Alpha School

Challenges

• Engagement Gaps: Students found existing feedback mechanisms too generic and impersonal, reducing the effectiveness of post-test analysis.
• Workflow Complexity: Teachers struggled with the lack of integration between test results and actionable recommendations, leading to inefficiencies.
• Scalability Issues: Relying on human coaches to evaluate students was a blocker to scalability, hindering growth.

The Team

I worked closely with developers, stakeholders, educational specialists and third-party vendors, owning the visual and interaction design for the platform. My role included designing the experience to be as intuitive and frictionless as possible, managing the roadmap, presenting to the client, collaborating on the implementation, and refining the system iteratively based on user testing and feedback.

Goals

• Replace Human Coaches: Develop interactive, voice-driven coaching sessions to mimic real-time conversations and foster deeper learning. Natural language interfaces will become the default way we interact with data
• Streamline Feedback Delivery: Implement a seamless process for post-test analysis that provides targeted recommendations without overwhelming students or teachers.
• Leverage Chain of Thought Reasoning: Design interactive feedback mechanisms that highlight the student’s problem-solving approach, helping them reflect on their reasoning and identify areas for improvement.
• Diagnose Root Causes of Mistakes: Create tools that rapidly identify whether a student’s error stems from a careless mistake (e.g., rushing or misreading) or a deeper misunderstanding of the material, providing targeted feedback to accelerate learning and correction.
• Increase Engagement: Integrate entertaining and dynamic video avatars to create a more interactive and engaging learning experience, helping students stay motivated and excited while receiving personalized feedback.
• Scalable Automation: Develop a “no human in the loop” solution to replace the need for human coaches in assessing student performance, allowing Alpha School to scale its operations efficiently while maintaining high-quality, personalized feedback for learners.
• Personalized Student Profiles: Design a system that leverages personalized profiles to engage students on a friendly, peer-like level, incorporating their interests, learning habits, and quirks to deliver tailored communication and enhance their overall experience.

Solution

Research

• User Insights: Conducted in-depth user research, including interviews with students and educators, to understand pain points and existing workflows.
• Competitor Analysis: Benchmarked the platform against similar educational tools to identify opportunities for differentiation and innovation.

Implementation & Action

• Interactive Coaching Sessions: Designed an AI-driven interface that uses a Socratic questioning approach, helping students analyze mistakes and learn from them in real-time.
• Error Classification and Feedback: Developed a system to classify errors as “knowledge gaps” or “careless mistakes,” providing actionable insights tailored to each student’s needs.

Transformations, Impact & Results

• Student Engagement: Interactive features like real-time coaching and instant feedback improved student satisfaction and learning outcomes.
• Positive Feedback: Educators reported a significant reduction in frustration with the platform, citing clearer workflows and better integration of test results.
• Scalability: The standardized design approach laid the foundation for future growth, allowing the platform to expand into new subject areas.

Elevating the User Experience