Discover English Learning Needs for 250M Indian GenZ Students
Timeline
2021 - 2023
Role
Lead UX Researcher, Designer
Market
India
Methodology
Survey
In-depth Interview
Social Media Ethnography
Need-finding Analysis
Concept Co-Design
Team: Product Manager, Learning Scientist, Instruction Designer, AI Engineers, Software Developers, UX Designers
Impact:
Strategic pivot to $8B market opportunity
Research infrastructure adopted by 50+ team members
Dedicated 15+ member workforce formed for this initiative
Research Leadership
Strategic Influence
Global User Insights
Research Leadership Strategic Influence Global User Insights
The Challenge: When Assumptions Meet User Reality
In 2021, our company saw a compelling opportunity in India's education market. The strategy seemed straightforward: leverage our language assessment expertise to help Indian high school students improve their English and prepare for studying abroad.
However, my initial strategic research - combining perspectives from five high school students and five education experts - revealed something unexpected: these students were already fluent English speakers.
This insight could have been a roadblock. Instead, I saw it as an opportunity to dig deeper. While keeping stakeholders engaged, I led our research efforts in a new direction: if not study-abroad preparation, where was the real English learning need in India's diverse education landscape?
As the UX Researcher, I knew we needed to stay open to questioning our fundamental assumptions while methodically uncovering the true market opportunity. What emerged would completely transform our product strategy.
But first, let's talk about research strategy 🗺️ ⭐️
Coming off revealing expert interviews about our target market, I faced a key challenge: how to align a 25-person team around our research direction. I conducted strategic workshops that transformed scattered research questions into a focused game plan. We moved from individual curiosities to shared objectives, creating not just a research agenda but true team alignment.
Through structured ideation and prioritization exercises, we emerged with clear research priorities and an energized team ready to dive deeper.
Discovery Phase
20 in-depth user interviews
5 expert interviews (educators, hiring managers)
Market size analysis & Cultural competitive audit
Design Sprint
Validation Phase
A/B testing of value propositions
Concept Testing & Co-Design: Storyboards, World-building
I led a focused 2-day design sprint with the team, transforming user insights into three distinct storyboards, each tailored to a specific persona's journey.
Concept Test: Uncovering the Real Opportunity
I tested the 3 concepts with 5 users from each persona group. And I started to notice a unique pattern of user needs between the students from English-medium schools and local language schools.
Key Discovery
While English-medium school graduates were proficient, local language school students (85% of the market) had:
Basic English skills but limited practice opportunities
Strong tech career aspirations
High motivation but low confidence
A clear connection between English skills and career growth
"I know the grammar, I can write code," explained Rahul, an engineering student from Pune. "But in team meetings with our US clients, I freeze. Every time I speak, I worry about judgment."
Spotlight: Building Influence Through Strategic Research
Strategic Alignment on User Segments
Working closely with cross-functional teams, I led the team to evolve our persona framework and opportunity spaces. I evangelized the key differentiator of personas: educational backgrounds and the connection to the user needs.
2. Evidence-Based Concept Evolution
As the UX Researcher, I led the concept testing that informed the two distinct concepts we consolidated for leadership.
User interviews and usability testing validated the need for the original proposal - helping English medium school students studying abroad gain cultural context around appropriate language use. But the real breakthrough came when concept testing uncovered an even larger, underserved market - the 250M Indian Gen Z population from less affluent, non-English immersive backgrounds, who expressed significant need for English communication skills training for the workplace.
Collaborating closely with the design team, I ensured these user insights directly shaped the refinement of both concepts, which I'm confident will resonate strongly with leadership.
Infrastructure Development
The journey from initial discovery to strategic pivot wasn't just about finding the right market opportunity – it was about building a sustainable approach to user research that continues to inform company strategy. I built lasting research frameworks:
Comprehensive user insight database
Standardized research templates
International research protocols
Training materials for team onboarding
Been the leading UXR on team to educate and onboard new members. The UXR onboarding guides are currently being reused in a new initiative this year.
Created a demo research repository evangelize Atomic Research: an approach to store bite-sized research findings for faster, more democratic access.
The Results
Our career readiness concept resonated so strongly that it became the foundation for Converse Workplace - the Product Innovation Department's first launched application. What began as a market assumption challenge transformed into our department's flagship product.
Impact & Acknowledgment
Our research-informed product strategy transformed how we understood and served real user needs in India. More than just market research, this work sparked fundamental change – our insights-driven concepts won the AI Labs Concept Competition.
Transforming Team Dynamics
My research leadership reshaped how our organization approaches user understanding. By establishing new research practices, creating scalable methodologies, and building bridges between research and product teams, we transformed how decisions are made. These efforts culminated in direct influence on C-level strategic planning, demonstrating the power of user-centered thinking.