Kaplan CoreSuccess Program

Mightybytes transformed a national test prep leader’s products from print to digital, making them easier to use, more accessible, and quicker to administer. Here’s what we did.

With the introduction of online standardized test taking, Kaplan required a digital platform to teach Common Core test practices. Mightybytes designed the CoreSuccess program experience, Kaplan’s K-12 interface that prepares students for new Common Core tests.

A Dedicated UX Partner

Mightybytes served as an agile UX design team for the entire CoreSuccess product migration, participating in regular standups and creating all our deliverables in sprints with Kaplan’s remote development team. This included developing wireframes, visual comps, style tiles, and interactive prototypes to validate layouts and features with users. Our team also conducted user research to explore user motivation and collaborated with Kaplan to plan user flows. We worked with Kaplan’s internal development team to integrate this research with the new user experience.

Two Phases

To create accurate user stories for this agile project, Kaplan had to know how Common Core would actually be rolled out in schools, even though the rollout was months away. To work within these constraints, Mightybytes divided the project into two phases: an initial design phase and a revision that occurred once Kaplan gained more information about the curriculum rollout. 

Flexible and Accessible

The interface templates we designed took into account different question types—multiple choice, open-ended essay, etc.—for Math and English Language Arts, in addition to video introductions and guidance for each section. While this project’s primary focus was to design an easy-to-use experience for students, we also designed an admin interface where teachers could see the progress of both the class as a whole and that of individual students.

Plus, like any digital educational product, the CoreSuccess program had to be accessible to people with disabilities, so we ensured our designs complied to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

A New Era in Test Prep

Kaplan’s CoreSuccess helped facilitate an important transition from print to digital for one of the nation’s largest test prep companies, saving the organization huge amounts of paperwork, time, and money. Plus, with an easy to use interface that was accessible to people with disabilities, Kaplan could reach more students than ever before. We were excited to play a key partner role in this groundbreaking project.