56:34 IM
70:96 GY
31:79 UY
Compass
Compass
Compass
expert curated content on Pluralsight
expert curated content on Pluralsight
expert curated content on Pluralsight
Background
What is Pluralsight?
Pluralsight is a subscription-based online learning platform that offers some of the best-in-class courses to help users skill up in tech.
My role at Pluralsight
I led the Native Apps team of 14 stakeholders, which included 3 software development teams (iOS, Android, API), overseeing 7 native apps (iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, AppleTV, Fire TV, Roku).
Compass was one of the experimental 0-1 products that I led.
Background
What is Pluralsight?
Pluralsight is a subscription-based online learning platform that offers some of the best-in-class courses to help users skill up in tech.
My role at Pluralsight
I led the Native Apps team of 14 stakeholders, which included 3 software development teams (iOS, Android, API), overseeing 7 native apps (iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, AppleTV, Fire TV, Roku).
Compass was one of the experimental 0-1 products that I led.
Background
What is Pluralsight?
Pluralsight is a subscription-based online learning platform that offers some of the best-in-class courses to help users skill up in tech.
My role at Pluralsight
I led the Native Apps team of 14 stakeholders, which included 3 software development teams (iOS, Android, API), overseeing 7 native apps (iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, AppleTV, Fire TV, Roku).
Compass was one of the experimental 0-1 products that I led.
Overview
Important Definitions
Author: an instructor who has been approved by Pluralsight and creates courses that can be hosted on the platform
Lead: a prospective Pluralsight author who is still in the process of getting approved to become one
So what is Compass?
Since the inception of the mobile apps at Pluralsight, major experiences that drive most user traffic have been static. With the speed at which technology is changing, many technologists struggle to keep up with tech trends, frameworks, and news. In a fast-paced environment like tech, this also means that some courses get stale by the time authors release them.
This is where Compass came into the picture.
Compass is an experience that assists users in finding fresh, short, curated content from credible sources. Authors would pull in information from resources they already consume daily. They could then share this content seamlessly with users through the Compass experience. Users would have the ability to check this content out, share it, or star it for later viewing.
Our goal with Compass was to experiment with a new content curation product that will empower authors at Pluralsight to share their knowledge with everyone in a shorter format, providing users with dynamic fresh content.
As the mobile team, we were perfectly positioned to provide this type of quick on-the-go learning.
Project Duration
My Role
Stakeholders
Tools Used
Overview
Important Definitions
Author: an instructor who has been approved by Pluralsight and creates courses that can be hosted on the platform
Lead: a prospective Pluralsight author who is still in the process of getting approved to become one
So what is Compass?
Since the inception of the mobile apps at Pluralsight, major experiences that drive most user traffic have been static. With the speed at which technology is changing, many technologists struggle to keep up with tech trends, frameworks, and news. In a fast-paced environment like tech, this also means that some courses get stale by the time authors release them.
This is where Compass came into the picture.
Compass is an experience that assists users in finding fresh, short, curated content from credible sources. Authors would pull in information from resources they already consume daily. They could then share this content seamlessly with users through the Compass experience. Users would have the ability to check this content out, share it, or star it for later viewing.
Our goal with Compass was to experiment with a new content curation product that will empower authors at Pluralsight to share their knowledge with everyone in a shorter format, providing users with dynamic fresh content.
As the mobile team, we were perfectly positioned to provide this type of quick on-the-go learning.
Project Duration
My Role
Stakeholders
Tools Used
Overview
Important Definitions
Author: an instructor who has been approved by Pluralsight and creates courses that can be hosted on the platform
Lead: a prospective Pluralsight author who is still in the process of getting approved to become one
So what is Compass?
Since the inception of the mobile apps at Pluralsight, major experiences that drive most user traffic have been static. With the speed at which technology is changing, many technologists struggle to keep up with tech trends, frameworks, and news. In a fast-paced environment like tech, this also means that some courses get stale by the time authors release them.
This is where Compass came into the picture.
Compass is an experience that assists users in finding fresh, short, curated content from credible sources. Authors would pull in information from resources they already consume daily. They could then share this content seamlessly with users through the Compass experience. Users would have the ability to check this content out, share it, or star it for later viewing.
Our goal with Compass was to experiment with a new content curation product that will empower authors at Pluralsight to share their knowledge with everyone in a shorter format, providing users with dynamic fresh content.
As the mobile team, we were perfectly positioned to provide this type of quick on-the-go learning.
