FUTURELEARN APP VISION
NOVEMBER 2021
App vision: Learning suggestions
Create a vision for a native app to deliver a standout learning experience that complements FutureLearn’s established web presence and contributes to the overall business strategy of generating revenue in a subscription model.
01 / Summary
What was delivered and how?
Team
Design Lead
PM
Researcher
Tech Lead
What I did
Research planning
Workshop facilitation
Interview & focus group facilitation
Research synthesis
Wireframing
Prototyping
Mobile app design
Roadshow presentations
Deliverables
Problem defining workshop
A fully-detailed journey map
Wireframes
User-interface designs
High-fidelity prototype
Video explainers
Impact
We created a 12-18 month app vision with a roadmap and MVP launch strategy, approved by Senior Leadership. Months later, during FutureLearn’s transformation, the app vision served as a model for the entire platform’s evolution.
02 / Understanding the problem
FutureLearn has an established responsive web app having served around 18 million learners since its startup days in 2012. The foremost questions I had at this starting point were:
Why does FutureLearn need an app?
What value would it bring to its users and the business that it doesn’t already have?
Why now?
From talking to teams internally there was a lot of evidence pointing towards requests from users for an app:
It was frequently mentioned in requests to the Community team
It featured repeatedly in NPS surveys
“FutureLearn app” is a frequently used search term
We even found fake FL apps in app stores with thousands of downloads.
All FL’s competitors have native apps leading to expectations from learners that we at least match up to those experiences
Why now? Through talking to senior stakeholders there were several business reasons that pointed towards the need for an app.
FutureLearn attracted many new users to free courses, but engagement and retention were low (1.3 courses completed on average), and paid conversions were poor.
Apps lower engagement barriers and enable learning on the go, boosting usage frequency. Higher usage improves learning and customer retention. As FL shifts from freemium to subscription, apps and in-app payments offer a new revenue channel.
03 / Research
Working with a researcher we put together a 3-stage research plan:
Gather and review - Gather existing knowledge from appropriate sources. Review these to identify key themes which can be explored further
Update and validate - Update existing knowledge to make sure that it is still relevant for 2021. Validate findings at scale to ensure that they represent our learners accurately
Define and discover - define knowledge gaps and how they can be filled. Discover new insights into the problems that can help fill these gaps
The research itself consisted of a survey sent out to 10,000 learners and a series of 1-1 interviews with current learners.
The research revealed some interesting findings. Here are a few highlights:
Smartphones and desktops served different learning roles. In the Global North (developed economies), smartphones complemented desktops, with learners switching devices based on context. In the Global South (developing economies), smartphones were the primary learning device.
We also learned about the learner segments who would be most interested in an app. These were:
Global South learners
Professional learners
18-34 year olds
Those who studied >10 courses in the last quarter
We uncovered the primary reasons learners would use a smartphone for learning:
1. The ability to learn anywhere.
2. Convenience.
3. Ease of access.
4. Being unable to access a computer (either temporarily or permanently).
5. The ability to quickly do things (e.g. check updates, discover courses).
And learners preferences for particular smartphone features:
Must have
Transcripts, adjustable video speeds, commenting, course discovery
Should have
Progress indication, to-do list, picture-in-picture, downloads, low data/offline mode, screen rotation, variable font sizing, achievements area, wishlist, highlighting and bookmarking
Could have
Widget, study reminders, sharing, help centre
Won’t have
Push notifications, purchasing and subscription management, audio only content, live chat
04/ Proposition testing - what direction should a FL app take?
Following this initial research phase I then created a set of five distinctly different app propositions to test internal thinking around a range of ideas.
The propositions ranged from simply replicating FutureLearns website (web replacement), to purpose-built courses exclusively using short video content (app exclusive) and a purely social experience without the traditional learning element.
Propositions as Top Trumps cards for socialising in business teams
Internal workshops with key teams refined propositions through diverse feedback. A major blocker was content: most courses are from external partners, so altering them would breach IP agreements and demand significant effort. Thus, I narrowed the propositions to:
Learn with others - a proposition that looks to enhance the social experience.
Make learning fun and engaging - a proposition that looks to introduce a gamification experience.
Find what you love to learn - a proposition that looks to enhance the discovery experience.
Next, these improved ideas were tested with 4 learner focus groups: 2 with current learners and 2 with non-learners, all in the UK. The response was positive, and the discussions gave many ideas about what the app should or shouldn’t have.
05/ Bringing the vision to life
After research, I collaborated with the PM to synthesise focus group insights and shape the app direction. The key issue identified was low learner engagement, causing poor outcomes and high attrition. We hypothesised that boosting visit frequency and enhancing the learning experience would improve course completion, outcomes, retention, and willingness to pay.
We articulated this with a vision statement:
As a learner I can study from any device, wherever I choose and at a pace that suits me. I’m guided and supported to achieve my goals with the tools I need to learn, connecting me with like-minded people and illustrating progress and achievement along the way, at an affordable price
We then moved on to identifying themes to be showcased in the vision. These included:
Learners struggle to commit and maintain learning routines.
Learners often lack motivation and forget to study.
We lack expected online learning tools like note-taking, bookmarking, and highlighting.
The idea of progress and its communication is often confusing or lacking.
Learning isn’t easy—no simple way to review, reflect, or extract key takeaways.
In today’s world our social offering is simplistic
Large-scale social interaction reduces overall engagement.
Quizzes and assessments are neither rigorous nor really engaging
I then spent 3 weeks creating a high-fidelity prototype (in Figma) illustrating 5 key flows within the app. I also made narrated videos of each flow to enable these ideas to be shared more widely.
06/ Roadshow
The final stage was to share our ideas across the business, gather feedback, and refine them. We presented to internal teams, held a company-wide demo, and held 1-1 sessions with senior leaders and key stakeholders.
07/ Outcomes
After the roadshows, we entered planning. Stakeholders challenged our decision to exclude an app discovery feature. We questioned whether enrolling users in more courses, likely incomplete, was better than focusing on retention and engagement of existing users. Research showed discovery was the least appealing app feature, with only 15% of website users finding discovery problematic. We proposed first boosting app engagement and retention, then expanding discovery. This approach gained consensus, and we defined an MVP for release in six months.
The FutureLearn app was released to the App Store in August 2022.