Creating personalized learning experiences to scale membership
Three prototypes to drive engagement and renewals
OVERVIEWMy role
Product design
Team
Product Manager
3 Learning Experience Designers
Company
LifeLabs Learning
THE BRIEFHelp LifeLabs Learning scale digital memberships by creating high-context, personalized learning experiences.
Overview
LifeLabs Learning is a B2B professional soft skills training company that offers 2-hour live workshops both in-person and virtually. The company became successful selling private programs. In order to scale, they added a self-service digital membership.
Why did this project exist in the first place?
To counteract the steep drop-off rates typical of digital learning platforms—and to keep up with the competitors in the space—the product team decided to experiment with prototyping high-context, personalized learning experiences to maximize engagement and encourage renewals.
What did users say?
We didn’t specifically interview learners or conduct usability tests on them for this project. Instead, we referred to a Jobs-to-be-Done framework created based on past user interviews (6 learners, 13 sponsors, and 10 internal team members) and focused on the job statements related to personalized experiences for learners.
I worked with the 3 Learning Experience Designers to prototype 3 experiences: Linkup Map Maker, Prime Performance Coach, and Skill Set Progress Tracker.
WHY PERSONALIZED LEARNING?0172% of customers expect personalization
According to a 2021 McKinsey Report, 72% of people expect the businesses they buy from to recognize them as individuals and know their interests.
02Only 23% of employees are engaged at work
According to a Gallup Poll of over 120,000+ people, only 23% were engaged at work in 2022. Disengagement can lead to high turnover and lost productivity.
03Adults learn best when the application is clear
According to Knowles' andragogy learning theory, there are six pillars of how adults learn. All are related to meeting the the learner where they are with material that is relevant to them.
OUTCOMES01We validated the need for personalization and won more budget to implement it
Our research confirmed that personalization would boost registration and engagement. As a result, LifeLabs invested in new functionality on our whitelabeled platform to implement learner pathing features.
02I educated the team about product design, which improved trust and collaboration
The Learning Experience Designers were unclear about what product design was. After this project, they realized I could not only help them create visuals, but also think through experiences and make them stronger. Our combined creativity grew.
OVERVIEW01
Linkup Map Maker
This survey and widget help learners make the link between their experience and an organizational goal to create purpose and follow-through.
Learner filling out a Linkup Map Maker survey.
02
Prime Performance Coach
This survey, notification sequence, and learning report direct learners to timely, relevant content and share progress with their manager.
Learner reviewing a report, sharing it with her manager, and receiving a notification.
03
Skill Set Progress Tracker
This collection of badges and community forum are aimed at motivating learners to build new skills and promote them (and the program).
Learner completing a badge and sharing it with others at her organization.
Let’s take a closer look.
01Linkup Map MakerHelp learners make the link between workshops and organizational goals
Learner filling out a Linkup Map Maker survey.
The problemGuilt about time away from work. “Two hours is a lot of time to carve out during the middle of the work day for a workshop.”
The goalClarify the benefit. When I feel guilty about taking time for a workshop, help me see how it can concretely increase personal and organizational growth.
The solutionStart with why (and our IP).
One of LifeLabs’ “Behavioral Units” is called the LinkUp. It connects an action to its goal. When someone understands why they’re doing something, they make better decisions about it and they are more motivated to take action. We applied the Linkup to the task of taking a workshop.
“I had an aha moment working with Natalya and realized that our digital learning experience should put our intellectual property into action, improving our metrics and showing the efficacy of our approach at the same time. There are many potential extensions of this idea.”
Rachel, Learning Experience Designer
02Prime Performance Coach
Direct learners to timely content to help them transform their careers
Learner reviewing upcoming milestones and actions, and sharing a report with their manager.
The problemIrrelevant or redundant content. “The workshops cover topics in such an elementary way. It feels like they are intended for people new to the workforce.”
The goalRelevant, timely content. When learners struggle to find for the right workshop for them, help them the ones that best align with their experience and current needs.
The solution
Just-in-time learning
We designed an onboarding survey to glean a learner’s role and upcoming professional milestones. We recommended actions like taking a workshop or on-demand course at strategic times.
Proof of progress
In addition, we designed a weekly one-question survey prompting the learner to record occasions when they put a LifeLabs Behavioral Unit into action. At the end of the quarter, we put it all into a Learning Report that was available for them to review and to share with their manager if they wished.
“As a learning experience designer, I was used to doing everything myself. This project taught me that it’s important to bring in the product designer immediately because the two disciplines influence each other a lot.”
Nyasha, Learning Experience Designer
03Skill Set Progress TrackerMotivate learners to build new skills with badges and social sharing.
A learner checks their dashboard, and posts a new badge their community page.
The problemLack of social context. “Sometimes it’s difficult to stay motivated. I’d like to be able to see what others recommend and share my progress with them.”
The goalA learning community. When I want to to grow as a leader, help me connect me with other growing leaders so we can motivate each other and share learnings.
The solution
Give bragging rights
We organized our workshops into groups based on what skill set they related to so that if you took all the workshops in a given group, you earned a Skill Set Badge that you could share within your organization, or even on LinkedIn. Learning widely relevant skills is a reward in itself, but it’s more fun when you can show it off a little.
Provide community support
Learner often struggle with similar problems related to how to apply the learning in their roles, or even just how to navigate the nuances of their workplace culture. We designed a way for them to share in each others successes, and to provide support and advice to others who were in the same boat as them.
“I knew that social context and accountability were key to successful learning, and after hearing it from learner interviewees, I knew I had to run with it. I cannot wait until we get the chance to implement this.”
Tara, Learning Experience Designer
LEARNINGS01Not everyone knows what product design is
At first, I took it for granted that everyone on my team knew my skill set. They had interviewed me after all. But I came to learn that I needed to educate them about it—and vice versa—in order for us to work together most effectively.
02It’s enriching to work across disciplines
Once we understood what each other brought to the table, it was really cool to work together because our different areas of expertise and different perspectives all informed the solution and made it more robust.
03Sometimes progress comes unexpectedly
After this project ended, we whitelabeled another company’s platform, and it didn’t look like we would get to use any of this work anytime soon. But as it turns out, it formed the basis of an argument to get deep-linking functionality put into place by our partner so we could explore personalization further.