Project Duration
My Role
Stakeholders
Tools Used
Goal
What outcomes were we trying to achieve?
Ultimately, we to create an experience that would not only provide value for learners but also authors and leads. This would create a cohesive ecosystem, where everyone learns from and benefits each other.
Outcome for Learners: Learners benefit from having one place that constantly provides them curated short-form content without having to sift through as much noise as they would had they tried finding those resources on the vast internet space
Outcome for Authors: Authors get a lot more exposure from learners and get to build a better brand name
Outcome for Leads (future authors): Leads get to establish a reputation for without having to go through all the hoops to become a Pluralsight author
Outcome for Pluralsight: Pluralsight benefits from more engagement with the mobile app
What user behavior were we trying to drive?
The main use case for our app is users looking to find or continue learning a Pluralsight course.
We wanted learners to come to our app to learn about the newest learning opportunities that are appropriate to them.
By doing so we would encourage habitual learning and help provide relief to the pain associated with keeping up with the rapid change in tech.
Goal
What outcomes were we trying to achieve?
Ultimately, we to create an experience that would not only provide value for learners but also authors and leads. This would create a cohesive ecosystem, where everyone learns from and benefits each other.
Outcome for Learners: Learners benefit from having one place that constantly provides them curated short-form content without having to sift through as much noise as they would had they tried finding those resources on the vast internet space
Outcome for Authors: Authors get a lot more exposure from learners and get to build a better brand name
Outcome for Leads (future authors): Leads get to establish a reputation for without having to go through all the hoops to become a Pluralsight author
Outcome for Pluralsight: Pluralsight benefits from more engagement with the mobile app
What user behavior were we trying to drive?
The main use case for our app is users looking to find or continue learning a Pluralsight course.
We wanted learners to come to our app to learn about the newest learning opportunities that are appropriate to them.
By doing so we would encourage habitual learning and help provide relief to the pain associated with keeping up with the rapid change in tech.
Goal
What outcomes were we trying to achieve?
Ultimately, we to create an experience that would not only provide value for learners but also authors and leads. This would create a cohesive ecosystem, where everyone learns from and benefits each other.
Outcome for Learners: Learners benefit from having one place that constantly provides them curated short-form content without having to sift through as much noise as they would had they tried finding those resources on the vast internet space
Outcome for Authors: Authors get a lot more exposure from learners and get to build a better brand name
Outcome for Leads (future authors): Leads get to establish a reputation for without having to go through all the hoops to become a Pluralsight author
Outcome for Pluralsight: Pluralsight benefits from more engagement with the mobile app
What user behavior were we trying to drive?
The main use case for our app is users looking to find or continue learning a Pluralsight course.
We wanted learners to come to our app to learn about the newest learning opportunities that are appropriate to them.
By doing so we would encourage habitual learning and help provide relief to the pain associated with keeping up with the rapid change in tech.
Problem
Space
Problem Statement
Pluralsight learners are having a difficult time finding short, high-quality, fresh content to stay up-to-date with rapidly changing industry trends.
How did we get there?
After years of conducting user research and collecting written feedback from users via in-app surveys, we found a recurring pattern of pain points that our learners experience:
Learners find it difficult to commit to and fit long courses into their schedules
By the time a course has been created and released, some of the content will have already been stale and new industry trends will have emerged
Hypothesis
By providing more frequent and short-form interactions for our learners, we’ll be able to better engage and retain customers and appeal to a wider audience of current Pluralsight users.
Problem
Space
Problem Statement
Pluralsight learners are having a difficult time finding short, high-quality, fresh content to stay up-to-date with rapidly changing industry trends.
How did we get there?
After years of conducting user research and collecting written feedback from users via in-app surveys, we found a recurring pattern of pain points that our learners experience:
Learners find it difficult to commit to and fit long courses into their schedules
By the time a course has been created and released, some of the content will have already been stale and new industry trends will have emerged
Hypothesis
By providing more frequent and short-form interactions for our learners, we’ll be able to better engage and retain customers and appeal to a wider audience of current Pluralsight users.
Problem
Space
Problem Statement
Pluralsight learners are having a difficult time finding short, high-quality, fresh content to stay up-to-date with rapidly changing industry trends.
How did we get there?
After years of conducting user research and collecting written feedback from users via in-app surveys, we found a recurring pattern of pain points that our learners experience:
Learners find it difficult to commit to and fit long courses into their schedules
By the time a course has been created and released, some of the content will have already been stale and new industry trends will have emerged
Hypothesis
By providing more frequent and short-form interactions for our learners, we’ll be able to better engage and retain customers and appeal to a wider audience of current Pluralsight users.
