CET Studio EdTech UX case study – Product and UX design by Orna Zusman Nevo

Studio home screen for creating courses, activities, and project-based learning.

CET learning studio interface displaying a card-based activity being edited, with the appearance panel open for configuring layout and visual properties.

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EdTech Studio Ecosystem

Redesigning a Multi Product Creation Platform

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 unified content creation system designed for scale

Impact:

Eliminated developer bottlenecks by replacing fragmented legacy tools with a unified creation system, cutting content unit production from weeks to days (~75% faster).

Solution:

A unified content studio designed for cross-platform scale, consolidating fragmented patterns into one system and eliminating developer dependency.

Key takeaway:

Good product design starts with clarity, shared understanding, and systems that support people when it matters most.

TL;DR

A unified content creation system designed for scale

Impact:

Eliminated developer bottlenecks by replacing fragmented legacy tools with a unified creation system, cutting content unit production from weeks to days (~75% faster).

Solution:

A unified content studio designed for cross-platform scale, consolidating fragmented patterns into one system and eliminating developer dependency.

Key takeaway:

Good product design starts with clarity, shared understanding, and systems that support people when it matters most.

TL;DR

A unified content creation system designed for scale

Impact:

Eliminated developer bottlenecks by replacing fragmented legacy tools with a unified creation system, cutting content unit production from weeks to days (~75% faster).

Solution:

A unified content studio designed for cross-platform scale, consolidating fragmented patterns into one system and eliminating developer dependency.

Key takeaway:

Good product design starts with clarity, shared understanding, and systems that support people when it matters most.

CONTEXT

Designing at the Scale of a National Education System

CET, the Center for Educational Technology, is one of Israel’s largest and most stablished EdTech organizations, working closely with the Ministry of Education and reaching a significant share of the public school system.

Behind the scale of CET’s learning products lies a complex content creation reality, involving:

Multiple content types

Varied pedagogical approaches

Diverse audiences

The Studio defines how learning content is created, structured, and scored.

CONTEXT

Designing at the Scale of a National Education System

Behind the scale of CET’s learning products lies a complex content creation reality, involving:

Multiple content types

Varied pedagogical approaches

Diverse audiences

The Studio defines how learning content is created, structured, and scored.

Before redesigning, we had to agree on how creation itself should work:

STRATEGY & FOUNDATIONS

Aligning teams around a scalable creation model

The

Challenge

Transforming fragmented, developer-dependent content creation into a shared, scalable system.

The

Challnge

Transforming fragmented, developer-dependent content creation into a shared, scalable system.

How we

Worked

Working closely with LXDs, PMs, and engineers, we aligned terminology, resolved dependencies, and built shared foundations for future work.

Design

Principles

Clear structure with room for creativity

Reusable building blocks over one-off layouts

Creation without developer dependency

Predictable interactions across content types

Reduced cognitive load by design

Accessibility by default

Flexibility for advanced users

Design

Principles

Clear structure with room for creativity

Reusable building blocks over one-off layouts

Creation without developer dependency

Predictable interactions across content types

Reduced cognitive load by design

Accessibility by default

Flexibility for advanced users

CONTEXT

Designing at the Scale of a National Education System

Behind the scale of CET’s learning products lies a complex content creation reality, involving:

Multiple content types

Varied pedagogical approaches

Diverse audiences

The Studio defines how learning content is created, structured, and scored.

Before redesigning, we had to agree on how creation itself should work:

STRATEGY & FOUNDATIONS

Aligning teams around a scalable creation model

The

Challenge

Transforming fragmented, developer-dependent content creation into a shared, scalable system.

How we

Worked

Working closely with LXDs, PMs, and engineers, we aligned terminology, resolved dependencies, and built shared foundations for future work.

