Case Study

Proving UX Was a Revenue Lever, Not a Cost Center, at Blackboard

84 mobile apps, sales up 64% year over year, and a satisfaction score that climbed 93%, the numbers that made the case for design before it was a given.

Product Manager, Blackboard August 2009 to August 2013 EdTech platform, later acquired Growth & PLGUX Research
64%
YoY sales growth that UX work contributed to
84
Mobile applications deployed
93%
Increase in customer satisfaction

Situation

2009, early in my career. Design work had to earn its budget, and the only argument that worked was measured results.

What I Built

  • Deployed 84 mobile applications across ParentLink, the school-to-parent communication platform, increasing usage 14% year-over-year and contributing directly to the company's eventual acquisition.
  • An administrator dashboard and approvals workflow, designed and launched to remove friction from a process that had been quietly driving customers away, boosting repeat customer rate by 30%.
  • An A/B testing and feedback loop program, the first systematic one the product had, raising customer satisfaction 93% by replacing guesswork with evidence.
  • UX and engagement improvements that contributed to a 64% year-over-year increase in product sales, the number that ended the debate about whether design investment paid for itself.
2009 Design treated as a finishing touch No design metrics tracked against sales 2013 Design proven as a revenue lever 84 apps shipped. Acquisition followed. 64% YOY SALES GROWTH 84 MOBILE APPS +93% SATISFACTION +30% REPEAT RATE
Design moved from a finishing touch to the metric that ended the funding debate: 64% YoY sales growth.

The Hardest Problem

Getting a sales-driven organization to fund design work before there was any proof it would pay off. The only way through was shipping something small, measuring it honestly, and letting the repeat customer and satisfaction numbers argue the case. A slide deck never could have.

Outcome

Sales grew 64% year over year. Customer satisfaction climbed 93%. Repeat customer rate rose 30%. The mobile app portfolio grew to 84 deployed applications and became part of the story that led to the company's acquisition.

Skills Demonstrated

UX strategy tied to revenue outcomes, product management, A/B testing and experimentation, enterprise EdTech, design advocacy backed by data.

Evaluating me for a role

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Five case studies from the eight settings, and the commercial record behind them.

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