Solution
Space
Compass Design
I worked closely with our product designer to craft the experience.
Compass Discovery
Users will be able to access Compass through the following:
A banner promoting it on the Home Screen
A banner promoting it on the Browse Screen
Compass Content Feed Experience
The compass experience will feature two tabs: Latest and Starred
Latest
Starred
Starred (Empty State)
Compass Features
Supported Content Sources
Author Spotlight
An author or lead spotlight is a place where Pluralsight content creators can be featured so learners follow and view some of their courses
Conference Recap
A conference recap is a summary of a conference that is hosted on the Pluralsight platform
Featured Pluralsight Course
A featured Pluralsight course is a course hosted on Pluralsight that we promote
Featured Article
A featured article is an external article shared on Pluralsight through Compass
Medium Article
Tweet
YouTube Video
Vimeo Video
Actions Users Can Take
Star content
Share content
Opt into push notifications for new content updates
Feedback buttons (thumbs up/down)
Content Hydration
“Content Hydration” is an internal term we used to reference how content would be added to the Compass experience. Since Compass was still an experimental feature, we decided to only support two topics:
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Android.
Our engineers were responsible for adding new content for users during the experimentation period allowing us to experiment faster.
Solution
Space
Compass Design
I worked closely with our product designer to craft the experience.
Compass Discovery
Users will be able to access Compass through the following:
A banner promoting it on the Home Screen
A banner promoting it on the Browse Screen
Compass Content Feed Experience
The compass experience will feature two tabs: Latest and Starred
Latest
Starred
Starred (Empty State)
Compass Features
Supported Content Sources
Author Spotlight
An author or lead spotlight is a place where Pluralsight content creators can be featured so learners follow and view some of their courses
Conference Recap
A conference recap is a summary of a conference that is hosted on the Pluralsight platform
Featured Pluralsight Course
A featured Pluralsight course is a course hosted on Pluralsight that we promote
Featured Article
A featured article is an external article shared on Pluralsight through Compass
Medium Article
Tweet
YouTube Video
Vimeo Video
Actions Users Can Take
Star content
Share content
Opt into push notifications for new content updates
Feedback buttons (thumbs up/down)
Content Hydration
“Content Hydration” is an internal term we used to reference how content would be added to the Compass experience. Since Compass was still an experimental feature, we decided to only support two topics:
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Android.
Our engineers were responsible for adding new content for users during the experimentation period allowing us to experiment faster.
Solution
Space
Compass Design
I worked closely with our product designer to craft the experience.
Compass Discovery
Users will be able to access Compass through the following:
A banner promoting it on the Home Screen
A banner promoting it on the Browse Screen
Compass Content Feed Experience
The compass experience will feature two tabs: Latest and Starred
Latest
Starred
Starred (Empty State)
Compass Features
Supported Content Sources
Author Spotlight
An author or lead spotlight is a place where Pluralsight content creators can be featured so learners follow and view some of their courses
Conference Recap
A conference recap is a summary of a conference that is hosted on the Pluralsight platform
Featured Pluralsight Course
A featured Pluralsight course is a course hosted on Pluralsight that we promote
Featured Article
A featured article is an external article shared on Pluralsight through Compass
Medium Article
Tweet
YouTube Video
Vimeo Video
Actions Users Can Take
Star content
Share content
Opt into push notifications for new content updates
Feedback buttons (thumbs up/down)
Content Hydration
“Content Hydration” is an internal term we used to reference how content would be added to the Compass experience. Since Compass was still an experimental feature, we decided to only support two topics:
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Android.
Our engineers were responsible for adding new content for users during the experimentation period allowing us to experiment faster.
Metrics +
Analytics
Measuring Experiment Success
Below are the metrics we identified to measure success for Compass:
Thumbs up to thumbs down ratio
Percentage of starred content/user
Percentage of content clicks/user
Notifications opt-in rate
I worked directly with our data analyst providing him with an event-tracking document to measure Compass’ success.
Metrics +
Analytics
Measuring Experiment Success
Below are the metrics we identified to measure success for Compass:
Thumbs up to thumbs down ratio
Percentage of starred content/user
Percentage of content clicks/user
Notifications opt-in rate
I worked directly with our data analyst providing him with an event-tracking document to measure Compass’ success.