Design

Principles

Clear structure with room for creativity

Reusable building blocks over one-off layouts

Creation without developer dependency

Predictable interactions across content types

Reduced cognitive load by design

Accessibility by default

Flexibility for advanced users

USERS & PAIN POINTS

The People Behind the Content, and the Friction They Faced

We worked closely with the people creating learning content every day: LXDs - Learning eXperience Designers, pedagogical experts, and teachers. Each group faced different challenges, but all were slowed down by the same system limitations.

LXDs

The old Studio isn’t responsive. Nothing stays consistent. We need reusable components.

The Pain: Fragmented tools and inconsistent patterns made it hard to create reusable learning units.

92% of interviewees

Struggled to create consistent, reusable content across units.

Pedagogical Experts

Building a unit takes too long, and the tools doesn’t match how we think about learning.

The Pain: Slow, design-heavy tools didn’t match pedagogical thinking or daily creation needs.

61% of interviewees

Wanted faster creation flows and clearer collaboration

Teachers

The Studio stressed me out.
I just want to quickly edit content without dealing with design.

The Pain: Creating or adapting content felt overly complex for everyday teaching needs.

78% of interviewees

Found the old editor intimidating or hard to edit existing materials

THE PROBLEM

Old Tools, Heavy Friction

Creating content meant juggling tools, relying on developers, and working in an old, frustrating interface.

Legacy Studio question editor with dense toolbar and modal-based editing.

Legacy Studio question editor with dense, modal-based workflows

Duplicated work across tools

Inconsistent mental models

Slow production cycles

Heavy onboarding

The organization needed a single, cohesive place to create, manage, and evolve learning content at scale.

SOLUTION ARCHITECTURE

A Unified UGC Creation System

We redesigned the Studio into a unified system with shared templates, reusable blocks, and an editable theme system.

Consistent structure enabled faster, scalable content creation.

Scalable Content Model

Learning units share one structure, with different rules and permissions across activity types.

Learning Unit

(shared structure)

Sections (Structural Containers)

Widgets (Content blocks)

Config (behavior, rules)

Unit type

Template

(structure, rules)

Types change rules and access

Group project

(Long term)

Evaluation

Self-paced learning

In-class

lesson

Learning Unit

(shared structure)

Sections (Structural Containers)

Widgets (Content blocks)

Config (behavior, rules)

Unit type

Template

(structure, rules)

Types change rules and access

Group project

(Long term)

Evaluation

Self-paced learning

In-class

lesson

PRODUCT DECISIONS: SHAPING the SYSTEM

To support effortless, consistent, and scalable content creation, we made a set of core product decisions:

01 Unified Authoring Environment

A single workspace replaced multiple tools, enabling the creation of any content type within one structured model.

Creation became about designing learning, not managing tools.

Unified Studio editor where all activity types are built using the same structured layout system.

01 Unified Authoring Environment

A single workspace replaced multiple tools, enabling the creation of any content type within one structured model.

Creation became about designing learning, not managing tools.

01 Unified Authoring Environment

A single workspace replaced multiple tools, enabling the creation of any content type within one structured model.

Creation became about designing learning, not managing tools.

02 Predictable Interaction Patterns

Building blocks have individual options but follow consistent rules. This makes interactions predictable and easier to learn.

No more guesswork between tools.

02 Predictable Interaction Patterns

Building blocks have individual options but follow consistent rules. This makes interactions predictable and easier to learn.

No more guesswork between tools.

02 Predictable Interaction Patterns

Building blocks have individual options but follow consistent rules. This makes interactions predictable and easier to learn.

No more guesswork between tools.

03 Clear layout rules across platforms

Layout control lives in cards and questions, while sections handle structure and responsiveness.

Now content behaves consistently across screen sizes.

A single, shared interaction pattern across all content types.

03 Clear layout rules across platforms

Layout control lives in cards and questions, while sections handle structure and responsiveness.

Now content behaves consistently across screen sizes.

03 Clear layout rules across platforms

Layout control lives in cards and questions, while sections handle structure and responsiveness.

