👁️ Project Summary
Problem : Increase learner engagement with Novatr resulting in better learning outcomes and placement success.
Solution : Improved and upgraded versions of the LMS, IGMS, MMS, CMS platforms and introduced many new mini products and features within each of them.
Project Timelines: Feb’24 - March ‘24 (3 weeks)
Project Category: Core
Stakeholders: Product Mangers, Product Designers, Developers (Front-end, Back-end), Course Development Team, Operations Team.
What did I do?
Research
Stakeholder Alignment
UI / UX
High fidelity prototype
Developer Hand-off
Design Ops
Team & relevant stakeholders
2 PMs, 2 PDs, 8+ Developers, 1 Analyst, 4+ Course Associates + more
Product Designers
Om Prakash
Advitiya Sodha
Product Managers
Kartikeya Negi
Mallika Bakshi
Learning Vertical
Vipanchi Handa
Course Ops
Prateek Gupta
Objective
Our goal is to create an exceptional learning experience within our LMS while seamlessly integrating the requirements of BIM v2.0, ensuring a comprehensive and cutting-edge educational platform.
Expected Key outcomes
1. Support new pedagogy methods
2. Support new assessment methods
3. Support new course structure in BIM v2.0
4. Do all this while elevating the user experience of the learner
Background / About Novatr
Novatr provides professional courses to architects who want better job opportunities and improved skills. The courses are delivered through an LMS (Learning Management System), a web application that helps with course delivery, tracking, and management. The LMS is a central hub where learners can attend live sessions, submit assignments, take quizzes, and track their progress. Mentors are also connected through the LMS to support learners by conducting live sessions, evaluating assignments, and ensuring successful learning.
🚨 Since its inception, Novatr LMS has provided countless hours of mentoring efficiently, however, as time passed and the value offering expanded, the current platform started to feel rigid and complicated. This is a common challenge faced by young startups as they are constantly building while sailing, making it difficult to create a scalable platform.
🏦 Business Context :
Novatr currently offers 3 Courses: BIM Professional Course for Architects, BIM Professional Course for Civil Engineers and Master Computational Design Course.
As BIM Arch drives a dominant 80% of our revenue, continual course improvement is crucial. This ensures we stay ahead of industry trends, maintain our growth trajectory, and solidify our competitive edge within the online learning market.
🆕 Why was there a need for LMS v3?
The organisation decided to launched a new and improved BIM for Architects curriculum - BIM v2. Cohort 15 for the Architecture program will be the first to experience this enhanced learning path, paving the way for future cohorts.
📌 Why a new course, you say?
Times are changing. AEC industry is rapidly evolving. To meet the growing and changing needs of the AEC industry, our Course Development team researched and came up with a new and improved course (BIM v2). This course has increased number of softwares and tools being taught (20+), course pedagogy content being improved and course assessments updated as well.
For the new and improved BIM v2 course to go live, it was to be supported by a modular and scalable LMS, IGMS, MMS and CMS!
📌 What are the expected outcomes of the new course?
We expect learners to learn better, faster and be more effective at the time of placements. We aim to create even better and polished AEC industry professionals who can take up any challenge be it job related or self employment related.
We aim to increase user (learner, IG, mentor) engagement on our platform. This we will be measured by the number of sessions, specific activity ( like learning for learners), and time on the platform.
Also expected to increase user satisfaction with our platform and product, and our learners acting as evangelists of Novatr in the industry.
🛑 As a result on these changes in the course pedagogy, there were multiple changes on the design front.
Problem statements:
With more than 1000+ students visiting LMS daily, getting this module right was crucial. We identified a few significant problems with the current platform that needed to be improved upon:
Ensure all LMS changes support BIM v2 requirements.
Improve learning effectiveness with revised task and session structures while effectively communicating the updated course structure.
Increase learner engagement with Novatr resulting in better learning outcomes.
Optimise LMS user experience for better NPS, completion rates, graduation rates, and placement success.
Make learning and assessment more practice oriented, aimed to make learners industry ready and confident to take on any work related challenges.
Design challenges:
🛑 Course Delivery:
Introduce features to support the new course pedagogy, including revision sessions, career sessions, masterclass, quiz, breaks etc. Live quizzes and Studio exams (3hr test) being introduced for the first time.
🛑 System Impact:
Several modules will be impacted by these changes across different platforms i.e. LMS, IGMS and MMS. These modules will need to be reviewed and potentially updated.
Learner : Dashboard, Quiz, Curriculum, My Performance, Queries, Task Submission
Industry Guide : Dashboard, Quiz, Curriculum, Group Performance, Queries
Mentor : Dashboard, Quiz, Curriculum, Prep Checklist
🛑 Scalability and Access:
The current system needs to be modular to accommodate future growth and unanticipated changes.
🛑 Privacy & Security:
Implement RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) to ensure relevant stakeholders have access to the information they need.
Implement IP safeguarding measures to protect answers for studio exams.
Problems to be solved beyond product and design:
Update and enhance communication strategy.
