Users First Put Your Users First; Make Your Apps Better, Make the World Better

A student in Vancouver, BC,
Told her story which helped devs see,
That what they thought,
Was worth less than nought,
“‘Cos the site’s not for me” said she

We were building tools at the behest of our instructors to help them better serve their students. Those tools were well-received, well-used, and, well, pretty good. Or so we thought. The instructors liked them as they made their lives easier and let them do innovative things in their classrooms (or beyond). Then we watched students use those tools.

Some expensive therapy later, we realized our clients weren’t the instructors. OUR clients were THEIR clients. Putting students first, and focusing on their experience, has helped us design better tools. Tools that the students don’t hate using (that’s about as big a compliment as you’re going to get). Tools that not only allow – but actively encourage – our instructors to teach ‘in the open’ meaning their expertise can be passed on to the public at large.

When you’ve been running software for nearly a decade for nearly half a million users, you have some stories. Some horror stories, some feel-good stories, some funny stories, and some funny, feel-good horror stories. In this session, Richard will share some of his stories. He’ll also break out from the Education sector and apply what he learned to the business world.

What You’ll Learn

• What happens when you don’t put users first
• How to ask the right questions
• What happens when you put users first
• And more!