Case study 01 · Global Online Academy
A lighter Orientation that kept students in their courses
A redesign validated with 900+ students: fewer course drops, stronger connection with teachers, and no added faculty time.
My role: I led the research, drove the project end to end and redesigned the course-site experience in Canvas myself.
The problem
Engagement across GOA's student orientation, from pre-course communications to participation in asynchronous discussion, was waning, and students were dropping courses in the first weeks. The goal was to uncover the tensions and fix them in a full redesign of the end-to-end experience.
What I did to understand it
I led a user research project to capture learner insights. Using exploratory surveys and journey mapping, we charted the current pre-orientation and orientation experience day by day: what happened, how students felt, and where the opportunities were. We then validated the patterns with more than 900 students.
The journey map had real storytelling power. It helped leadership see the experience through students' eyes and built buy-in for the recommendations.
The key decision
Adding more orientation content was the easy option. Instead we made the experience lighter: fewer required activities, more live connection with the teacher, and in-depth systems training only for students new to GOA.
What shipped
A redesigned orientation across every touchpoint, and GOA Foundations, an on-demand knowledge base in the LMS with a clear “New to GOA? Start Here” path.
What happened
Fewer in-course drops, stronger teacher–student connection early on, and faculty time held steady. Read more in the article I wrote on the process.
What I'd do differently
Set a cleaner baseline for drops before we started, so the result could be stated as a number rather than a direction.
Big shifts for the curriculum
- Reduce the overall amount of required activities across the three days.
- Deliver most orientation content in synchronous connection with the teacher during Orientation, replacing pre-orientation small-group discussions.
- Offer in-depth training on GOA systems in a public Canvas course, required only of new-to-GOA students before Orientation.
- Keep a brief overview of GOA systems for all students, with essential resources available on demand.
- Add getting-started information for Twist and Zoom to the homepage.
- Present the course-specific assignment (paced across weeks 1–2) on Day 3.
