The Problem
Teachers are overworked, overwhelmed, and undervalued, especially with the new challenges that come with teaching in the age of AI.
i-Ready is a trusted and valuable software that helps teachers track student data, and adjust lesson planning to match the needs of their class.
With the rise of Teachers Pay Teachers and other teacher support groups, Curriculum Associates wanted to help teachers support each other directly, learning how to get the most from i-Ready together.
IDEO & Curriculum Associates asked: How might we make it easier for teachers to create communities of practice on i-Ready to learn from and with each other?
I was the interaction designer behind all three concepts on this project: Supercharged Community Tips, Data Wizard, and Educator Companion. I took each one from early sketches through final prototypes, and mentored a new designer of color alongside the work.
The Process
I ran interviews and observations to learn how teachers actually use i-Ready, and used the test environment myself with fake student data to see how the features connected and where community could fit naturally into the tool.
Working with and for Educators
My favorite part of this work was collaborating with educators. I interviewed 10 who use i-Ready, to learn how they use it in their classroom and where it falls short, and asked where they went for tips, which led me to a lively Facebook group full of implementation ideas.
I brought sacrificial concepts into those sessions and rebuilt them on the spot to meet each teacher’s needs. Combined with learning the software myself and lurking in that Facebook group, it helped me build concepts that enhanced i-Ready naturally, adding community support exactly where it was needed.
Through this process I learned:
Teachers need real tips from other teachers, not more resources
Teachers need a faster way to see how their students are progressing
Teachers need support in the moment, not another dashboard to dig through
Teachers didn’t want an AI that knew more than they did. They wanted one that knew when to go find another teacher.
The Solution
With all of this in mind, I prototyped three core concepts for Curriculum Associates to pilot in i-Ready. Ranking and prioritizing them on an impact and feasibility matrix helped support stakeholder decision making.
Not every concept survived that matrix. I’d explored ways to reward teachers for publishing their own tips: badges, a creator program, paid content. I cut it once teachers raised real concerns about content ownership, and about AI-assisted material carrying their name. That same concern shaped the three concepts that moved forward: each keeps the teacher in control, an assistant rather than a replacement for their judgment.
To pressure-test Data Wizard, I built a working prototype on a custom GPT trained on i-Ready’s own reference sheets and FAQs, so I could test real conversations instead of mocking up a chat window. The first version defaulted to generic advice instead of Curriculum Associates’ own resources, so I rewrote its instructions until every answer stayed grounded in that material. The prototype itself, not the interface around it, is what proved the concept could hold a useful conversation with a teacher.
The Concepts
Supercharged Community Tips
A community-powered tool that provides implementation tips for i-Ready resources from like-minded teachers to promote easier and faster adoption.
Educator Need: To find the best way to implement CA resources to meet the needs of their students.
Data Wizard
A conversational tool within the i-Ready dashboard that allows teachers to ask contextual questions with the goal of improving their data literacy.
Educator Need: An efficient method to understand how their students are progressing.
Educator Companion
A conversational debrief tool that connects a teacher’s experience of teaching back to their i-Ready data.
Educator Need: In-the-moment support in situations where educators would otherwise have to sift through overwhelming amounts of information.
The conversational assistant bridges that gap, and also serves as a sounding board, and builds contextual awareness, saving teachers time.
Wrap Up
The data wizard and supercharged community tips concepts were scheduled for testing on the Curriculum Associates product roadmap, and educator companion was taken back into concept testing for their future products pipeline.
It was clear from working with the i-Ready team, how deeply they care for educators, many of them being former educators themselves.
This project opened the door to more work with Curriculum Associates, and the start of a collaborative relationship between IDEO and CA that I’m proud to be part of.
