Complexity made invisible

the problem

Teachers had 15 minutes between classes. The product asked them to navigate six screens to do one thing. Usage data showed drop-off at step three.

the approach

Observed teachers in classrooms. Mapped the real workflow — not the product's workflow. Collapsed six screens into two. Moved the most common action to the first thing they see. Tested with five schools before shipping.

the outcome

Task completion went up. Support tickets for that flow went down. Teachers stopped describing the product as "powerful but hard."

Task completion rate increased from 34% to 78%