June 2024 - April 2025
Education Analytics
1 Product Owner, 1 Product Manager,
1 Technical Delivery Lead
From Research to Design
Overview
Problems
Challenges with manual and delayed readiness reporting.
College and career readiness reports were only available once a year in printed format.
Student data was manually uploaded from each district, making the process slow and labor-intensive.
Solution
Introduce a College and Career Readiness section within Rally Analytics Platform.
Results
Impacted 10k+ educators across South Carolina
Scheduled to launch in districts across California and Texas.
Prototypes
Research
Stakeholder Interviews
Since there was no initial plan to interview real users, I proactively reached out to stakeholders to gather more insights.
District leaders
Learn how educators currently access relevant data
Prioritize key pain points in data access and decision-making
Product Managers
Align use cases with the overall product strategy
Collaborate on product scope and design goals
Data Analysts
Understand how readiness is measured across districts
Identifying key performance indicators
Data Engineers
Understand data flow from Ed-Fi into the Rally platform
Identify data limitations, frequency, and latency
Secondary Research
I also conducted research on CCR policies and metrics across different states.
Common CCR Indicators
End-of-course examinations
AP/IB course scores
ACT/SAT scores
FAFSA completion
Dual-enrollment courses
State required assessments
User Persona
Maya Thompson
High School Counselor
User Needs
Quick access to up-to-date student readiness data (e.g., GPA, course completion, test scores).
Clear indicators of which students are on track vs. off track.
Insights to guide students in course selection, career pathways, and post-secondary planning.
User Flow
Design
Challenge I — How might we manage and organize different indicators?
Option 1. Group similar type of data
by courses and assessments
Option 2. Manage data by outcome-oriented indicators
by high school graduation and CCR
We selected Option B which allows educators to quickly access student status at a glance.
Challenge II — How might we effectively visualize large volumes of data within a single CCR indicator?
Each indicator includes multiple attributes, posing a challenge in displaying detailed information without overwhelming users.
Course Components Layout
Option 1. Vertical layout
Option 2. Horizontal layout
Assessments
Option 1. Visualize each result
Option 2. Compare multiple results
Prototypes
We made our decision by analyzing information clarity, scannability, prioritization, efficiency, scalability, and feasibility.
Testing
Usability Testing
I conducted a usability testing session with stockholders to validate ideas and uncover usability issues.
Unclear that the top button is clickable
Desire for grade-specific “On-Track” models
Lack of clarity around state benchmarks
Color coding needs context
Edge cases need to be considered
Interest in additional information
