These principles allow Learning Equality to apply its core values to the product design process. For non-designers, they also shed light on how the design team makes and prioritizes design decisions internally.

When making decisions that affect our users, we encourage you to reference these principles during the product development process and to hold yourself accountable to these standards.

Finally, these principles are a work in progress. The intent is that this is a living set of principles that will evolve to better serve the design team, the product process, and our users.

Equitable access

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Equity is at the heart of Learning Equality’s mission. Our products address barriers of access to education that are faced by marginalized communities and populations.

• Aim to be as functional as possible in situations with unstable or no internet access
• Support old, legacy, and low-powered devices
• Products should be easy to use for people of any experience level with technology
• Products should adapt to any language and be accessible across varying physical and cognitive abilities

Effective learning

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The learning process can sometimes feel tiring and challenging. Learning can be far more effective by keeping people motivated and engaged. We support not only concept and skill proficiency but also the process of learning.

• Support learner progression as people master and engage content more deeply
• Don’t interrupt the learning process unless doing so is conducive to learning
• Allow for assessment practice without penalizing mistakes
• Learn from and integrate new practices from other sectors, including education and learning sciences

Community ownership

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Communities understand their own needs best. Our tools enable them to have ownership over how their goals, educational resources, and identities are represented. We understand that one size doesn’t fit all, so we design to serve the unique needs of our communities in these ways:

• Make it easy to share and collaborate online and offline
• Support purposeful content editing for pedagogy and localization
• Give communities a means to personalize and represent themselves
• Design helpful defaults but allow customization if the need arises

Consistent experiences

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Consistency removes friction with the product, allowing people to focus on what they’re trying to get done. Each function of our products should feel empowering and coherent with the rest of the product ecosystem.

• Lean on established patterns and components that live in our design system
• Introduce each new experience in a clear way that leaves no room for guesswork
• Tweak patterns and components if it helps meet a user groups’ unique needs