How Deep UX Research and Innovative Storytelling Paved Our Way into the UK Private School Market (Well, Almost Paved It, But It Was Epic!)
PROLOGUE
How I Went From "Make It Pretty" to "Make It Smart"
Hey there! So, I'm a design team lead, and I've been in the UX/UI game for a while now. You know, I've always wanted to create more than just pretty pictures; I'm driven to build things that actually work for people and for the business. I've always been drawn to design thinking, to solving those really complex, knotty problems. And that path naturally led me to Product Design – a field where you have to see the big picture and really dig deep into what users need. So, to stay on top of my game and sharpen my UX research skills even further (because if you're standing still, you're falling behind, right?), I enrolled in the intensive UX Design Medium course at Projector. Ever heard of them? They're known for giving you real-world projects, not just dry theory.
And that's where, together with my awesome teammates – Diana, another Diana, and Anton – we dove into a really ambitious project for GIOS. They're a Ukrainian EdTech company that does cool stuff for education. And this project, let me tell you, wasn't just another box to tick for the portfolio! It was a real test-drive for my analytical and strategic skills, and my leadership qualities, too. I had to truly immerse myself in UX research, and in a pretty challenging setting at that. It was a chance not just to "get it done," but to "understand it and knock it out of the park."
CHAPTER 1
Challenge Accepted – Cracking the British Code (While Sitting in Ukraine!)
So, long story short, GIOS is a cool Ukrainian EdTech platform that explains math through games—you get the idea. And they set their sights on the United Kingdom! Not just anywhere, but specifically on independent private schools. This is serious business; the market there is tough and has its own quirks. The task wasn't just to design a landing page, but to develop an entire market entry strategy. And all this for an audience the company knew absolutely nothing about!
The complexity, just imagine it, was off the charts! Seriously, it was a massive undertaking, especially for a course project. Other teams in the course were working on the Ukrainian market for GIOS, where things are more or less familiar. But we got the UK! And the kicker was that we conducted all our research remotely from Ukraine. Picture this: we had to not only understand what was going on in the heads of headmasters, financial directors, and teachers but to literally step into their shoes, feel their British mentality, understand how they think, what's important to them, their communication style, what makes them tick. It was a real brain-melter of a challenge, phew! We had to dig incredibly deep to avoid missing the mark.
CHAPTER 2
The Deep Dive – Sherlock Holmes in the World of EdTech
To avoid just guessing, we took the research very seriously. It was like a detective story where I often played the role of the lead investigator, steering us to make sure we got to the bottom of things.
Value Proposition Canvas
The Market & Competitors – Laid Out and Analyzed
We didn't just browse competitors' websites. No way! We dissected their value propositions, their marketing angles, what people were saying about them, and most importantly, how they specifically work with private schools in the UK. I took charge of structuring all this info to find those "white spaces"—the opportunities where GIOS could really shine with its unique approach.
Personas – Like Real People, Not Just Pictures: "School leadership" isn't one person, right? We got that. So, after sifting through tons of data and conducting additional research (where I also dug deep to find patterns), we created three key personas. And they had real character:
Dr. Eleanor Vance (The Headmistress)
An iron lady of sorts, for whom the school's reputation and outstanding results are everything. And it has to be innovative!
Mr. Arthur Collins (The Financial Director/Bursar)
This guy counts everything. ROI, efficiency, making every penny work. A pragmatist to the bone.
Mr. David Brooks (The Head of Maths)
Our colleague, you could say. He's battling low student engagement, is swamped with his own work, and is looking for something that will actually help, not just add to his workload.
"I personally made sure that each persona had not just a description, but real pains and frustrations. This was our key to their hearts, you know?"
