacBook at home. Owns an iPhone.

Has a Facebook account, but would never connect with a student or former

Key Behaviors

Developed own curriculum and shares it with other read-

ing specialists after hours. “The system was failing them.”

Finds any reason to send a note to her students. “They love

getting messages. It’s personalized, individualized to

them. They don’t get a lot of that. Sometimes it unites the

whole class....I think it’s the best part of Reading Plus.”

Has previously looked for passages in Creole or Spanish

and assigned to a student to read. “Are they a poor reader

or is this a language barrier?”

“Squeeze out as much time as I can in the lab.” Students

that need more time can finish up in her classroom.

Walks around the room and observes while the students

use the computers.

Tells students to raise their hand as soon as they level up.

Gives her an opportunity to praise them and gain some

recognition in the class.

As soon as she’s back in the classroom, prints out the cer-

tificate and pastes it on the wall immediately. She also

gives the student a prize – a frisbee, pencils, nail polish,

footballs, armbands – whatever she’s collected. They’re

happy to get the smallest thing.

Gives incentives. If every student does their sessions for 9

weeks, they get a pizza party.

Changes grade level and pre-reading rate when a student

is struggling; always discusses the issue with the student

first before making any adjustments.

At the beginning of the year, gives every student in her

class 5 rereads automatically. “I see no reason why these

should be so limited.” Notices students saving up their

rereads, afraid to use them too soon. They take guesses

earlier on instead and it ends up lowering their score.

Knows who to give easier worksheets to; print them out,

student answers in writing, then she grades it and they

discuss it together.

Doesn’t touch the PAVE rates. Once changed the max scan

rate because a student was complaining about it.

Regularly records scores in each student’s agenda book.

Encourages students to use Reading Plus at home to get

extra practice or make up a missed session. If they don’t

have a computer or DSL at home, sends them to the

school library.

Knows which of her students is an “exception” and isn’t

expected to earn above 70%.

When students read above an 8th grade level in the first

semester, they “level out” of Reading Plus in the following

semester and get to take an elective instead.

Periodically explores new teacher theories online.

Has explored several online teacher communities,

impressed with EdModo.

School uses TeacherWeb, but she would rather use her

own thing. “I like playing and experimenting with stuff.”

Shares with other teachers over lunch what new resources

she has found.

Contacts Reading Plus whenever she had a problem

(“‘Need Help?’ on the green screen gives you the number.”)

Previously participated in Project Smart. The district gave

her a blog where she would post ideas, assignments,

encourage kids to comment. No longer doing it.

Attends one statewide and one national reading confer-

ence every year.

“I’ll do whatever it

takes to help my kids.”

ENTHUSIASM:

READING BACKGROUND:

TECH SAVVY:

HIGH

MEDIUM

HIGH

MEREDITHTrained Teacher

Age 30 Phoenix, AZ

“Teaching someone how to read is

the best thing you could ever do for

somebody.”

“When you close your door, do what-

ever it takes to get your kids excited

about reading.”

“I am mesmerized by this program.”

“I didn’t like the previous program we

were using. It was terrible, it’s awful.”

“I connect well with my kids. I give a

lot of accolades.”

“I tell my students, ‘You’re not reading

on a 1st grade level, you’re missing

strategies from the 1st grade.’”

“I tell my kids that things will open up

for you [being a better reader] ... Sign-

ing a contract on a home, filling out

an application, learning the rules for

a new job.”

“All of a student’s teachers are work-

ing together towards a goal.”

“I would have loved to work for last

year’s principal for the rest of my life.”

There has been a lot of administrative

turnover in her school the last three

years. She wants to be a stable force.

Goal: To be the highest performing reading department in

the county.BackgroundDebra is Boynton Beach Community High School’s Department Chair of

Reading. She first learned about Reading Plus in an email blast. Upon attending a

workshop she thought, “I like this. This is going to work.”

She convinced her principal to try the pilot program, and they purchased a

license the next year. Debra is married with two teenage children and has a Masters in Reading.Attitudes

Motivations“This makes our department more legitimate.”

County is very data driven: state testing for reading comprehension 3x

year; benchmark test 2x year; FCAT (comprehensive assessment test) 2x

year (closely related to graduation rate).

Diligent students are getting 18+ on the ACT

The principal paid for the program and is eager to see it work.

“Silent reading is so hard to evaluate because you can’t see it.” “Without Reading Plus, I don’t know if

a student is actually reading or com-prehending.”

“These kids who were never success-ful, never got a pat on the back, they

get their first reward and their face lights up.”

Sees tremendous progress among ESL and special-ed students.

FrustrationsNeed to get teachers and students bought into the program.Constantly findings herself encourag-

ing teachers to take greater advan-tage of all the options. “If teachers

would use all that Reading Plus has, they would benefit.”One teacher sent an email to a

student’s parents saying, “I know it insults the students’ intelligence to

use this program,” and the parents forwarded it to the principal.“There’s too much!” It scares teachers

away.Teachers who don’t log in often

enough aren’t seeing their students’ notifications; she’s then forced to

clear them. “If they aren’t checking then they can’t respond to the prob-

lem.”Wishes she could send a message to

multiple classes; needs spellcheck.Wishes skill sheets were integrated

into Reading Plus. “Students expect immediate feedback.”Notices students gaming the system.