Now content behaves consistently across screen sizes.

04 Rule-based responsive grid

We used a rule-based grid instead of manual breakpoints to keep layouts predictable across devices.

This reduced complexity for creators while maintaining stable behavior at scale.

Studio with grid and a question layout with it's appearance on mobile

04 Rule-based responsive grid

We used a rule-based grid instead of manual breakpoints to keep layouts predictable across devices.

This reduced complexity for creators while maintaining stable behavior at scale.

04 Rule-based responsive grid

We used a rule-based grid instead of manual breakpoints to keep layouts predictable across devices.

This reduced complexity for creators while maintaining stable behavior at scale.

05 Shared Building Blocks & Theme System

Shared building blocks and a centralized theme system enabled faster authoring with built-in consistency.

Consistency was built into the system, not maintained manually

Design and behavior governed by a shared theme.

05 Shared Building Blocks & Theme System

Shared building blocks and a centralized theme system enabled faster authoring with built-in consistency.

Consistency was built into the system, not maintained manually

05 Shared Building Blocks & Theme System

Shared building blocks and a centralized theme system enabled faster authoring with built-in consistency.

Consistency was built into the system, not maintained manually

The theme system brought visual control into one place across activities and courses.

Colors

Define global color styles once, applied consistently across all activities.

Fonts

Set typography rules that stay consistent across content and formats.

Backgrounds

Control page backgrounds centrally to maintain visual consistency.

Card Element

Style cards and layouts through shared, predefined settings.

Questions

Apply a unified look and behavior to all interactive items.

CSS

Full freedom for experts to customize beyond presets.

Consistent content

Less effort

Easier maintenance

Theme settings govern visual and behavioral consistency across content.

Consistent content

Less effort

Easier maintenance

IMPACT

From Legacy Playback to Live Interaction

The new Studio was introduced in early 2025 and continued evolving alongside real-world use.

First full implementation: a new science course

Used in classes by teachers and students

Real-World Rollout

Unified content model makes AI integration possible

Enables future AI-based authoring tools

AI-Ready Foundation

Dev-Free Authoring

Content creators build and adapt units on their own, using templates, layouts, and themes, without relying on developers.

Unified authoring and playback logic

Reduced long-term maintenance and technical debt

Operational Efficiency

Template selection screen for creating plenary lessons with live preview.

Template-based creation with live preview, enabling independent authoring at scale

DESIGN TRADEOFFS & LEARNINGS

01 Designing With Collaboration

Early alignment between product, UX, and development is critical when designing systems meant to scale.

02 User Needs vs Constraints

Understanding both user workflows and technical limits led to faster, more realistic decisions.

03 Thinking in Systems

System thinking, reusable patterns, and clear hierarchies proved essential for building products that can evolve.

This project reinforced my belief in clarity, shared understanding, and systems that support people when it matters most.

DESIGN TRADEOFFS & LEARNINGS

01 Designing With Collaboration

Early alignment between product, UX, and development is critical when designing systems meant to scale.

02 User Needs vs Constraints

Understanding both user workflows and technical limits led to faster, more realistic decisions.

03 Thinking in Systems

System thinking, reusable patterns, and clear hierarchies proved essential for building products that can evolve.

This project reinforced my belief in clarity, shared understanding, and systems that support people when it matters most.

REFLECTIONS & KEY LEARNINGS

01 Designing Scale Through Collaboration

Early alignment between product, UX, and development is critical when designing systems meant to scale across multiple content types and formats.

02 Bridging User Needs and Technical Constraints

Understanding both user workflows and technical constraints enabled faster, more realistic decisions that balanced vision with feasibility.

03 Seeing the System, Not Just the Screen

The ability to think in systems, hierarchies, and reusable patterns proved essential in shaping a product that could evolve beyond its use cases.

This project reinforced my belief that good product design starts with clarity, shared understanding, and systems that support people when it matters most.

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