Your team discovered Design Thinking or Continuous Discovery, got energized, implemented it exactly as prescribed... and six months later, all your research sits unused.
The frameworks aren't bad. They just weren't designed for EdTech.
EdTech breaks every assumption those frameworks make. You can't launch when ready-school years don't wait. Users can't switch mid-year-lock-in periods kill iteration. You have seasonal access barriers. And the people who buy aren't the people who use, who aren't the people who control adoption.
This book teaches you to build your own toolkit by selecting methods from different frameworks based on YOUR specific constraints-not what worked for a SaaS company with different realities.
You'll learn:
- Why standard frameworks fail in EdTech (and contexts with similar constraints)
- How to assess your context before choosing research methods
- Which tools from which frameworks actually fit seasonal access, lock-in periods, and three-user dynamics
- How to build stakeholder buy-in throughout research, not surprise them with findings
- Task-based design focused on complete workflows, not disconnected features
This book is for: EdTech founders, product leaders, and UX designers tired of frameworks that assume you can iterate freely and launch whenever.
This book is NOT for: People looking for a step-by-step playbook. I'm teaching strategic thinking, not giving you a new checklist.
Autorentext
Kelly Morgan, PhD, bridges classroom teaching and educational technology design with 15 years of high school science teaching experience and 15+ years building UX functions at EdTech companies.As a high school chemistry and physics teacher, Kelly authored educational resources including a chemistry textbook and practical guides on mastery learning in the science classroom. Her PhD in innovative instructional technology from University of Nebraska (Lincoln) focused on how cognitive science principles apply to educational technology design-connecting her deep understanding of how students actually learn with how digital tools can support that learning.This combination of classroom expertise and cognitive science research led Kelly to EdTech UX design, where she became a founding designer at multiple companies-including government, non-profit, and for-profit contexts. She's built UX functions from scratch while navigating educational technology's unique constraints: seasonal access to users, lock-in periods, three-user dynamics, and regulatory requirements that override design decisions. Her work has driven measurable impact across both classroom resources and educational technology.Kelly now works as a fractional Strategic UX Partner, helping EdTech companies move from opinion-driven feature factories to evidence-based strategy. She specializes in building UX capability in organizations where standard frameworks don't fit the reality-and she brings the perspective of someone who's been both the teacher using EdTech tools and the designer building them.