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BrainPOP

BrainPOP has been a leader in classroom products for over 20 years. They’re widely known as an essential tool that both engages kids and supports teachers, and planned to expand into learning at home. I lead research on BrainPOP’s core product line as we evolve these products to provide even more value to the schools and districts we serve. Find examples of projects I led below.

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Integrating AI Scaffolds into the Core Product

Role – Lead UX Researcher

Problem

Standardized reading scores are continuing to decline, with 40% if 4th graders in the US scoring "Below Basic" on NAEP in 2024. How might BrainPOP’s product offering better support students who are 1-2 grade levels behind in reading comprehension?

Methods

I led strategic research followed by a two-week field study with 170 students across 6 teachers at 5 schools.

Impact

  1. Provided ongoing user feedback and insights to support design decisions of an AI-powered prototype

  2. Launched AI Reading Scaffolds with emphasis on guided student onboarding (June 2025)

  3. Launched Reading Heatmap Report for teachers (August 2025)

Driving Teacher Engagement for Back To School 2024

Role – Lead UX Researcher

Problem

Data showed that teachers who create assignments in BrainPOP use our product more often and are more likely to be retained users. In order to increase Teacher usage, and thus school/district retention, we needed to update learning activities to encourage more teachers to create assignments.

Methods

De-risked new features and product updates for our Back To School 2024 launch through concept testing and usability testing.

Impact

  1. Launched the updated Topic Page, which highlighted new features and encourage more impactful usage (August 2024)

  2. Launched Vocab Builder, which became our 3rd most popular activity (July 2024)

  3. Weekly Active Teachers/Monthly Active Teachers increased by 20%

  4. The number of teachers who created assignments increased by 40%

Resolving Information Architecture Challenges

Role – Lead UX Researcher

Problem

During the design iterations for a new browsing experience, conflicting perspectives on information architecture among product leaders, learning designers, and product designers caused debates and stalled the project's momentum. I recognized the need for alignment and took action to center decision-making on user insights.

Methods

Open card sorting to let users determine the information architecture that was most intuitive to them.

Impact

  1. Teachers were almost unanimous in their content organization which stopped the debate immediately, allowing the team to move forward with a design that was intuitive for end users rather than our assumptions

  2. So far, we’ve seen positive NPS survey comments that highlight this new experience, and are looking forward to measuring usage in the coming school year

Contact me for more information.

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