Project Overview
Brightspace is D2L’s cloud-based Learning Management System used by educational institutions worldwide. I worked across several mission-critical features to improve onboarding, engagement, and system scalability—serving both public and private institutions. One of our major clients was the New York State Education Department, which required high levels of compliance and protocol adherence throughout the design process.
Problem & Objectives
The LMS needed to evolve quickly to meet growing demands from large institutional clients. Specific challenges included:
- Supporting modern LTI quiz formats while ensuring data privacy and clarity
- Improving user and designer onboarding to scale teams efficiently
- Redesigning legacy features like Portfolios with accessibility and future extensibility in mind
My Role & Team
- Led end-to-end UX strategy and design for multiple projects
- Worked in agile squads with PMs, dev leads, and 10–15 engineers
- Co-owned project delivery as part of a triad: PM, Dev Lead, Designer
- Contributed to the design system with new components/icons
- Collaborated directly with international clients (e.g., Victoria University) and with internal stakeholders to meet government-level compliance (e.g., NYSED)
Design Process
Discovery & Research
- User interviews with instructors and LMS admins
- Participated in client meetings (e.g., Victoria University, NYSED) to gather specific needs
- Created journey maps for both internal (designer onboarding) and external (new instructor onboarding) flows
Synthesis
- Developed persona-aligned user flows for features like LTI Quizzes and Portfolios
- Defined problem statements and scoped technical constraints
Ideation & Prototyping
- Created mid- to hi-fi wireframes for LMS modules (Quizzes, Portfolios, Onboarding)
- Designed a new Awards system UI with iconography and badge components
Testing & Iteration
- Ran informal usability testing internally
- Incorporated feedback from pilot institutions
- Adapted designs to meet accessibility and compliance standards (e.g., WCAG, NYSED protocols)
Key Projects & Features
- LTI Quizzes: Designed integration for 3rd-party question types with visual distinction and fail-safes; used by Victoria University and later scaled globally
- Portfolio Redesign: Updated a neglected feature for modern usage, adding file aggregation and export tools to meet contractual and user needs
- Onboarding (Internal + External): Designed onboarding for both new teachers and new designers—introducing the “design buddy” system
- Awards System: Visual redesign and workflow improvements, including new badges and user profiles
- Design System Contributions: Added components and icons; streamlined patterns across products
• Awards Redesign
• LTI – Quiz integration
• Instructor Journey
• Illustrations / Design System
Results & Impact
- LTI integration adopted by major global institutions; praised by D2L’s CEO
- Reduced onboarding time for new designers by a drastic amount.
- Contributed to a smoother rollout of Brightspace in public institutions, including the New York State Education Department
- Improved internal UX maturity through documentation and design system collaboration
Reflection
D2L allowed me to operate in a fast-paced, highly regulated environment—balancing user needs, institutional compliance, and design excellence. I gained invaluable experience working with public sector clients like NYSED, which reinforced my ability to design within protocol-heavy, multi-stakeholder ecosystems. I’d approach future legacy system redesigns with even more modular thinking and build clearer pathways for testing and feedback loops from day one.