Category:
Data-informed design
Role:
Product Designer
Team:
Product Designer, Senior PM, Frontend developers (mobile & web)
Timeline:
1 sprint
On a B2B coaching platform, reflections were meant to drive measurable learner progress, but engagement was critically low, with only 5.45% of learners reflecting upon their sessions. Through user research, I uncovered a hidden barrier: privacy anxiety. Learners worried about how their personal reflections might be seen or used, which discouraged deeper participation.
By redesigning the experience with a privacy-first approach, I eased these concerns and made reflection feel safe and personal. This shift led to a 25% increase in reflection retention (to 6.8%), proving that addressing emotional barriers can unlock both user trust and business value.
IMPACT ————
CHALLENGES ————
In the €89.8B leadership development market, contract renewals depended on proving measurable employee growth. Yet the platform struggled to deliver evidence of impact.
Despite high session satisfaction (4.9/5), only 22% of learners recorded Aha! Moments, the key reflections meant to demonstrate behavioural change. With reflection retention at just 5.45%, there was too little engagement data to add value to the program effectiveness to influence the B2B decision-makers.
As a result, Aha! Moments, once central to the company’s identity and used as a proxy for demonstrating learning growth, were quietly removed from the L&D dashboard due to embarrassingly low usage. Without a scalable way to increase learner reflection, the business risked contract churn and lost credibility in a market where ROI was everything.
Before designing, I conducted extensive user research interviews and analysed engagement metrics from May to October 2022. The resulting User Behaviour Analysis revealed that hidden privacy anxiety was the primary barrier to reflection engagement.
SOLUTION SPACE ————
Solution – From Minimal Usage to Renewal Evidence
What I Designed
Privacy-First Features: Transparent policies and UI cues assuring learners that their reflections would remain private
Activity Tab Redesign: Clearer navigation and purpose, helping users understand where and how to reflect
Flexible Reflection Entry: Multiple entry points for adding insights, reducing friction from forced post-session prompts
REFLECTION ————-
Results of this project
Retention: 5.45% → 6.8% (+25% improvement)
Reflection Creation: +3.8% monthly increase in Aha! Moments
Feature Adoption: 44% → 46% (+5.5% improvement)
Business Impact
Created measurable engagement evidence (proxy metrics) for contract renewal decisions
This project reinforced that meaningful design impact doesn’t always require sweeping visual or structural changes. By combining user research with engagement metrics, I discovered that emotional barriers like privacy anxiety were the real obstacle to participation. Addressing these subtle, human-centred concerns through small, targeted interventions was enough to unlock measurable business outcomes. The experience highlighted that understanding user emotions and behaviours can guide design decisions that drive real business value.
