Design Sprint for innovation in The International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

Upon initial consultation, Relab identified that the project challenge was complex due to various stakeholder needs and was a risky investment. There were uncertainties and questions around what offering did the target market really need. Time was also a challenge that accuracy on solutions and urgency on delivery was critical.

After clarifying business needs, the Relab strategy team advocated for a 2 week Design Sprint process that allowed us to rapidly come up with high fidelity prototypes in such short period of time and test it on specific user groups. Week 1 was about understanding the problems and Week 2 was dedicated to solutions, prototyping and testing it on real users. Throughout the intensive process, both Relab and IELTS team from IDP Education worked collaboratively while involving senior stakeholders of the organisation to validate decisions and solutions. At the end of the 2 weeks, the IELTS team saw alignment and confidence around ideas worth executing based on the user interview feedback. The high-fidelity prototype and design working files also became high value assets for the Technical Development & Engineering team, that it allowed them to accurately estimate technical effort – massively minimising overall project risks.

The IELTS Essentials website was launched successfully and quickly saw great results particularly around booking conversions and user engagements where it became the touchpoint of the user journey. Within the first month of launch, some high level success metrics were met including:

• Booking conversion rate up by 48%
• IELTS test booking metrics up by 30% roughly equating to AUD$147K
• Website bounce rate down by 7.5%
• Average user engagement session duration up by 14%

Upon initial consultation, Relab identified that the project challenge was complex due to various stakeholder needs and was a risky investment. There were uncertainties and questions around what offering did the target market really need. Time was also a challenge that accuracy on solutions and urgency on delivery was critical.

After clarifying business needs, the Relab strategy team advocated for a 2 week Design Sprint process that allowed us to rapidly come up with high fidelity prototypes in such short period of time and test it on specific user groups. Week 1 was about understanding the problems and Week 2 was dedicated to solutions, prototyping and testing it on real users. Throughout the intensive process, both Relab and IELTS team from IDP Education worked collaboratively while involving senior stakeholders of the organisation to validate decisions and solutions. At the end of the 2 weeks, the IELTS team saw alignment and confidence around ideas worth executing based on the user interview feedback. The high-fidelity prototype and design working files also became high value assets for the Technical Development & Engineering team, that it allowed them to accurately estimate technical effort – massively minimising overall project risks.

The IELTS Essentials website was launched successfully and quickly saw great results particularly around booking conversions and user engagements where it became the touchpoint of the user journey. Within the first month of launch, some high level success metrics were met including:

• Booking conversion rate up by 48%
• IELTS test booking metrics up by 30% roughly equating to AUD$147K
• Website bounce rate down by 7.5%
• Average user engagement session duration up by 14%

Upon initial consultation, Relab identified that the project challenge was complex due to various stakeholder needs and was a risky investment. There were uncertainties and questions around what offering did the target market really need. Time was also a challenge that accuracy on solutions and urgency on delivery was critical.

After clarifying business needs, the Relab strategy team advocated for a 2 week Design Sprint process that allowed us to rapidly come up with high fidelity prototypes in such short period of time and test it on specific user groups. Week 1 was about understanding the problems and Week 2 was dedicated to solutions, prototyping and testing it on real users. Throughout the intensive process, both Relab and IELTS team from IDP Education worked collaboratively while involving senior stakeholders of the organisation to validate decisions and solutions. At the end of the 2 weeks, the IELTS team saw alignment and confidence around ideas worth executing based on the user interview feedback. The high-fidelity prototype and design working files also became high value assets for the Technical Development & Engineering team, that it allowed them to accurately estimate technical effort – massively minimising overall project risks.

The IELTS Essentials website was launched successfully and quickly saw great results particularly around booking conversions and user engagements where it became the touchpoint of the user journey. Within the first month of launch, some high level success metrics were met including:

• Booking conversion rate up by 48%
• IELTS test booking metrics up by 30% roughly equating to AUD$147K
• Website bounce rate down by 7.5%
• Average user engagement session duration up by 14%

Upon initial consultation, Relab identified that the project challenge was complex due to various stakeholder needs and was a risky investment. There were uncertainties and questions around what offering did the target market really need. Time was also a challenge that accuracy on solutions and urgency on delivery was critical.

After clarifying business needs, the Relab strategy team advocated for a 2 week Design Sprint process that allowed us to rapidly come up with high fidelity prototypes in such short period of time and test it on specific user groups. Week 1 was about understanding the problems and Week 2 was dedicated to solutions, prototyping and testing it on real users. Throughout the intensive process, both Relab and IELTS team from IDP Education worked collaboratively while involving senior stakeholders of the organisation to validate decisions and solutions. At the end of the 2 weeks, the IELTS team saw alignment and confidence around ideas worth executing based on the user interview feedback. The high-fidelity prototype and design working files also became high value assets for the Technical Development & Engineering team, that it allowed them to accurately estimate technical effort – massively minimising overall project risks.

The IELTS Essentials website was launched successfully and quickly saw great results particularly around booking conversions and user engagements where it became the touchpoint of the user journey. Within the first month of launch, some high level success metrics were met including:

• Booking conversion rate up by 48%
• IELTS test booking metrics up by 30% roughly equating to AUD$147K
• Website bounce rate down by 7.5%
• Average user engagement session duration up by 14%

Upon initial consultation, Relab identified that the project challenge was complex due to various stakeholder needs and was a risky investment. There were uncertainties and questions around what offering did the target market really need. Time was also a challenge that accuracy on solutions and urgency on delivery was critical.

After clarifying business needs, the Relab strategy team advocated for a 2 week Design Sprint process that allowed us to rapidly come up with high fidelity prototypes in such short period of time and test it on specific user groups. Week 1 was about understanding the problems and Week 2 was dedicated to solutions, prototyping and testing it on real users. Throughout the intensive process, both Relab and IELTS team from IDP Education worked collaboratively while involving senior stakeholders of the organisation to validate decisions and solutions. At the end of the 2 weeks, the IELTS team saw alignment and confidence around ideas worth executing based on the user interview feedback. The high-fidelity prototype and design working files also became high value assets for the Technical Development & Engineering team, that it allowed them to accurately estimate technical effort – massively minimising overall project risks.

The IELTS Essentials website was launched successfully and quickly saw great results particularly around booking conversions and user engagements where it became the touchpoint of the user journey. Within the first month of launch, some high level success metrics were met including:

• Booking conversion rate up by 48%
• IELTS test booking metrics up by 30% roughly equating to AUD$147K
• Website bounce rate down by 7.5%
• Average user engagement session duration up by 14%