Research Case Study — Microsoft
Helping Microsoft support remote learning customers
The Problem
The coronavirus pandemic forced school building closures worldwide, with an abrupt shift to distance learning for more than 1.5 billion students in K-12 and Higher Education. Microsoft needed to connect their audiences – educators, IT administrators, and students – to tools and resources that could support them in the immediate transition, and through long-term shifts. But they didn’t yet know the particular challenges of this new remote learning audience or the learning content that would support them.
The Program
Meeting the immediate needs of millions of people navigating a new way of educating during a pandemic? It requires gut and science. Our three part program:
Develop personas and a content strategy, to guide all content creators on how to best meet the needs of those seeking remote learning resources as they make decisions about what software to adopt, and how to use it most effectively.
1
Develop workshops and other content that meet the needs of educators and families learning to use Microsoft products for their remote learning classrooms.
2
Conduct research and discovery to quickly understand remote learners and educators, and determine what kind of content they will need, now and long term.
3
Audience and Market Research
We audited existing content, did a competitive review with other brands serving remote learning audiences, surveyed hundreds of families nationwide, then conducted in-depth interviews with dozens of consumers to surface insights around what content is helpful, where consumers are finding it, and what they need more of.
Personas and Content Strategy
Program 11 created user personas that identified mindsets, triggers, and content needs. Our content strategy showed Microsoft how to best help educators and families effectively use Microsoft tools for remote learning, and where the opportunities are to increase support.
Instructional Design and Content
We audited existing content, did a competitive review with other brands serving remote learning audiences, surveyed hundreds of families nationwide, then conducted in-depth interviews with dozens of consumers to surface insights around what content is helpful, where consumers are finding it, and what they need more of.
Our work culminated in a push to all Microsoft employees, educators, parents and media. The goal? Amplify the work and the solutions to help thousands of families nationwide who are struggling with remote learning today.
The results:
Our work with Microsoft supported multiple initiatives:
The evolution of Microsoft Teams to support the needs of families as students increasingly learned from home
1
Educating more parents and teachers about how they can support their students’ social and emotional learning.
2
Telling the story of how Microsoft accessibility tools and features better support different learners.