Cohort Sentiment Analysis.
Train operations team:
Support ticket handling
In-session quiz creation
QR code generation
Content upload for the New LMS
Educate learners on the new pedagogy.
User Profiles
The research made it evident how different users would use the app differently. To cater to this, we categorised them into three user profiles based on their goals and tasks.
There are three important people apart from learner that make the learning make possible through their efforts and engagement. They are Mentors, Industry guide and Novatr Course Ops.
Mentors delivers live session through zoom, and Industry guides helps learners by answering queries, assessing tasks and supporting throughout the course.
In a course typical distribution of users looks like:
👨🎓 200-300
👨🏫 20-25
🧑🏻💼 10-15
Learner Dashboard
Solution Ideation
We started creating low-fidelity concepts and information architecture for primary use cases. After multiple presentations and discussions with the Product Managers, Developers, and Stakeholders on the mockups, we began to conduct usability tests with the low-fidelity mockups. Once we had confidence in the proposed solutions, we began high-fidelity designs.
Due to the parallel development of course content and LMS v3, there were ongoing discussions and adjustments related to various features:
Quiz
Mode of Conduct
Question Format
Answer Format
Miscellaneous
Other
Designing a modular & scalable quiz system on Novatr LMS
We designed a modular and versatile quiz platform offering unparalleled flexibility and empowering educators to create highly customisable assessments, tailoring them to diverse learning styles and objectives.
With features like timed MCQ/MSQ quizzes, varying difficulty levels and credit structure, we ensured a dynamic and engaging learning experience.
We prioritized a seamless user experience by integrating features like downloadable resources, progress tracking, role-based access control, and robust fallback mechanisms to ensure uninterrupted learning.
High Fidelity Screens
With a clear vision of our problem statements, we dove headfirst into crafting solutions. Our approach entailed meticulously developing components to address a myriad of scenarios, guaranteeing seamless functionality across all use cases.
To complete the puzzle, we meticulously designed an interface that was both visually appealing and highly intuitive.
Career Masterclass
Special career sessions were introduced to provide learners with invaluable insights and guidance from industry experts. These sessions offer practical advice, networking opportunities, and a deeper understanding of career paths within the field of study.
Learner Query
To ensure learners received the support they needed, a direct channel of communication was established between them and relevant industry guides.
Studio Exam Result
Given the substantial credit weight of studio exams, learners were provided with a comprehensive overview of their performance to gauge their progress.
Results
The redesigned learning platform successfully addressed the challenges identified during the initial assessment, resulting in several notable outcomes:
Metric
Initial
Final
Course Completion
47%
62%
Overall NPS
3.2
3.9
Tasks CSAT
3.5
4.7
Session Attendance CSAT
75%
82%
Query Resolution CSAT
4.1
4.3
Query Resolution TAT
28 hours
7 hours
Task Completion
55%
70%
Positive User Feedback:
User satisfaction surveys and feedback indicate a significant improvement in the overall user experience, with users reporting higher levels of engagement and satisfaction.
Increased Completion rates:
The streamlined interface and intuitive navigation pathways contribute to higher user retention rates, as users can easily find relevant content and engage with mentors.
Improved Brand Perception:
The updated design effectively communicates the Novatr’s brand values and messaging, leading to enhanced user trust and loyalty.
Designing for fallback scenarios
We believe technology should empower, not limit.
Technical hurdles and unexpected challenges can sometimes derail even the most enthusiastic users. That's why our product is built with contingency plans in place, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted journey, no matter what.
Developed a highly modular system for quizzes, allowing us to create any type of quiz imaginable.
Enhanced visibility and accessibility for new content requirements such as Careers Session and Masterclasses within the curriculum.
Seamlessly integrated these new content types into other pages, such as My Performance and Group Performance.
My Performance and Group Performance pages need to be designed with a broader and more holistic vision, considering new requirements like the Studio exam, which is going be a major source of credits.
My Queries on the IG side still utilises some components from the learner's side, requiring a deeper audit and improvement. We have implemented a temporary design that meets user requirements while minimising development effort.
We need to carefully consider the nomenclature for different content types, such as Career/Core, Tasks/Assignments. By choosing clear and descriptive terms, we can improve content relevancy and facilitate easier consumption by our learners.
To streamline our workflow and foster collaboration, we need to establish efficient processes for sharing requirements, ideas, and feedback across cross-functional teams.
It's crucial to conduct a more holistic & comprehensive study to understand what can engage learners more effectively, aiming to enhance overall learning and completion rates.
Closing thought
Through successful collaboration with cross-functional teams, we successfully launched the improved and upgraded versions of our four core platforms. The introduction of innovative mini-products and features within each platform further enhanced the user experience and learning outcomes. Key milestones included a dedicated War Room for strategic development, efficient Design Ops for execution, a comprehensive UAT process with bug bashes, and valuable insights from internal stakeholder testing during the design UAT. Working closely within the core pod fostered a collaborative and agile approach that contributed to the successful project delivery.