Metrics +
Analytics
Measuring Experiment Success
Below are the metrics we identified to measure success for Compass:
Thumbs up to thumbs down ratio
Percentage of starred content/user
Percentage of content clicks/user
Notifications opt-in rate
I worked directly with our data analyst providing him with an event-tracking document to measure Compass’ success.
Results
Metrics +
Analytics
Results
Next Steps
Compass was an experimental 0-1 product.
We allowed users to interact with Compass while we collected quantitative data. We saw promising quantitative results. I left before I got to take next steps on this experience. Had I stayed longer at the company, I would have liked to dig in deeper by conducting user interviews with learners who were a part of this experiment to better understand their experience qualitatively.
By analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data collected, I would have created a roadmap of new feature iterations that will make this experience even better.
Ultimately, the goal was to replace the current static home screen to with Compass, by attracting as many authors and leads as possible to be the driving engine for this experience, which in turn will help them promote their work.
Next
Steps
Compass was an experimental 0-1 product.
We allowed users to interact with Compass while we collected quantitative data. We saw promising quantitative results. I left before I got to take next steps on this experience. Had I stayed longer at the company, I would have liked to dig in deeper by conducting user interviews with learners who were a part of this experiment to better understand their experience qualitatively.
By analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data collected, I would have created a roadmap of new feature iterations that will make this experience even better.
Ultimately, the goal was to replace the current static home screen to with Compass, by attracting as many authors and leads as possible to be the driving engine for this experience, which in turn will help them promote their work.
Next Steps
Compass was an experimental 0-1 product.
We allowed users to interact with Compass while we collected quantitative data. We saw promising quantitative results. I left before I got to take next steps on this experience. Had I stayed longer at the company, I would have liked to dig in deeper by conducting user interviews with learners who were a part of this experiment to better understand their experience qualitatively.
By analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data collected, I would have created a roadmap of new feature iterations that will make this experience even better.
Ultimately, the goal was to replace the current static home screen to with Compass, by attracting as many authors and leads as possible to be the driving engine for this experience, which in turn will help them promote their work.
Reflections
+ Learnings
Working on Compass was quite rewarding since it took us one step closer to completely overhauling the mobile home screen, a milestone that the team has been working towards for years. This would have marked a major evolution of our mobile app experience.
One learning in particular that I would like to shed light on is working on smaller chunks and rapidly experimenting with those to iterate faster on the experience. One of the mistakes I made during this project was adding more features as we went into development. Not only did this cause us to move slower, but it also caused some frustration for developers. This also led to an over-bloated experience that was meant to be experimental, to begin with.
A much better approach to building a complex product like Compass was by implementing smaller features, testing those out, and then iterating rapidly. This would have allowed us to move at a more steady, healthy, and sustainable pace.
I am proud of the value my team has delivered to our select users, and I have learned invaluable lessons along the way.
Reflections
+ Learnings
Working on Compass was quite rewarding since it took us one step closer to completely overhauling the mobile home screen, a milestone that the team has been working towards for years. This would have marked a major evolution of our mobile app experience.
One learning in particular that I would like to shed light on is working on smaller chunks and rapidly experimenting with those to iterate faster on the experience. One of the mistakes I made during this project was adding more features as we went into development. Not only did this cause us to move slower, but it also caused some frustration for developers. This also led to an over-bloated experience that was meant to be experimental, to begin with.
A much better approach to building a complex product like Compass was by implementing smaller features, testing those out, and then iterating rapidly. This would have allowed us to move at a more steady, healthy, and sustainable pace.
I am proud of the value my team has delivered to our select users, and I have learned invaluable lessons along the way.
Reflections
+ Learnings
Working on Compass was quite rewarding since it took us one step closer to completely overhauling the mobile home screen, a milestone that the team has been working towards for years. This would have marked a major evolution of our mobile app experience.
One learning in particular that I would like to shed light on is working on smaller chunks and rapidly experimenting with those to iterate faster on the experience. One of the mistakes I made during this project was adding more features as we went into development. Not only did this cause us to move slower, but it also caused some frustration for developers. This also led to an over-bloated experience that was meant to be experimental, to begin with.
A much better approach to building a complex product like Compass was by implementing smaller features, testing those out, and then iterating rapidly. This would have allowed us to move at a more steady, healthy, and sustainable pace.
I am proud of the value my team has delivered to our select users, and I have learned invaluable lessons along the way.
Contact
Contact
Contact
or
or
or
© 2024 — Omar El-Etr
© 2024 — Omar El-Etr
© 2024 — Omar El-Etr