“Just continuous clicking. They’re bored. They’re always gonna try to

get away with it.”“CLOZE is incomplete.” Students aren’t held accountable for their

scores.Had to rig the computers with the

school’s IT guy to allow all 32 com

puters to use Reading Plus at one time.

Any time she has to edit enrollment info, the screen takes a really long

time to appear because their whole school is loading.There’s no Back button and when

running reports she has to go through the same flow over and over again.

Printing is a pain; runs over onto multiple sheets and wastes paper.

When she goes through a demo with a student on dummy account, hates

having to go through an entire ses

Tech UseHas a Dell laptop she brings back and forth between school and home.

Has a Facebook account, and is connected with some former students, but

only who have graduated.Has never used Twitter or other social network sites.

Key BehaviorsRuns the high school reading pro-gram, oversees all reading teachers,

has three of her own reading classes.Started using Reading Plus in 2005/06

with the lowest 25% achievers in the school and saw a major improvement.

Following year tried it with the whole school in both the Reading and Lan-

guage Arts classes.“At first the teachers weren’t sure they could do it because they’re not com-

puter savvy.” She sat with each teacher and walked them through it.

Demos the program to students using a fake student account that she set up

Logs in to the Management Interface every day, multiple times a day.

Sometimes at home at night.Manages the system for all teachers using it – Reading and Language Arts

– but only really monitors the Reading teachers who she oversees.Looks to see when the teachers have

last logged in. When sees that stu-dents have logged in much more

recently than teacher: “Well that’s a red flag!”

Hardly has to say anything to the stu-dents anymore when they enter the

classroom. “They just sit down and get to work.” “Other teachers are always

wondering why it’s so quiet in my classroom.”

Tells students that they’re expected to achieve scores of 80% or higher. “At

our school we don’t aim for Cs, we aim for Bs.”

Bumps up students in 9th grade so they can see what it will be like in 10th

grade.Frequently making tweaks by stu-

dent: harder vocab; longer stories; slower speed. “Teachers don’t want to

do it so I do it for them.”Flips back and forth between compre-hension score and CLOZE score to

compare. Gives students more rereads when they ask for them.

Uses the Notes & Messages feature to write an entire class and let them

know if they’re on track as a class. Also writes personal notes to students who

are doing well to say “good job.”Keeps printed copies of all of the

Reading Plus skill sheets in binders for the Reading teachers to use.Walks around to observe other classes

using Reading Plus; brings students candy, “You did a great job.”Sets up competitions between the

classes; whoever gets the highest average comprehension for the quar-

ter gets an ice cream party; top three classes get donuts.Set up Reading Plus enrollment for all

classes, all teachers; moves students between classes as necessary. “If the

student is in the database, it’s easy. If they’re already enrolled in a class, I

need to unenroll them in the admin area.”

Unenrolls all students from all classes at the end of each year “I’m a real

Internet junkie.” Looks for worksheets online (Googles main idea work-

sheets). Attends education technology con-

ferences and unofficially advocates for Reading Plus while there.

“You can’t do anything if you can’t read.”ENTHUSIASM:READING BACKGROUND: TECH SAVVY:

HIGHHIGH

MEDIUM

DEBRASite AdministratorAge 46 West Palm Beach, FL

Quote on her wall: “Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body.”

“I was frustrated by not knowing how they were doing.” “Teachers have to know their stu-

dents.”Believes it works. “Of my students

who had failed the FCAT between 1 and 4 times, 43% passed – and I attri-

bute that to Reading Plus.”Concerned about adoption. “Some teachers don’t want to use it.” “You have to change the teachers’

minds about how the students learn.”Proud to be an advocate. “I am the

Reading Plus queen.”Believes the site admin’s role is to “monitor and motivate.” “A lot of

Reading Plus is enthusiasm and get-ting them turned on.”“I love that you can maneuver it.”

“Student’s anecdotes aren’t enough; data tells the story.” “What you put into it, you get out of

it.”

http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Journey-Map.png

The Story Map is the User Experience is the Product Backlog

is the Release PlanPersonas reflect

what is most Valuable… decide up front

what is of highest Value

Learning from your customers as they use your product.

Innovate your way to better user experience by rapidly prototyping

walls to screens

is that really ready?

outcome to impact“The kids know it’s

just a beta, but they were

wondering if they were allowed to do their Reading Plus at home tonight.”

- beta class Teacher

efficacy

Bad panda

parting shots

Communicating UX Goals in a Distributed Team

Everyone loves a Specification / Requirements

Changing Tools or Process is Hard, but Inevitable

Team -> Values / Language -> Culture / Product

shared understanding as quickly as possible

culture tools

how are you being experienced?

every interaction is an opportunity to join their story

All This Experience

UI Details

Dashboard Messages Stories Questions

Log In Read Messages

Reply to Messages

Select Story Read Story Answer Questions

User Story Business Logic Business Logic User Story User Story Business Logic

Sub Task

Business Logic

User Story

UI Details User Story

UI Details UI Details

Business Logic

UI Details UI Details

Bit Parts

UI DetailsDashboardMessagesQuestionsLog InRead MessagesReply to

MessagesSelect StoryRead StoryAnswer

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Rick Cusick rick@readingplus.com