Our vision at MindPlay is simple: a world where struggling learners receive the intervention they require, early and often. We recognize that this doesn’t happen without an intervention system that is designed specifically and intentionally.
Recently, we sat down with Brett Gunter, Director of Product Design at MindPlay Education, to learn more about MindPlay’s approach to product design and how we prioritize struggling learners and their educational teams nationwide.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Designing for Education: Understanding our User(s)
Our product design philosophy is built on a foundation of expertise, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to bridging the gap between learning and technology. MindPlay Reading Studio is a testament to this approach — an evolving, dynamic platform that continuously adapts to serve students, teachers, and administrators alike.
But behind every feature, every update, and every design decision lies a process rooted in understanding, iteration, and impact.
As Gunter details, “The product design process doesn’t change but the user does. Our primary responsibility as designers is to deeply understand our users and create solutions that meet their evolving needs.” This process begins with asking fundamental questions:
- Who is the user? Who are we serving?
- What challenges are they facing?
- How can technology best address these challenges?
We gather insights through a combination of data analysis, direct interviews, and immersive classroom visits. By stepping into the worlds of students, teachers, and administrators, we gain a firsthand perspective on their pain points, behaviors, and aspirations.
Brian Williams learns about student life at Concordia.
From Challenge to Solution: Ideation & Prototyping
Once we identify challenges, our ideation phase begins. We brainstorm and refine potential solutions, considering feasibility, effectiveness, and user impact. This leads to prototype development—tangible, interactive representations of our ideas. But a prototype is only as valuable as the feedback it generates, which is why we put these early designs in front of real users as soon as possible.
Students, teachers, and administrators test these prototypes in real-world conditions, allowing us to gather raw, unfiltered feedback.
With each prototype, we begin our feedback sessions with one simple question: “What do you think it’s supposed to do or solve?” This framing allows us to avoid potential confirmation bias and truly discover whether or not our potential solution actually is a solution. If we haven’t solved the problem, we iterate—again and again—until we get it right. Only then do we move to development, where engineers transform our validated designs into functional, scalable software.
Balancing the Needs of All Users
MindPlay Reading Studio is a system that assesses, instructs, and adapts to deliver engaging intervention and robust reporting – all in ONE dashboard. Knowing that our goal was for the Studio to be as comprehensive as possible, identifying our users and their distinct needs was step one. Before ideation, we knew that we were primarily serving:
- Students who require engaging, effective learning experiences tailored to their progress.
- Teachers who need actionable insights and tools that enhance instruction without adding time & complexity.
- Administrators who seek robust data and performance reports to track progress at scale.
Striking the right balance between our distinct audiences is an ongoing challenge, but it’s also what makes designing for education so meaningful. Every decision we make is driven by the goal of maximizing impact while minimizing friction for our users.
Heart and Soul
A highlight of the interview was Gunter’s face lighting up when asked, “what are you most proud of in Studio?”
His response: “I don’t know how to choose a favorite part of the system when my heart and soul is in each and every page.”
He goes on to say (paraphrased): A major milestone we’re particularly excited about is a new reporting feature on our roadmap. Administrators and teachers are incredibly busy, and diving deep into data every day isn’t always feasible. Our upcoming feature will package essential insights into digestible reports, delivering them directly to administrator’s inboxes with actionable links. It’s a long-awaited enhancement that will provide educational teams with the insights they need, exactly when they need them. I’m excited for this one and have been wanting to get this in the hands of our educators.
What’s Next? The Evolution of MindPlay Reading Studio
The initial months following our soft launch in August 2024 was entirely focused on the optimization of the educator experience. Now, in our second year of Studio being on the market, our priority has now shifted to enhancing the administrator perspective, ensuring they have the tools necessary to support their schools effectively.
That being said, our most exciting phase is just around the corner—elevating the student experience! This fall, MindPlay will be rolling out a completely revamped Coach experience, with new navigation, gamification elements, and an overall enhanced learning journey. The goal? To make learning even more engaging, intuitive, and effective for students.
The Tool of Now (and beyond)
MindPlay Reading Studio is more than just a product; it’s a mission-driven platform designed to help kids learn and progress. Our work doesn’t stop at where we are today. As we continue to innovate and expand, our commitment remains the same: empowering students to realize their potential and reach new heights.
So buckle up—there’s a lot coming. And this is only the beginning.
