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HOMER Learning

I joined the HOMER team and immediately began supporting the launch of Learn and Grow – a multi-subject learning app for kids ages 2-8. The adaptable platform housed educational videos, games, and stories and showcased our new branding. I was tasked with providing actionable insights across the business in all areas including the launch of new features (both kid and parent-facing), marketing/branding, and game design. Here I highlight some of the research I was responsible for.

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More info availabile upon request.

Increasing Parent Value

Role – Lead UX Researcher

Team – John Coletti (Product Manager), Grace Kim (Product Designer), Fanny Wu (Data Scientist)

Problem

After launching Learn & Grow we needed to learn more about perception, behavior, needs, and pain points for both parents and children to inform the product roadmap moving forward.

Methods

  1. We first focused on operational research – a month-long diary study aiming to understand parent and child behavior in context. Simultaneously, our data counterpart performed user segmentation analysis based on engagement behavior of new subscribers.

  2. We followed this up with strategic research – 1 on 1 interviews with parents from segments that displayed low-engagement to learn what contributed to this behavior.

Impact

  1. The diary study revealed insights about child engagement, use cases, and parent value for regular users, but also identified low engagement behavior among some participants. The user segmentation analysis further highlighted these low-engaged user groups, showing they had the lowest Convert to Paid rate after their trial.

  2. Operational research led to the creation of the Parent Experience team, gained leadership buy-in for strategic research with parents and prioritized solutions based on our insights.

  3. From 1 on 1 interviews with parents, we learned that they expected more resources for a better connection to their child's learning and progress over time. However, not all parents were equally willing or able to engage at the same depth.

  4. We developed Parent Personas and Journey Maps as a guide for creating features tailored to parents.

  5. We launched Activity Insights, allowing parents to explore their child's in-app activity at their preferred level of granularity and email campaigns notifying parents of their child's new plays, subjects learned, and consistent play. These initiatives led to qualitative increases in parent value and quantitative increases in the Convert to Pay rate.

Personas

HOMER Personas.png

Journey Maps

Activity Insights – Final Designs

Increasing Child Engagement

Role – Lead UX Researcher

Team – Abigail Adams & Michelle Lazarow (Product Managers), Holly Graham (Product Designer), Chloe Cheau (Data Scientist)

Problem

  • Younger children experienced decision fatigue when browsing content during playtests, leading to accidental content openings and, in some cases, app closure.

  • Parent interviews linked higher child product usage to increased parent retention.

  • Post-launch insights showed that repeated usage led to higher retention rates. We sought out to find ways to encourage children to use Learn & Grow more days per week.

Methods

I conducted tactical research with children to drive design iterations of our solution to increase repeat usage.

Impact

  1. We launched Direct-To-Content, a feature to boost engagement by taking children directly to our most loved content, reducing fiction from the decision-making process.

  2. We also launched My Daily Plays, featuring learning arc "playlists" that automatically play the next content after completion, with new playlists appearing daily to encourage repeat usage.

  3. The Direct-To-Content and Daily Plays features increased our core engagement metric by 5%. This metric continues to rise.

Developing a Remote Research Practice

Role – Lead UX Researcher

Problem

The Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to continue with in-person research and upon joining HOMER there was no process in place for conducting research with children remotely.

Methods

​I rapidly implemented a remote playtesting process, enabling tactical rapid research within the team's sprint cycles. This involved building a 300+ participant panel, automated recruiting/scheduling, and team rituals to ensure fast turnaround times while preserving the quality and impact of insights.

Impact

  1. Playtests provided necessary direction and clarity to game designers, product designers, and animators about usability and engagement in new games.

  2. We developed guidelines and best practices for the child experience team to reference as they developed new games and experiences.

  3. Playtest sessions gave the larger organization visibility into the end user, helping them feel more connected to the children they serve.

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