How I redesigned navigation to keep learners on track.
I designed a universal sidebar to unify all content types during a major content merger. Learners can now track their progress without leaving the lesson, reducing distractions.
Audio overview
MY ROLE ON THE PROJECT
As the only product designer on the team, I focused on creating a clear content hierarchy, supporting different content types, and validating the experience through rounds of user testing. I also ensured the design was inclusive, accessible and consistent across learning flows.
Platform migration was a catalyst for change.
At the end of 2023, QA Group reached a pivotal moment: we began migrating clients from Circus Street to the Cloud Academy platform. These clients were used to a simpler, highly intuitive UX—one they genuinely liked and trusted. The pressure to improve navigation and usability wasn’t just a nice-to-have—it was a business-critical need.
This shift gave us the opportunity to rethink our learning experience, starting with one of the biggest pain points: the sidebar(s).
Before, different content types had different sidebars. Learners struggled to understand where they were and how to track their progress. Many were exiting their sessions just to check their status on course landing pages, disrupting their learning session.
The button to open the sidebar was often misinterpreted.
As a result, a significant number of users relied on the breadcrumb navigation to return to the Courses' landing page when seeking information about their progress, disrupting the learning experience.
Key challenges we faced
Inconsistent UI: Different sidebars (or none) depending on the content type
Progress friction: Users often exited sessions to check where they were
Complex structure: Courses, lessons, and programs all had different navigation logic
Unclear content hierarchy: Increased cognitive load for learners
Here's an example of QA’s complex content hierarchy for context.
How might we refine our learning flow while integrating new content from QA and Circus Street?
My process
Here’s a quick list of the steps I took to get to the solution:
The solution: a smarter, universal sidebar
I designed a universal sidebar that brings all content types into one consistent experience, so learners can stay focused, see their progress at a glance, and view videos comfortably (no need to toggle full screen!) – without interrupting their flow.
Key improvements include:
Clearer Content Hierarchy:
Supports up to 3 levels of content and has clearer visual cues (icons, duration, locked/unlocked status)
Quantitative and qualitative data
Following the implementation of the improved sidebar and other UI enhancements, user feedback and platform analytics indicated the following improvements:
28% reduction in the need for full-screen viewing
thanks to improved UI clarity and better visibility of the collapsible sidebar, allowing users to expand video lessons to a larger size by simply collapsing the sidebar
Check out more projects
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Avg. rating 4.5/5: Strong validation for a beta release
How I helped Circus Street clients feel at home after a platform transition and prevented a spike in support tickets.
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0 helpdesk tickets: smooth client transition
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I transformed fragmented Text Lectures into a unified, intuitive experience — resolving usability and progression issues to protect learner engagement and retention during Circus Street’s post-merger transition.
Resolved 5 out of 5 major UX inconsistencies: addressed and resolved all identified UX debt.
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+18% increase in MoM upfront cashflow