A new way to welcome your learners

The new feature that we added to AcademyOcean today shows up modestly for our users as “a new design for our login page.” But I would like to show the extensive work that has been put into this feature and the kinds of important improvements that have been made. Let’s take a look!

Problems we faced:

1. Some of our clients wanted to add a course description and preview right on the welcome page of their academy. They wanted potential learners to be able to see what awaits them in the academy before even entering and, consequently, have their interest piqued. But the functionality of this page was intended for only images, video, and text, not dynamic content such as course cards.
2. At the login page, some learners thought they didn’t have access to get into an academy. Our one system for registration and login was unclear to some users. Luckily, almost all of our clients got around this issue by adding some variation of the phrase “To start, type in your email and choose a password.” However, we wanted to find a more comprehensive solution.

We also wanted to freshen up our design as best we could, in order to make the page more attractive for visitors.

Here’s what we came up with:

A new signup form

We moved away from the two-step registration form in which a visitor first enters their email and only afterwards the field for entering a password is displayed. Now the form has a more familiar look. In addition, the entities “Create an account” and “Log in” are now separate, which makes it much more apparent to users what they need to do to enter an academy.

Incidentally, while we were creating this design, we noticed that many companies have been switching over to similar-looking pages. For example, Dropbox.

Backgrounds

In the old version, the academy creator had to upload a background image. Now, creators have two options: They can either upload an image or choose one of the color gradients we’ve provided. If it’s too difficult to choose a picture, they can simply choose a gradient that matches their color scheme. Against this background, the remaining content will look more noticeable and will contrast well.

New settings

The settings menu has become much clearer and more concise, while functionalities have increased.

Course cards

Now, before even entering an academy, visitors can see the courses they will get through once inside. Creators can choose which courses will be visible on the welcome page. We have added several different templates so clients can choose the layout they like best.

Course preview

We have added a preview for each course so that visitors can see not only a list of courses but also an outline of what’s inside each course.

Moreover, if a visitor reads a course description and clicks the “Begin course” button, they’ll be taken to the course they chose, instead of to the first course in the academy.

On the whole, this page is now much more learner-friendly and innovative. Login forms stand out in high contrast and are easier to see. Now, regardless of colors and page content, it will be simple and clear for users to take the main, target action — entering an academy.

Stay tuned!