Wild About A Redesign
The Client
Spelling You See, a homeschool spelling curriculum by Demme Learning, serving students across multiple grade levels.
The Problem
Customer drop-off after Level C was a known, ongoing issue. Survey data identified two root causes: students perceived the content tone and illustration style as too young for them, and instructors weren't using the Handbook (the resource specifically designed to help them navigate the program and troubleshoot).
The Insight
Live focus group sessions were the turning point. The Instructor Handbook sat unread 90% of the time — not because the content was wrong, but because the format made it inaccessible. Instructors felt the Student Workbook was straightforward enough that they didn’t need the Handbook (and when they did, it was easier to call customer service than find the information they needed).
I reviewed the existing Handbook content with the Instructional Designer and made recommendations on reflowing, reformatting, and rewriting to make it actually usable.
The Work
I contracted and wrote the brief for the illustrator, updated both student and instructor book designs for age-appropriateness, and rebuilt the Handbook layout from the ground up. This was system-level production design, and every component reconsidered for the real user experience and future scalability (there were 6 more levels to update, after all).
The Result
80% of beta users who had previously abandoned the program completed it after the redesign
Instructor frustration levels reduced by 40%
Instructor Handbook redesigns for all 6 remaining Spelling You See levels completed in less 18 months with my supervision by a team of 4 designers.
