How I simplified and unified a misaligned Text Lecture experience to support a major content merger.

I turned fragmented Text Lectures into a clear, consistent experience, fixing readability, layout, and progression issues after Cloud Academy and Circus Street merger under QA's brand.

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Audio overview

My role on the project:

As the sole Product Designer, I led the redesign of Text Lectures—defining the problem, shaping the UX/UI strategy, and aligning teams across QA, Cloud Academy, and Circus Street to deliver a scalable, accessible learning experience.

The challenge: inconsistent and outdated learning experience

After QA Group acquired Cloud Academy and Circus Street, the learning experience became fragmented. Circus Street offered text-based lessons with rich media, while Cloud Academy prioritized video content. Text Lectures in particular had been overlooked and suffered from usability issues that frustrated learners and diluted the value of the platform.

A comparison of Old Circus Street lectures dumped straight into our platform's lectures template, Cloud Academt text resources and Cloud Academy's video lectures

How might we create a unified experience across diverging content models?

To deliver a cohesive experience across the newly combined content library, we had to bring legacy formats up to standard. Without a redesign, learners would continue facing friction that impacted engagement and learning outcomes. The platform needed to support multiple content types while feeling consistent and intuitive.

Key issues identified:

Lecture in sidebar results completed 10 seconds after user visits the content step

Completion logic auto-triggered after 10 seconds, which was misleading and inaccessible.

Text readability is not great with text box max width being too wide and small typography

Poor readability due to small typography and excessive line width.

Next Step buttons appearing both at the bottom of the page and at the bottom of the content section

Redundant navigation (multiple "Next" CTAs in one view).

content infos on the likes of ratings, students etc are in a different position than in any other type of content

Inconsistent placement of metadata like duration, difficulty, ratings.

Circus Streets content often include images

Lack of support for images in Cloud Academy's content.

Author Infrmations visible in default page view is not relevant for Circus Street

Author info often missing, creating awkward empty UI.

My approach: designing for consistency, flexibility, and scale

I approached the redesign holistically, aligning decisions with platform patterns while prioritizing learner needs. Below is a quick overview of the solutions implemented.

Text Lectures redesigned including highlights of new features included

1. Enabled multimedia support

Extended the design to handle images, ensuring parity across content formats.

2. Improved readability

Refined typography, increased text size, optimized content width, and adjusted contrast for clarity.

3. Fixed progression logic and improved accessibility

Replaced automatic completion with a manual, user-triggered action to ensure accuracy and accountability. While the "Mark as complete" action couldn’t be made reversible due to technical constraints, I introduced a confirmation modal to add necessary friction and prevent accidental completion — supporting users with mobility or cognitive challenges.

4. Dynamic author display

Built logic to hide the author section when no data was available, removing visual noise.

Results: From UX debt to a cohesive learning experience

Critical UX debt resolved:

I addressed all five identified usability issues, transforming a neglected feature into a robust, inclusive learning tool.

Critical UX debt resolved:

I addressed all five identified usability issues, transforming a neglected feature into a robust, inclusive learning tool.

Smooth format transitions:

Learners could now move between video and text without disorientation.

Smooth format transitions:

Learners could now move between video and text without disorientation.

Enabling True Progress Tracking and Learner Control:

Lectures used to auto-complete after 10 seconds, making progress tracking meaningless. By switching to manual completion and clarifying navigation, we gave learners control and enabled real tracking.

Enabling True Progress Tracking and Learner Control:

Lectures used to auto-complete after 10 seconds, making progress tracking meaningless. By switching to manual completion and clarifying navigation, we gave learners control and enabled real tracking.

Accessibility gap addressed:

The modal confirmation significantly reduced accidental completions, improving experience for all users.

Accessibility gap addressed:

The modal confirmation significantly reduced accidental completions, improving experience for all users.

Positive feedback from learners

"I actually know where I left off now—it’s much clearer." — Former Cloud Academy learner

Positive feedback from learners

"I actually know where I left off now—it’s much clearer." — Former Cloud Academy learner

Positive feedback from internal stakeholders

"We love being able to add images for engagement—the new layout makes content much easier to read and present." — Content Designer

Positive feedback from internal stakeholders

"We love being able to add images for engagement—the new layout makes content much easier to read and present." — Content Designer

What’s next: personalization and inclusivity

Moving forward, we aim to optimize the overall usability and inclusivity of Text Lectures.

Based on competitive research, including other e-learning platforms but also apps like Kindle and Google Books, we are exploring features that allow users to customise their reading experience.

This includes adjustable text size, background colour options for better contrast, and text-to-speech functionality to support diverse learning needs.
These improvements will ensure a more accessible and user-friendly experience for all learners.

Below are some ideas I've started exploring.

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