Background

Classroom Champions is an online educators platform tailored to meet the needs of classrooms, schools, and districts by providing comprehensive SEL curriculum, athlete mentorship, video libraries, and access to an exclusive educator community.

problem

Since its launch in 2016, the Classroom Champions platform has seen minimal user growth, with low login frequency and limited engagement. Despite offering a wealth of content, much of it remains underutilized by educators.

Challenges

User Retention & Engagement
User Retention & Engagement
User Retention & Engagement
Lesson Utilization
Lesson Utilization
Lesson Utilization
Long-Term Adoption
Long-Term Adoption
Long-Term Adoption
Under Utilized Content
Under Utilized Content
Under Utilized Content

Objective

Process

This project aimed to drive overall platform adoption by increasing teacher engagement, improving user retention, and encouraging regular classroom use. It also focused on streamlining user flows to make key features easier to find and interact with.

above is The platform before design updates.

above is The platform before design updates.

Empathy Map

User Persona

User Personas

Architecture

User Insights

We received user insight data from survey data prothe client, which we used to guide our ideation and inform key decisions throughout the design process. After reviewing the feedback, we identified and prioritized two core user insights that served as the foundation for our design direction.

insight 01

"I wish it was more obvious to tell where I had left off especially if I have not used the lessons in a while."

insight 02

"I am not sure where to start once I login to the platform. I wish the platform offered a more guided experience"

Competitor Analysis

By comparing Classroom Champions with its competitors, we identified key areas where other organizations are succeeding, as well as where Classroom Champions excels particularly in delivering motivational, athlete-led content that resonates strongly with students.

Pros

  • Athlete mentors help keep the content engaging and motivating for students.

  • External evaluators describe the program as “incredibly effective” in building soft skills and resilience

  • Classroom Champions reports 100% of teachers noticed better student resilience and 94% saw improved grades

  • Includes professional development, curriculum support, and take-home materials for families

Cons

  • While there's clear enthusiasm for the core SEL content, there’s little publicly shared feedback on navigation issues, loading problems, or feature requests, so user pain points aren’t well documented.

  • Does not allow downloadable content when offline.

  • Once in the platform it is not super obvious where to begin.

  • Low-Prep & Easy Integration

  • Daily 15-minute modules with minimal preparation are classroom-friendly

  • Cost-effective - Free trial; Tiered pricing per school/district

  • Includes professional development, curriculum support, and take-home materials for families

  • Curriculum lacks student engagement

  • Includes interactive professional development, coaching, and tailored implementation check-ins

  • Tools like “Insights” allow teachers to track SEL competency progress and tailor interventions

  • Curriculum lacks student engagement and limited impact on students.

  • Many report that students merely "go through the motions" instead of embracing the material

  • At around $4K/year does not provide enough meaningful benefit.

  • Feedback suggests shorter, more engaging activities that tie into real student experiences are preferred.

Information Architecture

Information Architecture and Ideation

Our team evaluated the existing information architecture and restructured it based on user feedback. The goal was to improve clarity, content discoverability, and make the experience more engaging and useful for classrooms and educators.

Ideation Sketches and wireframes

Information Architecture and Ideation

We sketched out different ideas on overall navigation, content hierarchy, and improvements to lessons. One primary focus was on how we could encourage teachers to return to content with ideas that include in progress indicators, daily activities, accessible resources.

Architecture

Design Solutions

How might we increase lesson utilization and increase overall user engagement?

Solution

Progress Indicators: Sense of Progress = Motivation Boost. When users can see how far they’ve come and what’s left, they’re more likely to stay motivated to complete the task.

A more guided experience: Creating a recommended order of completion with clear labeling:

  • Personalized Lesson Recommendations: Based on completed activities or skipped modules.

How can we promote consistent daily use of the Classroom Champions SEL curriculum

Solution

Daily Check-ins: Integrated daily check-ins to encourage regular logins and promote consistent use of the daily activity, helping make Classroom Champions a routine part of the classroom day.

Weekly Activities and badges: Weekly student activities not only encouraged more frequent teacher use of the platform but also increased student engagement by offering badges for completing their work.

More engagement for students

Shareable athlete pages for students that include educational interactive activities about the athletes and sports they play.

Design System and accessibility

Development of a design system to provide consistency and to streamline product development.

Development of a design system to provide consistency and to streamline product development.

Development of a design system to provide consistency and to streamline product development.

Micro-interactions

Micro-interactions

More emphasis in phase 2 on making interactions within the app a bit more playful and intriguing to click through. Better hover animation and satisfying completion interactions explored.

