Why an EdTech Specialist Should Conduct Your Next Competitive Audit

You've likely asked your product team to conduct a competitive audit before kicking off the design process for a new learning tool or feature. 

But what if your internal team isn't the best fit for the job?

At Backpack Interactive, we regularly work with clients who already have some internal capacity for research and design.

But clients come to us when they want a unique advantage: our perspective on the EdTech industry as a whole, and our specialized understanding of how to design and build effective learning tools.

After more than 20 years in this space, we've seen time and again how hiring a specialized UX design team to conduct a competitive audit provides clients with stronger recommendations and better long-term solutions.

Here are the top ways a specialized competitive audit can help you solve real business problems—and provide a strong strategic foundation for EdTech product development.

Specialized competitive audits address your business context and solve the challenges that cost you money

User pain points cost real money in EdTech.

Customer complaints, abandoned workflows, and little-to-no traction with teachers can affect your business even more than you know.

If you're stumped about why your product isn't selling, auditing the field ensures that you're leveraging common UX solutions in EdTech.

To avoid the same mistakes as your competitors, you'll likely need to conduct deeper user experience research into common areas of friction. 

When, where, and why do teachers and learners abandon their user journeys?

Researchers specialized in EdTech know how to conduct extensive user testing in order to address these issues.

For example, at Backpack Interactive, we use a Teacher Council to validate design decisions with real educators. 

We also regularly test our solutions in classrooms, so we can ensure your learning tools work properly in their intended environments.

Whatever testing solution we propose to address specific user flows, we have the specialized backgrounds to pinpoint why users are struggling—and what you can do to fix it.

Move faster and reduce friction by using your competitive audit as a stakeholder alignment tool

The findings from your competitive audit are a powerful stakeholder alignment tool. 

Audits address user needs, challenges, and feature priorities—every element your team needs to make design decisions.

Here's how competitive audits can help you align on strategy and feature prioritization.

Align on product strategy

Competitive audits uncover tactical solutions for solving persistent user pain points and educate your stakeholders on the most recent developments in the field.

Use your audit to proactively develop a shared understanding of design challenges and possible solutions with internal stakeholders.

That way, you can get the buy-in you need to design, test, and iterate.

From designing user flows to developing prototypes, your competitive audit will help you justify design decisions to stakeholders and keep your users front-of-mind for everyone on the project.

Align on feature prioritization

Even popular EdTech products have flaws and pain points. 

The more you learn about these design flaws during your competitive audit, the easier it will be to prioritize which of your existing features may need a refresh. 

For example, users might dislike a competitor's search function because they struggle to filter relevant information. 

Even if your product doesn't include the same feature, knowing the state-of-play helps you make stronger strategy and design decisions. 

When our clients use competitive audit findings to lead internal discussions around design strategy and prioritize decision making, there's less friction in every step of the process.

Use specialist insights to gain a competitive advantage in strategy, accessibility, and learning design 

If your internal product team already has a strong research and testing background, you might be hesitant to contract UXR services from another firm. 

But hiring a UXR team with an EdTech background ultimately gives you an edge during the auditing process—and the resulting design strategy.

Here's why.

Gain a strategic advantage from in-depth knowledge about teaching and learning technology

Designing EdTech tools takes more than a flair for visual design and good UX. 

It also takes a deep knowledge of the way users teach and learn with digital tools.

Because of their familiarity with the world of EdTech, a specialized UXR team produces deep dives into how users experience digital learning products. 

This extensive overview provides a strong foundation for your strategic decisions. 

Armed with the right information, you'll set yourself apart not just for your UX design—but for your understanding of the mechanics of teaching and learning.

Stay ahead of your competitors with more targeted research findings

A competitive audit conducted by EdTech experts provides a rich snapshot of your product in the context of the industry. 

You'll immediately discover how your competitors are—or aren't—addressing your user's needs. 

For example, if you're designing an EdTech product with a math-specific mission, your competitive audit should provide a framework for how competitors facilitate similar learning goals.

That way, you're measuring benchmarks for success against true competitors.

Meet or exceed accessibility requirements thanks to in-depth knowledge of inclusive design

EdTech products have unique requirements for usability and accessibility. 

From meeting specific accessibility benchmarks to designing for all users, learning tools used in the classroom are held to a high standard by buyers like school districts and administrators.

Hiring a generalist firm means you might get great recommendations on overall UX patterns, especially patterns used in commercial products.

But you'll miss out on the insights and competitive analysis unique to our field, especially when it comes to accessibility and inclusive design.

With tangible explanations and a heuristic score for each competitor, experienced specialist teams put usability standards for learning at the forefront of their recommendations.

Final Thoughts

If you're building an EdTech product, don't settle for a competitive audit that looks at UX through a broad lens. 

A specialized approach to the auditing process gives you actionable solutions for addressing the needs of teachers and students through UX. 

Because EdTech product design isn't just about creating an exceptional user experience. 

It's about creating digital learning tools that help teachers ease their administrative burden and ensure students engage deeply with content. 

Good UX makes a difference in real classrooms—and that's where specialist designers and researchers shine.

Looking for in-depth competitive research? Contact us below to discuss our specialized UX research services in EdTech.