Why did the original app need to pivot?

While we achieved strong initial traction, retention metrics showed users weren't engaging frequently enough. The value wasn't sufficient for long-term sustainability as a video content platform.

How did you design for three different user types?

We created distinct user flows for parents (account management), children (content consumption), and creators (content upload), with seamless handoff experiences between parent and child users.

What was the key to the successful pivot?

We realized parents needed dedicated 1:1 tutoring support rather than just content consumption, so we redesigned the platform to connect families directly with qualified educators.

Bansho

Educational Video App for Kids

I designed and helped build Bansho, an educational app that emerged during COVID-19 to fill the gap in children's learning. Reached 80,000 downloads in its first month and broke into the top-20 Education apps before pivoting to a tutoring marketplace that generated $75K MRR.

Role

Contract Designer

Introduction

In 2020, as schools started to close for safety and parents became homeschoolers overnight, the team began exploring how to create an educational content repository that could work for any family situation.

As the contract designer, I started to get context and helped flesh out the existing user types, and suddenly we understood that we were designing for more than just personas but building an entire ecosystem:

Parents/Guardians: The gatekeepers who controlled accounts and made educational decisions were not the primary consumers.
Children: Primary content consumers from pre-K to middle school with varying abilities.
Creators: Education professionals exploring new ways to supplement their income while adhering to orders to shelter in place.

This platform not only needed to be validated as a product, but it was complex from the start and we needed to strategize what to build and how far to build it before we got to a place to move into the next priority.

Early Research and Prototyping

Drawing inspiration from TikTok's explosive growth, we hypothesized that educational content for early education could be as engaging as entertainment if delivered in the right format.

Our discovery process included:

PM-led parent interviews to understand their needs and constraints
Design-led rapid prototype testing with a mobile web app

A significant insight that helped us validate the idea came from mentions of YouTube Kids (launched in early 2019) and an anecdotal note shared with me that mentioned how it was one of the most used apps on their phone, aligning with the hypothesis of an existing appetite for child-safe video content.

Building Toward Educational Engagement

Phase 1: Web MVP Validation (Early 2020)

The team decided the best way to validate an education app was through a mobile web prototype to test core assumptions without app store delays. Thanks to React and React Native, moving from web tech to an almost native experience was supposed to be seamless.

The committed goal for this iteration was an infinite scroll for content consumption. With a limited number of educational videos, we wanted to validate if kids would scroll and how far. The feed used a simple algorithm that sorted content based on popularity.

The second milestone was an explore tab that allowed our potential users to check content segmented by subject. This was mainly for parents trying to understand the app and gauge the existing content.

Phase 2: Native App Launch (October 2020)

Once the team decided it was time to move toward a packaged app, I started to think through the onboarding experience. The "Swipe & Learn" approach needed to feel intuitive for children while giving parents control. The user (parent or child) could experience 2-3 sample videos before being prompted for account creation, and we experimented with a video to instruct children to hand the device to a parent as part of the onboarding experience.

The larger account creation process included:

Learning preferences set by parents to tailor content
Subject categories spanning math, reading, world languages, science, social studies, dance, art, music, and social-emotional skills
Grade-level settings per subject to adjust difficulty

This stage was characterized by a lot of experimentation, and one of the experiments I enjoyed the most due to the effects it had on content interaction was reactions, which I pitched as a way to capture engagement from children. This experiment was perceived as a simple reaction farming mechanism which did not prove useful or push any of our metrics but eventually evolved into interactive quizzes, reframing the interactivity we wanted for the content.

Standard video interface without interactive elements

Interactive elements with reaction buttons for child engagement

Interactive quiz interface for educational content

Survey interface for gathering user feedback

Experimental interaction features: reactions, quizzes, and user feedback mechanisms

The launch exceeded initial expectations: we drove 80,000 downloads in the first month and broke into the top-20 of Education apps in the Apple App Store. However, the retention metrics over the next few months were underwhelming. We observed a 25% DAU/MAU, signaling that while we had installs and signups coming in, our audience was not engaging with the app as much as we would have wanted.

Intuitive, high-quality educational app

Sep 16

This app is awesome! It looks like Bansho is pioneering the future of education. It uses the best aspects of short form videos (quick watch, easy to digest, engaging for youngsters) to deliver high quality curated content for kids. I've been looking for something that would constructively engage my kids, without the risk of exposing them to inappropriate online content. Without a doubt, I'll be recommending this app to all my fellow parents!

I just downloaded it this morning and my girls love it. They are both watching it right now while playing with play dough and mommy works. Win win. And I love how its teaching them things too. Thank you for sharing!!!

As a parent, my kids (9 & 13) actually like some of the little raps and quirky things teachers have posted to help them remember some things ...like states, bordering states, times tables, etc.

Intuitive, high-quality educational app

Sep 16

As a parent, my kids (9 & 13) actually like some of the little raps and quirky things teachers have posted to help them remember some things ...like states, bordering states, times tables, etc.

Phase 3: The Pivot (Early 2021)

With retention challenges documented, and now fully aware that we had spent the past year building an edutainment product that ignored the core issue our customers had, their kids were not getting the dedicated learning and development support they needed to thrive. The company decided to pivot, and that meant my design priorities had to adjust accordingly.

Conversations with parents and market research showed an opportunity to support their need for tutoring, so the platform shifted from a content platform to connecting families directly with teachers for 1:1 tutoring.

My design focus shifted to rapid prototyping of scheduling and booking interfaces. This transition required rethinking the entire platform. Instead of designing for passive content consumption, I was now designing tools to allow educators to deliver their tutoring services. While my engagement with the project concluded during this transition phase, the foundational design work helped set the direction for the new model.

Later that year, the pivot proved successful from a revenue perspective. Q1 of 2021 was marked by $50K MRR with steady growth that by later in the year was almost hitting $1M ARR. This growth later led to the exit and acquisition of the platform by the end of 2022.

Design Impact and Learning

Our design decisions created meaningful solutions during one of the weirdest and scariest times during the pandemic. We created a bridge between quality educational content and families navigating unprecedented circumstances.

I learned the hard lesson of differentiating between the customer and the user, which in B2B is always the case and was missed early in the process with a B2C app like this.

The constant experimentation and later pivot from content platform to tutoring marketplace showed the importance of the flexibility needed from design in early-stage startups.

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