Reimagining a coaching platform to produce better business results
Working closely with the VP Product, I redesigned the Lingo Live coaching platform to help build programs aligned to client goals, collect and reported more meaningful data to prove program ROI, and promote faster program expansion.
My role
Research, Product design
Team
VP, Product
3 engineers
The Business Problem
Lingo Live coaching programs weren’t expanding fast enough. We thought a better dashboard might fix that. But it didn’t.
Lingo Live is a B2B professional education company that provides one-on-one virtual leadership and communication coaching aimed at new managers at client companies. Business success depends on L&D buyer clients expanding their coaching programs which means they needs to be able to prove program ROI to her leadership teams.
We weren’t seeing the expansion we needed, so our CEO asked the product team to “refresh” the client dashboard to help L&D buyers make a better case for ROI. We put together some prototypes and starting sharing them with users who matched our Ideal Customer Profile. We discovered that our problem was much bigger than the dashboard and required a reimagining of our entire platform and client onboarding journey.
Project Outcomes
Even through we weren’t able to ship all of the features we designed, I was able to help the team determine what would be the most impactful first moves, and we made great steps forward in account expansion even with the MVP version of our new platform.
50% faster account growth
Shorter average time for an account to expand (10 months to 5 months)
60% larger account expansions
On average due to increased perception of value and business impact
44% better survey completion rates
Resulting in more robust and meaningful program ROI data for clients
“The new platform is significantly stronger than the last one. It definitely makes this product competitive. I would recommend it to a colleague. It’s a huge improvement.”
Samantha, Kinross, Client and User Interviewee
Generative user research
Users told us we weren’t measuring the right things and they couldn’t understand our charts.
We interviewed seven people who matched our ideal customer profile to get their perspective on the data we were collecting and the way we were visualizing it on the current client dashboard. I put together an interview guide and and interview questions, scheduled the interviews and synthesized key themes.
Key findings
Our data wasn’t great. The data we were collecting weren’t that meaningful.
Our charts were confusing. Our data visualizations were not clear.
Market research
We needed to catch up to the competition and provide something better: programs aligned to client goals.
We evaluated our competitor’s platforms and read up on program evaluation models which lead us to recognize three problems to solve on our existing platform.
Key findings
We were behind the curve. Our platform was missing too many table stakes features to be competitive.
Our reporting process was not scalable. Unlike our competitors, our reporting required time-consuming manual work.
Our programs lacked focus. Our platform didn’t support aligning programs to client goals, which could be a key differentiator.
Domain research
We found better ways of measuring ROI and created a better process for creating programs that would produce it.
We tried to learn everything we could about how to prove the ROI of coaching programs which led us to the books The Kirkpatrick Model of Training Evaluation and Measurement Demystified. We also interviewed subject matter experts in soft skills proficiency measurement.
Key findings
Align programs to client goals. Our program creation process was ad hoc. We rethought the client journey and created a conversation framework that would help align programs to client goals.
Ask the right questions. Measuring soft skills is hard, but it experts have been noodling on this for a long time and there are some tried-and-tested survey questions for evaluating it as well as possible.
Usability testing
Users told us the new data we were collecting was valuable, our visualizations were getting better, and exporting data was a big value add.
Based on our findings, I introduced a new navigation structure, new types of ROI data collection, and new data visualizations to our prototype. Then I designed a user test (a first for Lingo Live) based on what we had learned that L&D Admins needed to do on the platform. We brought it to 5 of the same user interviewees to find out whether our new design made the value of our programs more clear.
Key findings
Our new data was more valuable. Interviewees rated most of the data 4 or 5 out of 5 in terms of value.
Our new charts and functionality were better. Some of our chart titles were still confusing, but overall, the visualizations were much more clear, and interviews loved that they could filter and export the data.
User Problems
It was hard for clients to know whether programs were producing value. Account managers were buried in manual work.