JTBD Segments – Digging Even Deeper
To understand not just the "who" but the "why," we used the Jobs To Be Done framework. For each persona, we developed 5 segments – these are like different situations and "jobs" for which schools "hire" EdTech. Out of 15, after some heated debates (where, I'm proud to say, I helped set the priorities), we chose the 7 hottest ones: "The Academic Breakthrough Leader," "The Competitive Positioning Strategist," "The ROI Hunter," "The Long-Term Investor," "The Time Guardian," "The Student Motivator," and "The Long-Term Planner." This gave us a clear understanding of what truly drives these people.
The Problems – Raw and Unfiltered
We distilled all this information—real feedback from UK teachers, parents, and students, analytics, insights from an expert interview—into 12 distinct problems. Not some abstract issues, but concrete, daily pains of British private schools. And it was these exact pains that we set out to solve.
Customer Journey Map
CHAPTER 3
From Pain to Solution – How We Designed a "Wow!" Landing Page
Once we knew "where it itched," the most interesting part began – the search for the "cure."
"How Might We..." – Full-Throttle Brainstorming
We turned each of the 12 problems into a "How Might We..." question. And then, the floodgates opened! We generated a ton of ideas. I tried to facilitate in a way that encouraged us not to be afraid of the boldest thoughts, because that's often where the genius is hiding.
How Might We…
The Million-Dollar Question – One Story for Everyone
But how do you fit all this onto a single landing page? How do you tell a story that resonates with the Headmistress thinking about reputation, the Financial Director counting every pound, and the Teacher who just wants a smoother workday? We needed something more than just a list of features.
The Big Idea – A Cinematic Landing Page
And then, after a ton of discussions (where, I might humbly add, I pushed for something truly innovative, because this is the premium segment, after all!), our killer feature was born—an idea that completely won over the client. We came up with a landing page where the centerpiece is a continuous, "one-shot" style background video. Imagine this: a camera glides smoothly through a real British school, showing the life, the problems, the emotions of our personas. As you scroll, the video follows you, forward and back. And layered on top is the text that comments on and unpacks it all. It's not just a website; it's an immersion, a film that you control with your scroll!
The Script – Just Like a Real Movie
We wrote a detailed script for this video-storytelling experience, using the Story Arc and Messaging Architecture as our foundation. The story begins with the atmosphere of a prestigious school, then reveals all 12 problems of our segments, and then—BAM!—GIOS appears as the solution. Every piece of text and every scene in the video was meticulously planned to strike a chord and show how GIOS helps. I personally worked a lot on making the story logical, emotional, and seamless, so it felt like a single, cohesive piece, not just a collection of clips.
CHAPTER 4
The Happy Ending – The Client Was Thrilled, and We Got "Gold"
And now, the grand finale! The prototype presentation to the clients from GIOS. And you know what? "The client was thrilled. We were praised for a very creative and unconventional solution and for our incredibly deep research." It was just... wow!
That was the moment you realize that all the hard work, all those hours of analysis, debates, and creativity—it was all worth it. We didn't just "make a design"; we proposed a strategy that actually works.
And the cherry on top? Our team not only completed the task but also graduated from the Projector course with a "Gold Certificate." This was super important to me, as it's another step toward creating genuinely awesome products.
Presentation
EPILOGUE
What I Took Away From This "Movie" (and Where I'm Headed Next)
The GIOS project wasn't just a project; it was a whole adventure! And here's what I realized (or rather, had reinforced):
Empathy is everything. If you don't feel the user and their pain points, you might as well not even start.
You have to dig deep. No superficial analysis! Only hardcore, deep immersion into the context, culture, and problems. Especially when you're working with a new market.
Stories rule the world. A well-told story can sell anything to anyone. The key is that it has to be honest and compelling.
The team is a force (with a bit of magic). When talented people work together, especially with decent leadership (modestly hinting at myself 😉), you get something truly great.
This project gave me such a confidence boost! It proved to me once again that design isn't just about "making things pretty"; it's about strategy, business, and genuinely helping people. And I'm already fired up to take on new product challenges, to build more cool things that change the world (well, at least a little bit).
