Into the EdTech User Journey: The Challenges in The Sign-up Stage

Nov 29, 2022 Samuel Thomas

In the previous publication of our EdTech app development blog series, we established the importance of examining the EdTech app user journey to enhance user retention. However, there are many possibilities for EdTech App companies to recalibrate their development process based on existing stage-wise challenges. Hence, a stage-wise evaluation of the challenges is necessary for EdTech app development companies to craft a potent app development strategy for 2023 that will resonate better with the personal goals and preferences of the end users.

Sure, the sign-up stage is very short, and the user is just coming to grips with the app. But in this stage also lies one of the first opportunities for the app to make the best possible first impression on the user. The equation is simple. Enthrall the user and engage their prefrontal cortex, and the user will last long enough on the EdTech app platform to explore the courses. However, it is easier said than done since many educational app development companies seem to ignore some distinct challenges that are impeding user retention in the sign up stage.

Under the Lens: The Top 5 Challenges for Education App Development Companies During Sign up

Rigidity During Sign up: The global retention rate of mobile apps is 25%, according to a report by Statista. The report highlights how low the user retention rate is. While there are many reasons behind the high abandonment rate, educational app development companies must adopt a logical approach to defining the user journey to understand underlying problems. Is it the UX or a long list of questions to complete the sign-up? EdTech App Development companies must focus on how much value a function adds to the user journey in the sign-up stage and eliminate the rigidity hampering user retention.

Sometimes Something simple as not providing users the option to sign in through Google, Linkedin, Microsoft, or Facebook will quickly hamper retention.

Authentication and Authorization: User authentication and authorization are necessary steps designed to safeguard app users' identity and data privacy. Hence there should be no compromise in the efficacy of these steps. However, hassles in the sign-up process that results in an elaborate sign-up process can cost EdTech app developers a lot. There are hundreds of EdTech apps on mobile platform marketplaces; hence the frictionless completion of user sign-up is a crucial first step for user retention.

A slight malfunction or delay in the authentication process resulting in an OTP reaching the user in five minutes, instead of five seconds can cause abandonment.

Course Compatibility Across Devices: The platform wars (iOS vs. Android Vs. Windows, etc.) began in 2007 and continue until today. Mobile app development companies are caught in the crossfire, and the onus is on them to create mobile apps that deliver consistent user experiences across all platforms. Although the advent of hybrid apps has made life easy for mobile app developers in recent years, the conservation of consistent user experience across multiple mobile platforms isn’t perfect. This is a cause for concern in current times, where one user owns multiple mobile devices and accesses the same Edtech app on multiple platforms.

The disruption caused by the incompatibility of a course on the mobile devices is enough to send a user's progress awry, leading to abandonment.

Laborious Manual Workflows: Laborious workflows that ask too many questions about personal preferences and users who arrive inundated with choices aren’t a very combination. Offering users too many choices causes them to default to choosing the first app they encounter instead of considering other options. In short, precise and concise app workflows are essential to have the user sign-up quickly.

Notification and Functional Blindness: EdTech app owners are always eager to deliver notifications about course recommendations that are often promotional. The intention to retain the user by informing them about the benefits of taking a particular course through inbound marketing attempts works negatively, especially during sign-up.

Many EdTech app companies adopt the ‘spray and pray approach because they perceive the target audience as a homogeneous mass due to a lack of intelligent analytics on their platform.

Parting Words

As described in the opening sections of this publication, the sign up stage is the first opportunity to make the best first impression on the user. To make the best possible impression, it is imperative for educational app development companies to keep the sign up process relevant and concise.

Nalashaa has over 10 years of experience in enabling mobile app development companies deliver contextually accurate products. Talk to our app development experts at info@nalashaa.com for a detailed evaluation of your mobile app development projects.

Samuel Thomas

Samuel Thomas has over 6 years of experience in business development, Pre-sales, and IT consulting across Healthcare, Networking & Financial domains with extensive exposure to US Healthcare from a marketing & sales standpoint.

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