The biggest problem we identified was that program design process was ad hoc and key client information was lost in the shuffle. As a result, programs were not systematically designed to align with clients’ business goals—which meant they weren’t set up for success and expansion. If we could fix that, that would set us up to collect more meaningful data, prove value, and expand programs.
Client user problems
Unfocused programs. Our platform didn’t support customized programs aligned to client goals.
Unconvincing survey data. Surveys did not measure meaningful ROI data and response rates were often too low to be meaningful.
Lack of engagement visibility. Clients couldn’t easily track session usage and survey completion.
Lack of content visibility. Clients couldn’t tell what coachees were working on and whether it was providing business value. The coaching felt like a “black box.”
Unclear and unconvincing ROI reporting. Clients couldn’t easily report on program ROI to their executive teams.
Internal team user problem
Unclear and unconvincing ROI reporting. Clients couldn’t easily report on program ROI to their executive teams.
Project Goals
Improve the service design of program creation so programs produce more value. Measure that value well and make it easily visible.
Goals
Focused programs. Set clients up for success by ensuring programs are consistently structured to achieve client goals.
Convincing ROI data. Collect data that measures program value and ROI in a meaningful way.
Streamlined survey creation. Increase efficiency by automating some of the survey creation process.
Clear, compelling, and scalable reporting. Share data automatically in a way that allows admins to focus on what is relevant to them in the moment.
Self-service engagement tracking. No more tedious back-and-forth. One place to get immediate visibility into unused sessions and incomplete survey data.
Responsible content and progress sharing. Provide visibility into coachee work and progress without breaching confidentiality of the coach/coachee relationship.
Solution 1: Program Designer
Setting programs up for ROI success by clarifying goals and measuring progress toward them well.
Lingo Live Admin capturing key client information for a new program so that it aligns with client goals and produces maximum ROI.
The problem
Unfocused programs. Our platform didn’t support aligning programs to client goals, which could be a key differentiator.
The goal
Focused programs. Set clients up for success by ensuring programs are consistently structured to achieve client goals.
The solution
The program designer is a checklist that prompts account managers to collect program goals, recruiting plans, and other strategic information from clients before a program launches—every time. The program information pages displays this information for coaches and participants.
Designing a program involves multiple conversations and a lot of thought. The checklist approach with its “mark step complete” functionality makes it easy for account managers to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. In addition, sharing program goals with coaches and participants means they can align their work with them which makes it more likely the coaching program will deliver value to the client’s business.
“Sometimes clients aren’t sure of the value coaching will provide to the business, but once I walk them through the program design process on the app, they’re like, ‘Oh, okay. I get it. This is great!’ It really speeds things along.”
Kyle, Head of Strategic Accounts (Lingo Live Admin), Lingo Live
Solution 2: Survey Builder
Asking the right questions of the right people at the right times.
Lingo Live Admin creating a custom client program survey using standardized question groups with best-in-class questions for measuring ROI.
The problems
Unconvincing survey data. Surveys did not measure meaningful ROI data and response rates were often too low to be meaningful.
Unscalable data collection and reporting process. Unlike our competitors, our reporting required account managers to manually collect data and assemble reports which was very time-consuming.
The goal
Focused programs. Set clients up for success by ensuring programs are consistently structured to achieve client goals.
The solution
In order to prove ROI, program surveys needed to measure progress toward client goals with consistent questions from the beginning of the program to well after its end. The survey builder requires account manager and client to create surveys before the program launches so they can measure them well and report on them meaningfully. The regular cadence of surveys over the course of the program allows admins to flag potential issues and address them proactively along the way.
Surveys also needed to ask the right questions. To address this, we created reusable question groups comprised of questions based on best-in-class questions organized by topic so that we could focus on the areas that matter to each client. This helped make the survey creation process as simple and scalable as possible for the Lingo Live and L&D Admins.
20-30 hours saved per quarter
Lingo Live Customer Success team members estimated this feature would save them time and free them up to make do more nuanced analysis and make thoughtful and impactful client recommendations.
