UX design at Flipgrid
Unpacking the team’s UX approach for inclusive EdTech
I’m a UXer at Flipgrid, a free, video-sharing platform for educators. Our UX department is still young and we are refining our processes to be as comprehensive as possible. Here’s how we tune into educators’ needs, collaborate with, and build inclusive EdTech for them.
1. Co-working directly with educators
In UX, we always talk about knowing your audience, and in our case, we work directly with them! Jornea, Ann, Jess, and Fely are our in-house experts who span all levels of the education spectrum. Not only do they have ongoing real-life experience, but they also represent English and non-English speaking regions. As active drivers of the Flipgrid community, they run Professional Development Sessions where they inform our broader users on upcoming features, new content in our Discovery Library or host Community Conversations.
When I joined the team, I initiated a weekly meeting with the Ed leads for UX to consult with on a regular basis.
During these sessions we typically cover features from inception to implementation, taking periodic feedback along the way. By involving them at these integral points we have gained many insights that would have otherwise been a blind spot. Not only are they able to contribute creatively, but seeing how UX is done really makes them feel included in the building of the platform.
2. Using research and data to drive growth
The experience and usage of Flipgrid have shifted in the past two years. As our UX practice evolves, we remain dedicated to adapting to the needs of educators in a remote-learning environment for a video-based product, initially created for in-classroom use.
Our UX research department runs 1:1 interviews, flash feedback, and surveys with users across the board. Concurrently our data team finds nuggets that reveal user behavior and give scaffolding on what we can influence from a UX/UI perspective to either change or re-direct. This means we are being agile by actively keeping our UX efforts aligned with Data and Research.
3. Driving community engagement
At Flipgrid, we have a team of folks that constantly check in with our users via Twitter. Users often respond to #FlipgridForAll and YAWL (You Ask We Listen) tweets. While this is by no means the only feedback loop that informs UX and strategic product development, it has proven to be a great way for us to get direct real-time feedback.
Users feel empowered to make requests, suggestions, and queries, with the assurance that we are paying attention, which is invaluable.
By making accommodations in our sprints for user-driven requests, UX is given the opportunity to determine the broader impact and value. Whatever the feedback for the overall experience, we can pivot and broaden our perspective.
4. Initiating cross-org collaboration
As UXers, we all know that a 1:1 work session with engineering can expedite production and is ideal in an agile environment. Earlier this year, we conducted org-wide workshops in the spirit of the design sprint, to tackle some usability issues. We took a tactical approach. By narrowing down 3 areas of focus, outlining UX activities, and brainstorming we were able to collaborate across departments, including back-end, front-end, research, data, project, product, marketing, and various SME’s (Subject Matter Experts).
The sessions provided perspective from new and tenured employees. The range of ideas brought forth engendered empathy within the broader org for our users. UX was able to challenge our assumptions and get insight into prior usability decisions.
Conclusion
The examples above outline ideal scenarios of UX collaboration at Flipgrid. We are continually learning from trying multiple approaches.
What we’ve gathered so far:
- SME perspectives give us a consistent influx of industry knowledge.
- Tapping directly into user behavior with data and research gives us valuable gains on how to grow.
- Immediate relevant feedback ensures informed feature releases that cater to users’ specific needs.
- How we are forming relationships internally is fostering an inclusive company culture that encourages us to continue building inclusive tech.
I joined the Flipgrid team in September 2020 as a Sr. UX Designer and I was immediately drawn in by the focus on building community and creating a culture of learning together. If you are interested in chatting about UX, diversity equity and inclusion, culture, or any other wonderful random things, find me on LinkedIn or @matshoshi on Twitter.
