How experimenting with campus CX prepared us for a more equitable remote experience
Learning has to work in various modalities, students need to feel safe to show up, and we have to make space for community—all of this was easier in person.
Where many once said goodbye to the DC GA campus years ago, the decision was made as of recent to make that move permanent. As the doors are closing on our physical campuses around the US, the move was in the making for a while. To meet the needs of an evolving industry, in a difficult time, the company must also adapt.
The path to remote had plenty runway, and we were working diligently to make it happen. Our success these past two years came from work that had already been done, lessons learned prior.
Before remote, we worked collaboratively to figure out CX.
Virtual learning was in the plan for years. We started testing hybrid delivery with courses in 2017 and noticed challenges in the pilot. Students were still on campus, but instruction happened from anywhere. Aside from the practical challenges of internet bandwidth and AV, the human experience was different. On campus, students could catch an instructor between lessons, but remote added barriers. More students meant added distractions to engagement. Most different was the increase of screen time. We heard concerns of quality, value, even though access to professionals and other students had increased.
Around that time, product leadership explored futures for other programs. Diminishing returns pointed to a sunset of part-time courses. Industry needs tested our curriculum. For our design programs, there was ongoing concern about support and offsetting the value of in-person learning.
As we explored taking our program remote, we found most were caught up on the collaborative elements. Sketching, prototyping and project work was difficult enough in person. The classroom gave us immediate insight into work done and skill, but without a digital whiteboard we struggled to identify how to follow progress. It was inconceivable that it could be done remotely.
Classroom tools, like a UX workbook and design challenges, were drafted and tested as a proof-of-concept to combat the concern. The workbook connected concepts while giving room for self-direction. Drafting the workbook and reviewing its use helped our team optimize flow of curriculum while also streamlining deliverables for projects in the course.
After a year of piloting, the workbook proved more challenging to include in instruction, with various levels of use and expectations of feedback were distracting. While it wasn’t the virtual learning solution, it highlighted a number of challenges in the classroom that we needed to overcome.
Mapping the campus experience to surface issues.
On campus, in 2018, we faced concentrations of student issues coming from various directions. For DC, success came from bringing others across the student experience together, to consider concerns, feedback, and needs through journey mapping. Campus teams shed light on areas that excelled, and where we should look to improve student experience. Local wins would inform global strategy, and we had plenty.
Before a student reached the classroom, they’ve talked with remote admissions receptionists, met with local admissions teams, attended an information session with instructors and alumni, received correspondence from student experience teams, and gone through preflight curriculum on an LMS—all with different content and information to provide.
It’s a lot for most. Students could meet with a half dozen folks before we toss them into the throes of a 12-week bootcamp. And while they’re in it, we task them with general career prep, balancing projects, while looking at jobs. No doubt, there’s plenty opportunity for issues along the way.
Understanding the student journey allowed us to recognize key points for improvement:
- Handoff between teams left gaps in student knowledge, student data, and expectations of students
- Students shared anticipation for collaborative experiences from the first contact and throughout all of enrollment
- It’s easy for students to underestimate need of, or forget about ways our team can support their experience or wellbeing
- People rely on the campus for community, help, and access, especially when isolated—whether by location or by tech
Much was garnered in reflection. A number of projects would come from these sessions, like building onboarding guides for incoming students, or firming up standard operating procedures for common processes. Knowledge management systems and early testing of Google Classrooms and Notion were integrated to neutralize these concerns. Both services have since been operationalized at scale as part of standard remote delivery.
Space for Challenge and Collaboration
We heard requests for cross-course collaboration. Students were hungry to get experience working with engineers, designers, analysts and PMs. In 2019, an update to design curriculum added framing and workshops to help, out of this feedback. Before that, we were challenged with solving it locally.
Early success came through partnership with the French Embassy. Working with their culture and education team, I hosted a series of hackathons. The events tasked teams of data scientists and designers with prototyping solutions for problems the French government faced. Early iterations focused on increasing enrollment in study abroad programs, optimizing web tools, and increasing access to teach abroad programs in France.
After piloting the program for a year, and testing with LA and SF campuses, I developed a company toolkit and resource guide for replicating and putting on these events. Similar events with Booz Allen Hamilton, Eastern Foundry, and the Census Bureau were hosted following, as well as with other French embassies around the globe. The program is now standard for post-program career prep programming.
Tech Equity and Access to Campus Resources
In addition to tuition, many students starting a bootcamp need to purchase equipment. Students often borrowed laptops from our campus loan program. We had two ISPs on site to provide ample bandwidth. But our ability to support those students diminished when we went remote. Their issues remained.
The hardware issue was common in admissions, who were tasked with policing the long-standing Mac-only requirement. But the policy was instated by disparate global teams. Instead of adding barriers, we wanted to be thoughtful about how to better accommodate. In 2018, we stopped requiring Macs locally, and the use of Sketch or any other OSX-only software. By the next year, the company followed suit.
Forced into virtual learning, students that enrolled before the pandemic were faced with staying. Many enrolled for the campus experience. We heard hopes of going back, worry and regret about waiting, or not waiting long enough. We worried about enrollment and delivery quality.
Unexpectedly, we saw new growth.
For some, limiting factors like commute distance and parking had gotten in the way. The compounding costs outweighed the need for a campus. For those students, remote enrollment was an opportunity.
In remote learning, equity is even more pressing.
A year of collecting specs showed students accessed the course on phones and tablets, with connectivity challenges. Students avoided disclosing challenging circumstances, such as working parents and managing jobs.
We couldn’t expect learning to happen in a vacuum. If someone needed to show up in a different way, I was ready. To know our audience — not just as the tech-aligned, but as aspirational and transitional — meant to recognize their life’s obstacles as indivisible.
By the end of our first year remote, onboarding accounted for these challenges. Advocacy would yield basic tech skills curriculum, support specialists, accessibility and language inclusion decisions, and budgets to support connectivity issues globally.
More importantly, empathy for these students helped garner insights for support. Ways to increase equity and engagement, from two years of remote teaching:
- Challenge assumptions on acumen and skills early, and provide alternative accommodations in partnership with the student. Even when requirements for enrollment are set, it’s important to give students a way to disclose issues. A separate onboarding survey, office hours, and regular Slack check-ins can surface hidden concerns. Utilizing student support plans, co-authored by the student, empowers students to take ownership and invest in their own success.
- Consider size of files and content. For recordings, pause or stop at key points to reduce data use for students. Having time marks for points in lessons or exercises, and providing lesson decks prior can make recall and note taking less strenuous later.
- Virtual meeting software like Zoom often provide settings for reducing bandwidth and quality, to optimize access and quality for participants, regardless of connectivity. Streaming to Facebook and YouTube may further improve access in large groups. Alternative connection options, like mobile and browser, should be available to combat comparability.
- Community dialogue is integral, and encouraging varied ways to engage helps reduce friction or resistance. In addition to restating prompts and questions in Zoom chat, providing alternative content in Slack can encourage interaction. Using specific channels devoted to fun, support, and for student resource groups gives multiple places for students to have light-touch engagement.
- Unanswered questions and points of confusion can have a compounding impact on student experience. Students can face anxiety about unknowns, about asking for clarification or help. Collaborate around input and knowledge of student journeys to get in front of challenges. Use FAQ documentation and frequent organic check-ins to remove barriers proactively for students.
Making space for equitable learning doesn’t require broad-stroke changes, rather can be worked on with simple steps. Involving everyone, bringing teams together to understand CX and highlight needs can help everyone. For learning, it’s integral.