Solution 3: Results Page
Sharing meaningful data is a way that’s easy to understand and use, be it for course-correction or internal promotion.
L&D Admin reviewing survey responses segmented my data type to evaluate quantitative and qualitative engagement, learning, behavior and results in aggregate and on the individual level.
The problems
Unclear and unconvincing ROI reporting. Clients couldn’t easily report on program ROI to their executive teams.
Unscalable data collection and reporting process. Unlike our competitors, our reporting required account managers to manually collect data and assemble reports. This was time-consuming and red flags came too late.
The goal
Clear, compelling, and scalable reporting. Share data automatically in a way that allows admins to focus on what is relevant to them in the moment
The solution
The results page also provides L&D clients with charts they can screenshot and drop into program update presentations for leadership teams as well as specific survey responses from individual coachees—both common desires that surfaced in user testing.
Admins can see aggregate data segmented by impact area so they can focus on what matters to them most in that moment—whether it’s how much coachees are enjoying the program, or what leading indicators they have that the program is driving business results. They can also drill down to see individual responses so they can follow-up with specific coachees to learn more about their experiences, and proactively course-correct as needed.
“The new platform is helpful for rolling up metrics to the leadership team. And it’s nice if you have a senior leader who wants more context because you can go deeper right there.”
Kara, Auth0 (Client, User Interviewee and Beta User)
Solution 4: Engagement Pages
Making it easy to keep track of sessions and surveys so money isn’t wasted and program data is robust.
L&D Admin checking to see whether she has unused sessions she can reallocate, and whether her participants are late on their surveys and she should nudge them about them.
The problem
Lack of engagement visibility. Clients couldn’t easily track session usage and survey completion.
The goal
Self-service engagement tracking. No more tedious back-and-forth. One place to get immediate visibility into unused sessions and incomplete survey data.
The solution
We create engagement pages which report on engagement automatically, allowing L&D Admins to easily make sure they don’t waste any sessions, and account managers to save time so they can focus on delivering nuanced insights on business impact rather than constantly reporting on engagement.
L&D clients can also easily see who hasn’t submitted their surveys and nudge them, and a nudge from an client team member is a much more effective way to improve survey participation than a nudge from an unfamiliar Lingo Live team member. This leads to more robust data and more convincing ROI.
“The new design makes it so much easier to stay on top of things and prevent waste. It’s a total life-saver.”
Merritt, Abstract (Client, User Interviewee and Beta User)
Solution 5: Coachee Notebook
Helping L&D Admins keep programs on-track while maintaining a safe space for one-on-one learning and growth.
L&D Admin checking on an individual coachee’s session usuage, goal progress, team survey completion and profile to make sure their experience is on-track.
The problem
Lack of content visibility. Clients couldn’t tell what coachees were working on and whether it was providing business value. The coaching felt like a “black box.”
The goal
Responsible content and progress sharing. Provide visibility into coachee work and progress without breaching confidentiality of the coach/coachee relationship.
The solution
With the coachee notebook, coaches write two notes after each session: one for the coachee and one for the L&D and Lingo Live admins after each session summarizing the progress and next steps. The Coachee Notebook displays the coachee’s note to the coachee only, and the L&D and Lingo Live one to admins only. In addition, the coachee notebook displays individual coachee session usage, goal tracking, and survey completion tracking, for the coach, coachee, and admins to reference anytime.
L&D admins get a clear picture of what topics coachees are working on and whether they’re aligned with program goals. They also get a read on whether the coachees are making progress or might need some help—or a different coach. Coachees can track their progress, review session notes and resources, and review feedback all in on place, which gives them a greater sense of ownership and momentum. And coaches have the opportunity to surface coachee successes to L&D admins and potentially help advance their careers.
“Having two separate notes makes it easy to frame the work so the company’s team can see the value. For example, a ‘celebration journal’ for the coachee becomes an ‘exercise in training success mindset’ for the company.”
Tatyana, Coach (Internal team member)