EdTech Learning Player

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From legacy desktop player to multi-device learning

Lead Product Designer, End-to-end UX & UI

1 Product Designer (Part-time), 6 Devs, 3 PMs, 3 QAs

3 years

Lead Product Designer, End-to-end UX & UI

1 Product Designer (Part-time), 6 Devs, 3 PMs, 3 QAs

3 years

Lead Product Designer, End-to-end UX & UI

1 Product Designer (PT), 6 Devs, 3 PMs, 3 QAs

3 years

TL;DR

A mobile-first learning experience optimized for scale

Impact:

Achieved 100% mobile activity completion by modernizing legacy desktop architecture, eliminating device switching while significantly reducing technical debt

Solution:

A fully responsive, real-time player optimized for both live classroom participation and remote assignments. We transformed a partially responsive legacy system into a smooth mobile experience.

Key takeaway:

Effective mobile-first design requires making intentional trade-offs for mobile simplicity.

TL;DR

A mobile-first learning experience optimized for scale

Impact:

Achieved 100% mobile activity completion by modernizing legacy desktop architecture, eliminating device switching while significantly reducing technical debt

Solution:

A fully responsive, real-time player optimized for both live classroom participation and remote assignments. We transformed a partially responsive legacy system into a smooth mobile experience.

Key takeaway:

Effective mobile-first design requires making intentional trade-offs for mobile simplicity.

TL;DR

A mobile-first learning experience optimized for scale

Impact:

Achieved 100% mobile activity completion by modernizing legacy desktop architecture, eliminating device switching while significantly reducing technical debt

Solution:

A fully responsive, real-time player optimized for both live classroom participation and remote assignments. We transformed a partially responsive legacy system into a smooth mobile experience.

Key takeaway:

Effective mobile-first design requires making intentional trade-offs for mobile simplicity.

Open Dicussion
Poll

CONTEXT

National-Scale Learning

CET’s products support daily education across Israel, powering both live classroom participation and remote assignments.

The Player is the core engine where authored content is delivered; it must perform reliably across devices in time-sensitive moments, from plenary lessons to independent homework.

CONTEXT

National-Scale Learning

CET’s products support daily education across Israel, powering both live classroom participation and remote assignments.

The Player is the core engine where authored content is delivered; it must perform reliably across devices in time-sensitive moments, from plenary lessons to independent homework.

CONTEXT

National-Scale Learning

CET’s products support daily education across Israel, powering both live classroom participation and remote assignments.

The Player is the core engine where authored content is delivered; it must perform reliably across devices in time-sensitive moments, from plenary lessons to independent homework.

Before redesigning, we aligned on how learning should work in live classrooms:

STRATEGY & FOUNDATIONS

From Legacy Architecture to Responsive Learning

The

Challenge

Transforming a rigid, desktop-first player into a fully responsive ecosystem, one that could support both classroom and independent learning.

The

Challnge

Transforming a rigid, desktop-first player into a fully responsive ecosystem, one that could support both classroom and independent learning.

How we

Worked

Working closely with product, LXDs, and pedagogy, we navigated technical debt and tight timelines through pragmatic trade-offs.

Design

Principles

Focusing on the most critical learning actions.

Ensuring intuitive interactions across all screens.

Prioritizing how students learn over mirroring desktop features.

Stripping away noise to reduce student effort.

Designing smart solutions within existing system limits.

USERS & PAIN POINTS

Bridging the Gap for Teachers and Students

Both user groups required speed and reliability, but the legacy player simply wasn’t ready for real-time learning.

Teachers

I just want to quickly review lessons and student work when I’m not at my computer.

The Pain: Lack of mobile parity forced a heavy dependency on desktops for basic administrative tasks.

75% of teachers

Reported an inability to effectively manage or review lesson content on the go.

Teachers

I just want to quickly review lessons and student work when I’m not at my computer.

The Pain: Lack of mobile parity forced a heavy dependency on desktops for basic administrative tasks.

75% of teachers

Reported an inability to effectively manage or review lesson content on the go.

Students

Some activities just don’t work on my phone. It’s really annoying.

The Pain: Broken features and poor responsiveness forced students to switch devices mid-task, shattering their learning flow.

90% of students

struggled to complete activities due to limited mobile support.

Students

Some activities just don’t work on my phone. It’s really annoying.

The Pain: Broken features and poor responsiveness forced students to switch devices mid-task, shattering their learning flow.

90% of students

struggled to complete activities due to limited mobile support.

THE PROBLEM

System Fragmentation

CET’s ecosystem relied on incompatible systems for authoring and playback. This created a widening gap between content creation and multi-device consumption.

Structural Redundancy: Overlapping legacy patterns that hindered real-time, versatile learning.

Inconsistent Logic: Fragmented mental models that failed to scale across diverse learning contexts.

