Bridging the gap between traditional teachers and technology
The new annotation tracking feature demonstrated strong user appeal, with all 5 testing participants confirming they would increase their engagement with the digital library.
As the bridge between the educational team and Level Learning, I noticed that teachers had access to the company’s digital library but weren’t using it.
After initial conversations, I discovered the core issue: teachers didn’t see how the digital library connected to their real classroom needs.
Increasing teacher engagement with the library was also a key company goal, so I set out to better understand this disconnect and identify opportunities for improvement.
The business goal is to increase digital library engagement,
what's preventing them from using it?
Mandarin teachers have difficulties tracking student progress with books from the digital library
🙈
don’t see the value in digital library
📖
physical books are better
🙅♂️
less open to incorporating technology
Mandarin teachers teach academic subjects entirely in Mandarin, to help students gain fluency in both the language and the subject matter.
Right now,
teachers lack deeper insights into student thinking process
🧑💻
English teachers as experts emphasized the importance of annotation in literacy instruction
They teacher students to annotate texts by marking key phrases and jotting notes in the margins to show thinking and deepen understanding.
🚩
Mandarin teachers can only see the end results of student work, but it doesn't provide deeper insights
The quizzes students do at the end of each book from the digital library can't solve teachers' primary need to understand student thinking
Synthesizing the research led me to assume:
annotation collection is more important than annotation capability
⚖️
Annotation helps literacy, but without collecting it, teachers can't track student progress → the library still goes unused
Data
Annotation is essential for effective literacy instruction.
⬇️
Current State
Teachers have no way to collect or review student annotations, making it difficult to track progress.
⬇️
Hypothesis
If annotation collection is enabled, teachers will be more likely to adopt the digital library—because it's more critical than the tool itself."
User-Centered Design Decisions
Inclusive Annotation Input
Text and voice input options
Having text and voice options helps teachers collect and understand student thinking, no matter the format.
Typed annotation
Voice annotation
Reducing user friction
Seamless integration with existing teacher workflows
New feature with current UI and flow.
Exploring other options
Redesigned table with newly added pages to decrease user mental load for access to assignments.
Testing & Feedback
All 5 testing participants confirmed increased likelihood to adopt the digital library
Annotation tracking helps teachers better understand student learning progress
💬
Users from testing sessions expressed what they like about the annotation tracking feature.
*Quotes translated from Mandarin to English. original interviews conducted in Mandarin.
A. Yao
Kindergarten Mandarin teacher
“
I like the option of voice and written memo. This will help my lower students who can't write in Chinese yet."
S. Zhang
2nd grade Mandarin teacher
“
Having the annotation feature can help me understand what the students are thinking, and is easy for me to use it to show learning progress."
User testing revealed high task completion with areas for improvement
While all participants completed tasks with minimal errors, copy improvements are needed for clarity
Despite successful task completion, participants expressed confusion about specific instructions and interface copy. These insights are being incorporated into upcoming design revisions.
The Design
Teachers are more likely to adopt digital library with annotation tracking
Feature allows monitoring student understanding and progress tracking
jch3 design
cj.chang06@gmail.com