i-READY MATH for CURRICULUM ASSOCIATES
i-Ready Math offers students data-driven adaptive instruction through interactive lessons that meet students where they are. Based on the results of diagnostic assessments, the program provides personalized learning paths that help students learn at their own pace. The lessons are engaging, vibrant, and interesting, and provide guided instruction, scaffolded supports, and independent practice.
Role: Design Director
MY ROLE
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INTERACTIVE MATH LESSONS for GRADES K-2
i-Ready Math created a new digital program for students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade, with the goal of engaging its youngest users in interactive instructional lessons so they could learn and practice early math concepts and skills. Our biggest challenge was to figure out what made a digital lesson engaging. We undertook an in-depth user research study, using innovative biometric technology, to better understand how to connect with our users, and create meaningful learning experiences.
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Guided by these research findings, we encouraged students to learn by doing and be active participants in short, focused lessons. With each new concept or skill, students were given a range of activities with learning-aligned game mechanics designed to support the math in meaningful ways. They also received adaptive feedback based on their answers. It was especially important for these early readers to have strong visual cues to help communicate the instruction and guide the usability.
Our main characters–Plory, Yoop, and Snargg–offered a narrative arc to each lesson with short, sticky stories, and humorous “brain breaks." The use of characters in the K-2 lessons helped bring the math to life, while promoting a growth mindset, modeling positive attitudes, connecting the math to the real world, and offering encouragement throughout the lesson experience.
INTERACTIVE MATH LESSONS for GRADES 3-5
As we moved into the development of the next generation i-Ready Math lessons for Grades 3-5, we focused on improving and growing the existing product. We used our knowledge and experience from developing the K-2 lessons (above) to push boundaries and continued to prioritize student engagement, and clear usability.
As the Design Director, I led the development of the new look and feel. We needed to offer a fresh, modern, and age-appropriate design that showcased the math. We felt this was best achieved with a rich color palette, flat and cohesive interface elements, and dimensional illustrations. We eliminated the overuse of characters, dialogue, and story arcs, in favor of simplifying the user's experience and interface design. This allowed the students to more actively engage with the content, and better understand the instruction. We were also mindful that students would see both old and new lessons, so the visual design needed to have a sense of continuity.
We became more strategic about the potential of scaling up production to build lessons faster, so we created more robust and reusable interactive templates, and flexible, coded interface elements. We also introduced an innovative and adaptive technology that allowed students to move through lessons more quickly by demonstrating skill proficiency.
For Grades 3-5, we offered more opportunity to explore the content through game-like and sandbox experiences. We believed this promoted curiosity and discovery, which increased student engagement and motivation.
INTERACTIVE MATH LESSONS for GRADES 6-8
We continued to grow the i-Ready Math program with middle school lessons for Grades 6-8. We engaged in another in-depth user research study in partnership with students from a large Florida school district.
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The key research takeaways helped us tailor our approach to the needs and expectations of an older audience. Students wanted to start solving problems immediately, so we further simplified the user interface and lesson experience. The audio prompts became optional and were supported by text and visual cues. We offered self-initiated feedback, with optional step-by-step instructions, so students could decide for themselves when they wanted additional help. We created a lighter and more sophisticated look and feel, but carried over the color palette from Grades 3-5 to maintain a sense of product cohesion.
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Coinciding with the Grade 6-8 lesson development, Curriculum Associates committed to offering products that are more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. As a result, the content needed to meet Level AA Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance. This had a major impact on the design, as we had to re-evaluate components such as the legibility of text, the size and placement of interface elements, the use of subtitles and the contrast of color. In addition, Curriculum Associates' committed to providing an anti-racist curriculum that authentically represents and supports our diverse users, and is culturally and linguistically responsive.
Illustrations and animation by: Joel de Guzman, Nichole Kelley,Kim Hui, Olamar Gibson, Dave McMahon (Character Design) and Primal Screen.