K–12 EdTech Learning Platform

Context

A self-paced learning product for school students, sold to parents and used daily by students. Growth came from paid and organic signups, but the number of students actually studying every week stayed flat while signups kept increasing.

The problem

• New students signed up, browsed content, and left before completing a single lesson.
• The first session asked for too many choices — board, class, subject, chapter — before any value appeared.
• Weekly return usage dropped sharply after the first week, so paid signups were not turning into active learners.
• The team was shipping UI improvements without a shared definition of what an activated student looked like.

What I did

• Defined activation as a measurable event — a student completing their first lesson within the first session — instead of signup counts.
• Mapped the full first-session path from product data and session behaviour to find the exact steps where students dropped off.
• Cut the setup path so students landed directly in relevant content, with the remaining choices deferred until after first value.
• Rebuilt the returning-user entry point around continuing where the student left off, rather than restarting from a catalogue.
• Set up a shared activation, retention and conversion dashboard so product, design and growth teams reviewed the same numbers weekly.

Outcome

• Higher share of new signups completing their first lesson in the first session.
• Improved week-over-week return usage among newly activated students.
• More usage converting into paid upgrades, because paying followed real learning rather than sitting in front of it.
• Better app store ratings and fewer confused-onboarding complaints from parents.
• A repeatable measurement loop the team kept using after the engagement ended.