Rigid Architecture: A desktop-centric foundation that couldn't support a unified responsive experience

SOLUTION ARCHITECTURE

Adapting for Mobile Reality

Three Strategic Moves:

Mobile-first, no rewrites:

Reshaped content delivery for small screens while accepting legacy structural constraints.

Classroom participation:

Optimized quizzes and polls for the devices students already had, enabling real-time collaboration.

Intentional trade-offs:

Prioritized reliability over desktop feature parity, removing complex, fragile interactions.

System Rules: Standardizing the Mobile Experience

To ensure consistency across thousands of activities, we implemented three system-level rules:

To ensure consistency across thousands of activities,
we implemented three system-level rules:

01 Universal Scaling

A single scaling rule replaced breakpoint-specific layouts, preserving hierarchy without per-screen redesigns.

This ensured content remained readable and usable without redesigning layouts per device.

earning activity shown side by side on desktop and mobile, using the same scaling rules. The question layout, content hierarchy, and interaction elements remain readable and consistent across screen sizes without layout changes.

01 Universal Scaling

A single scaling rule replaced breakpoint-specific layouts, preserving hierarchy without per-screen redesigns.

This ensured content remained readable and usable without redesigning layouts per device.

02 Structural Integrity

Kept tables intact instead of breaking them into cards to preserve the pedagogical need for comparative learning.

Preserving structure enabled comparative learning without sacrificing mobile usability.

Comparative learning table displayed on desktop and mobile. Tabular structure is preserved on smaller screens to maintain comparison between states of matter, instead of being broken into cards.

02 Structural Integrity

Kept tables intact instead of breaking them into cards to preserve the pedagogical need for comparative learning.

Preserving structure enabled comparative learning without sacrificing mobile usability.

03 No More Broken Mobile Flows

Supported only 100% mobile-complete actions to eliminate broken flows and device-switching.

This allowed students to complete activities end to end on mobile, without switching devices mid-flow.

03 No More Broken Mobile Flows

Supported only 100% mobile-complete actions to eliminate broken flows and device-switching.

This allowed students to complete activities end to end on mobile, without switching devices mid-flow.

03 No More Broken Mobile Flows

Supported only 100% mobile-complete actions to eliminate broken flows and device-switching.

This allowed students to complete activities end to end on mobile, without switching devices mid-flow.

IMPACT

From Legacy Playback to Live Interaction

The new Player launched at the beginning of the school year, transforming the mobile device from a limitation into a primary tool for participation.

Frictionless Completion

Achieved 100% activity completion on mobile, eliminating forced device-switching and broken flows.

Live Classroom Synergy

Enabled real-time participation (polls, quizzes, discussions) on the devices students actually own.

Systemic Scalability

Established universal translation rules that allow for future evolution without rewriting existing content.

Operational Efficiency

Reduced long-term maintenance costs and technical debt by unifying the playback logic.

A collaborative plenary lesson where student-created projects become shared classroom discussion.

DESIGN TRADEOFFS & LEARNINGS

01 Scalability Needs Clear Rules

Designing for thousands of activities taught me that strict system rules are the only way to ensure consistency at scale.

02 Constraints Improve Reliability

Accepting mobile limitations early allowed us to deliver a 100% reliable experience rather than a "broken" desktop clone.

03 Context-First Design

By designing for the reality of the classroom, we enabled collaborative learning that works in high-stakes, real-time environments.

This project reinforced my belief that strong product design emerges when systems are built for real classrooms, real constraints, and moments where failure is not an option.

DESIGN TRADEOFFS & LEARNINGS

01 Scalability Needs Clear Rules

Designing for thousands of activities taught me that strict system rules are the only way to ensure consistency at scale.

02 Constraints Improve Reliability

Accepting mobile limitations early allowed us to deliver a 100% reliable experience rather than a "broken" desktop clone.

03 Context-First Design

By designing for the reality of the classroom, we enabled collaborative learning that works in high-stakes, real-time environments.

This project reinforced my belief that strong product design emerges when systems are built for real classrooms, real constraints, and moments where failure is not an option.

DESIGN TRADEOFFS & LEARNINGS

01 Scalability Needs Clear Rules

Designing for thousands of activities taught me that strict system rules are the only way to ensure consistency at scale.

02 Constraints Improve Reliability

Meaningful learning experiences emerge when pedagogical goals are designed within technical and real-world constraints.

Accepting mobile limitations early enabled reliable, end-to-end participation instead of fragile feature parity.

03 Context-First Design

Looking beyond screens to real classroom conditions and usage patterns shaped more realistic product decisions.

Designing around the devices students actually have made collaborative, interactive lessons possible at scale.

This project reinforced my belief that strong product design emerges when systems are built for real classrooms, real constraints, and moments where failure is not an option.

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