Episode 76
The Hidden Metric Behind EdTech Success
Brief description of the episode
Joel Kupperstein, Chief Product Officer at Project Lead The Way, shares field‑tested product principles for K–12. He explains why “easier before better” should be every product leader’s mantra, how empathy beats features, and what decades of experience have taught him about building tools teachers actually adopt. The conversation tackles AI’s rapid spread, with practical uses in teacher support, student personalization, and development workflows.
Key Takeaways:
- The first rule is that ease of use has to come before innovation. Even the most advanced tool fails if it takes too much effort for teachers to adopt.
- Good design respects the classroom’s rhythm. It should align with how teachers plan lessons, move through activities, and interact with students without forcing them to change their methods.
- Classrooms are fast-moving and unpredictable. Products that simplify teachers’ work will always outperform those that add complexity, even if they look more sophisticated.
- Teachers already manage multiple tools each day, so a product must fit into that ecosystem instead of demanding all their attention.
- The goal is to create tools that quietly support learning, instead of requiring teachers to reinvent how they teach.
- Use a full pathway approach when breadth and complexity demand depth, as in biomedical science, engineering, and computer science.
- Treat a high school pathway like a college major that develops marketable expertise over multiple courses and years.
- Anchor pedagogy in experiential learning so students learn by doing, not just surveying topics.
- Plan for the resourcing implications: equipment, supplies, instructional support, assessment, and scheduling.
- Help students “see it to be it” so they can imagine postsecondary and workforce futures tied to the pathway.
- Begin every design decision by understanding the user’s real context, instead of assuming how they work.
- Replace “What would I do?” with “Why did they do what they did?” to uncover the real reasons behind user actions.
- Treat even small user issues as potentially high-impact, because what seems minor to a developer can disrupt an entire school day.
- Stay humble about the limits of your perspective and rely on real user experiences to guide product choices.
- Build empathy into every stage of development so products solve genuine classroom problems instead of adding new ones.
- Start by identifying every stakeholder group that influences or uses the product, even those indirectly connected to students.
- Build empathy for each group to understand their goals, pressures, and how they define success.
- Prioritize by organizing stakeholders into primary and secondary groups, focusing first on those with the highest classroom impact.
- Revisit priorities regularly since needs evolve, and what seems secondary at first can later become critical.
- Accept that trade-offs are situational; the right balance depends on the specific product, its users, and the learning context.
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