More emphasis in phase 2 on making interactions within the app a bit more playful and intriguing to click through. Better hover animation and satisfying completion interactions explored.

more in-depth athlete pages to provide further enrichment for students.

Background

Classroom Champions is an online educators platform tailored to meet the needs of classrooms, schools, and districts by providing comprehensive SEL curriculum, athlete mentorship, video libraries, and access to an exclusive educator community.

problem

Since its launch in 2016, the Classroom Champions platform has seen minimal user growth, with low login frequency and limited engagement. Despite offering a wealth of content, much of it remains underutilized by educators.

Challenges

User Retention & Engagement
Lesson Utilization
Long-Term Adoption
Under Utilized Content

Objective

Process

This project aimed to drive overall platform adoption by increasing teacher engagement, improving user retention, and encouraging regular classroom use. It also focused on streamlining user flows to make key features easier to find and interact with.

above is The platform before design updates.

Empathy Map

User Persona

Architecture

User Insights

We received user insight data from survey data prothe client, which we used to guide our ideation and inform key decisions throughout the design process. After reviewing the feedback, we identified and prioritized two core user insights that served as the foundation for our design direction.

insight 01

"I wish it was more obvious to tell where I had left off especially if I have not used the lessons in a while."

insight 02

"I am not sure where to start once I login to the platform. I wish the platform offered a more guided experience"

Competitor Analysis

By comparing Classroom Champions with its competitors, we identified key areas where other organizations are succeeding, as well as where Classroom Champions excels particularly in delivering motivational, athlete-led content that resonates strongly with students.

Pros

  • Athlete mentors help keep the content engaging and motivating for students.

  • External evaluators describe the program as “incredibly effective” in building soft skills and resilience

  • Classroom Champions reports 100% of teachers noticed better student resilience and 94% saw improved grades

  • Includes professional development, curriculum support, and take-home materials for families

Cons

  • While there's clear enthusiasm for the core SEL content, there’s little publicly shared feedback on navigation issues, loading problems, or feature requests, so user pain points aren’t well documented.

  • Does not allow downloadable content when offline.

  • Once in the platform it is not super obvious where to begin.

  • Low-Prep & Easy Integration

  • Daily 15-minute modules with minimal preparation are classroom-friendly

  • Cost-effective - Free trial; Tiered pricing per school/district

  • Includes professional development, curriculum support, and take-home materials for families

  • Curriculum lacks student engagement

  • Includes interactive professional development, coaching, and tailored implementation check-ins

  • Tools like “Insights” allow teachers to track SEL competency progress and tailor interventions

  • Curriculum lacks student engagement and limited impact on students.

  • Many report that students merely "go through the motions" instead of embracing the material

  • At around $4K/year does not provide enough meaningful benefit.

  • Feedback suggests shorter, more engaging activities that tie into real student experiences are preferred.

Information Architecture

Our team evaluated the existing information architecture and restructured it based on user feedback. The goal was to improve clarity, content discoverability, and make the experience more engaging and useful for classrooms and educators.

Ideation Sketches and wireframes

We sketched out different ideas on overall navigation, content hierarchy, and improvements to lessons. One primary focus was on how we could encourage teachers to return to content with ideas that include in progress indicators, daily activities, accessible resources.

Architecture

Design Solutions

How might we increase lesson utilization and increase overall user engagement?

Solution

Progress Indicators: Sense of Progress = Motivation Boost. When users can see how far they’ve come and what’s left, they’re more likely to stay motivated to complete the task.

A more guided experience: Creating a recommended order of completion with clear labeling:

  • Personalized Lesson Recommendations: Based on completed activities or skipped modules.

How can we promote consistent daily use of the Classroom Champions SEL curriculum

Solution

Daily Check-ins: Integrated daily check-ins to encourage regular logins and promote consistent use of the daily activity, helping make Classroom Champions a routine part of the classroom day.

Weekly Activities and badges: Weekly student activities not only encouraged more frequent teacher use of the platform but also increased student engagement by offering badges for completing their work.

More engagement for students

Shareable athlete pages for students that include educational interactive activities about the athletes and sports they play.

Design System and accessibility

Development of a design system to provide consistency and to streamline product development.

Micro-interactions

More emphasis in phase 2 on making interactions within the app a bit more playful and intriguing to click through. Better hover animation and satisfying completion interactions explored.

more in-depth athlete pages to provide further enrichment for students.