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Case Study: Design and Development of an Online Course Platform for learnersedge.ca

Overview

Client:

learnersedge.ca an online education platform offering courses in technology, business, and personal development.

Objective:

To design and develop a custom online course platform that provides an intuitive user experience, supports a robust learning management system (LMS), and increases student engagement and course completion rates.

Duration:

5 months (from discovery to launch)

Initial Challenges

  • Outdated Platform

    learnersedge.ca was using a third-party platform with limited customization options, which constrained both the student experience and the flexibility of the courses.

  • Poor User Experience

    The existing site was difficult to navigate, with confusing course listings and an overcomplicated signup process. This led to high bounce rates and low course completion rates.

  • Mobile Incompatibility

    The website was not optimized for mobile devices, which led to poor accessibility for a growing number of mobile users.

  • Lack of Engagement Tools

    There were limited features to promote student engagement, such as interactive quizzes, certificates of completion, and discussion forums.

Strategy and Solution

Discovery & Planning

  • Conducted stakeholder interviews to identify the specific needs of both students and instructors, focusing on the pain points of the existing platform.
  • Researched competitor online course websites to identify best practices in the e-learning space.
  • Developed user personas to guide the design process, focusing on creating a seamless experience for students of varying technical skill levels.
  • Planned the design of the site architecture, ensuring the user flow was clear and easy to navigate for students, from course discovery to completion.

UX/UI Design

  • Created wireframes and prototypes of the website, focusing on a clean, intuitive design that improved the user journey.
  • Developed a responsive design to ensure the website worked seamlessly across devices, especially mobile phones and tablets.
  • Designed a comprehensive course catalog page that allowed students to filter courses by category, difficulty level, and instructor.
  • Created an intuitive dashboard for students where they could view progress, manage enrolled courses, and track upcoming lessons.
  • Developed a simple and engaging interface for instructors to upload course materials, track student performance, and manage discussions.

E-Commerce Integration

  • Integrated a custom payment gateway that supported multiple payment options (credit card, PayPal, etc.) to allow students to purchase individual courses or subscribe to premium memberships.
  • Developed a dynamic pricing model that allowed the client to offer discounts, bundles, and seasonal promotions.
  • Added secure user authentication and payment encryption to ensure student data and transactions were fully protected.

E-Commerce Integration

  • Integrated a custom payment gateway that supported multiple payment options (credit card, PayPal, etc.) to allow students to purchase individual courses or subscribe to premium memberships.
  • Developed a dynamic pricing model that allowed the client to offer discounts, bundles, and seasonal promotions.
  • Added secure user authentication and payment encryption to ensure student data and transactions were fully protected.

Content Updates & SEO Integration

  • Updated the website’s content to reflect the clinic’s services and expertise, making it easier for patients to understand which service suited their needs.
  • Optimized the website’s content for local SEO, incorporating relevant keywords like "physiotherapy in [City Name]" and "sports injury rehabilitation" to attract local traffic.
  • Designed new landing pages for each service with built-in “Book Now” buttons, allowing patients to instantly start the booking process from service pages.

Engagement & Gamification Features

  • Developed a student progress bar to track their completion rates, which motivated users to finish lessons and entire courses.
  • Integrated gamification elements, such as badges and achievements for reaching milestones within the course.
  • Created a discussion forum and live chat feature, enabling students to interact with instructors and fellow students, increasing a sense of community and peer learning.

SEO and Content Optimization

  • Developed optimized course pages and blog content to attract organic search traffic, incorporating keywords related to online learning, course topics, and industry trends.
  • Implemented schema markup for courses, allowing search engines to display key information (course title, duration, price) directly in search results.
  • Developed a blog section for educational articles and industry insights, helping the site rank higher for related search terms and engage potential students.

Testing, Launch, and Ongoing Support

  • Conducted usability testing with both students and instructors to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments before launch.
  • Performed rigorous performance testing to ensure the platform could handle large volumes of concurrent users, especially during peak enrollment periods.
  • Launched the platform in phases, starting with a beta test group before the full public launch to resolve any final issues.
  • Provided post-launch support, including regular maintenance, feature updates, and technical assistance to ensure the platform remained robust and secure.

Results

Key Takeaways

1. User-Centered Design Enhances Engagement:

A user-friendly, responsive design that focuses on both student and instructor needs dramatically improves engagement, course completion rates, and satisfaction.

2. Gamification & Progress Tracking Drive Retention:

Integrating elements like quizzes, badges, and certificates, along with a clear progress tracker, can significantly increase student retention and completion.

3. Custom Solutions Provide Flexibility:

A custom-built LMS provides greater flexibility and control over the learning process, benefiting both students and instructors by offering features tailored to their needs.

4. Mobile Optimization is Essential for Success::

With the growing number of mobile users, optimizing both the learning experience and the website for mobile devices leads to higher engagement and course completion.

Conclusion

The design and development of the custom online course platform for learnersedge.ca resulted in a modern, engaging, and highly functional website that enhanced the learning experience for both students and instructors. By focusing on user experience, mobile accessibility, engagement tools, and SEO optimization, the platform saw a significant increase in traffic, engagement, and revenue, positioning learnersedge.ca as a leading provider in the online education space.

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