Khan Academy
IA Strategy
Sep 2023 - Dec 2023
CONTEXT
Role: Information Architect Team: 4 members Timeline: 10 weeks
Skills: Competitive Analysis, Personas, Site Mapping, Content Auditing
For this project, my team was tasked with conducting a high-quality information architecture (IA) analysis on the Khan Academy (KA) website. We knew that KA was a reputable product with visible impact on the online learning industry. Thus, our approach was to improve navigation, content discoverability, and search efficiency through our strategy.
After analyzing the KA website, we identified two primary issues: a cluttered navigation model and a lack of sort/filter options. These issues contribute to two key business problems:
Decreased user engagement and retention
Challenges to brand reputation and competitiveness
Our team developed an MVP solution documented in an IA Strategy, which outlines how KA can compensate for these concerns through a re-evaluation of their navigation model and sorting and filtering capabilities.
If Khan Academy improves their navigation model and adds sorting and filtering options, then user engagement and satisfaction will increase.
HYPOTHESIS
THE MARKET
What can we learn from competitors?
Online learning platforms offer similar volumes and categories of content. Sites like IXL and Udemy differentiate themselves by allowing users to search and retrieve information in a more manageable way.
UDemy
Udemy enhances navigation by using a multi-level menu that narrows content from general categories to specific courses, making it easier for users to find what they need. It also tailors filter options based on course popularity and offers advanced sorting criteria like ratings, duration, and difficulty, allowing for a more customized and efficient search experience.
Robust options for Search & Filter
Multi-level menu expands with hover interactionIXL
In the case of IXL, users are met with a simple top-level menu and filters by grade or topic, making navigation more straightforward. Its enhanced search and filtering features allow users to easily find specific skills or subjects, creating a more efficient and user-friendly experience through clear content organization.
Filter by subject or grade
Primary Navigation
Secondary Navigation
Tertiary Navigation
Sort by Grade
Sort by Weekly Plans
Additional Submenu
Common themes from these competitors
Efficient Navigation and Content Organization
Both platforms emphasize clear, intuitive navigation paired with well-structured content. By categorizing and organizing content in a way that reduces cognitive overload, they make it easy for users to quickly find what they need, enhancing the overall browsing experience.
Advanced Filtering and Search Functionality
Search and filtering are central to improving content discoverability. Both IXL and Udemy offer multiple filtering options that help users narrow down content based on specific needs, such as grade, difficulty, popularity, or relevance.
THE AUDIENCE
Who uses Khan Academy?
At a high level, there are three main users of KA: learners, educators, and parents. A refined navigation model plus sorting and filtering options primarily serves the learners who are oftentimes the most concerned with finding their respective courses.
Khan Academy Learners:
Age: 42.4% of KA users are 18-24 years old (source)
Users collectively spent ~7 billion minutes on the platform in the 2021-2022 (source) school year, suggesting that many learners engage with other subjects over time.
KA is used in 190 countries and 56 languages. 53% of the platform’s registered users come from North America (source).
Use Cases for Khan Academy Learners
Extra study material
Exam Preparation
Self-paced learning
Homework assistance
Topic exploration
Learning a new skill
Current KA Navigation Model
Without explicit usage data around the use cases above, we can make an assumption based on how the current navigation model is organized. This layout suggests that the primary KA learner use cases are
Extra study material
Self-paced learning
To make the most impact with a reformed IA Strategy, we’ll be addressing the core pain points for a target user segment based on these primary use cases. The users we’re focusing on:
Live in North America
Are between the ages 18-24
Use KA for extra study material and self-paced learning
Our IA strategy will improve the user experience for all users alike. However, we’ll use this group as our focal point since this demographic accounts for the majority of users taking age and location into account. Targeting the most concentrated set of users allows us to address the needs of the most active users, which helps maximize the effectiveness of our proposed changes.
USER INSIGHTS
What are the pain points that these users need addressed?
Information Overload when opening the Navigation Model
Users are overwhelmed with too many options when opening the navigation model
Leads to increased time and energy in order to accomplish tasks
Duplicate taxonomies and poor visual hierarchy
Many of the taxonomies are repetitive (ex: 3rd grade, 4th grade, etc.)
No clear distinction between categories and courses
Lack of sorting and filtering options
Extra effort needed to find specific content
Leads to frustration and risks disengagement/conversion
USER JOURNEY
How does a Khan Academy learner find a lesson?
As is the case with any platform, frequent visitors to KA are naturally assumed to become familiar with the navigation model, gravitating to some areas more frequently than others. This means that information retrieval and filtering looks different and more difficult for new users.
BIG TAKEAWAYS
〰️
BIG TAKEAWAYS 〰️
From our user research, our team found that:
25% of online education service users in the US use Khan Academy
Online education platforms efficiently organize their IA and content to reduce cognitive overload and support discoverability.
Currently, common use cases like self-paced learning and exploring additional study material require too much effort for the typical user.
THE PROBLEM
Khan Academy’s cluttered navigation model and lack of sorting and filtering options make it difficult to find relevant content efficiently.
THE GOAL
Decrease the time it takes to discover/find relevant lessons and reduce cognitive overload by implementing a streamlined IA strategy that optimizes discoverability and usability.
FINAL PRODUCT
MVP
Our IA strategy document addressed key sections including an evaluation of the current state, a competitive analysis, and a solution description complemented by three deliverables:
Personas
Personas provided a user-centered foundation for structuring navigation, search, and content organization. By defining distinct user groups we had points of reference to guide our design decisions as we worked to address usability challenges in our architecture.
Sitemap
I created this sitemap to help visualize our proposed navigation model. Sitemaps are flexible and efficient since they can be iterated upon after stakeholder input. This model introduces the logic applied in IXL and Udemy’s model by reducing the amount of options available to the user.
Information Model
Our information model specifies the necessary metadata needed to implement sorting and filtering. This aims to improve the user experience by enabling more personalized and targeted searches.
FINAL THOUGHTS
FINAL THOUGHTS
In summary, our recommended IA strategy for Khan Academy calls for a more intuitive navigation model and robust sorting and filtering options. With their implementation, Khan Academy can expect satisfactory levels of user engagement and retention.
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