Overview
Achieva.com was a startup that provided online educational services to teens. My primary contribution at Achieva was to lead in the design of the first study skills course available over the Internet.

I began by comparing the curricula of paper-based study skills books and courses, researching educational theories of adolescent learning, motivation, and instructional design, and talking to teachers who had taught study skills courses.

From this initial research I proposed a curriculum and interactive functionality for an online study skills course. After it was approved, I worked with three other writers to produce the lessons and exercises for the course. Web designers created the visual appearance of the site and coded the exercises in Flash. I served as audio engineer and provided direction for the vocal talent on the voiceovers.

Once a testable beta version of the product was created, I held usability testing sessions with pairs of teenagers at a local afterschool program. Shortly thereafter I left for Intuit to further improve my user experience design skills. Achieva.com was acquired two years later by Kaplan.

Study Skills - Overview
Achieva.com Summer 1999 - Fall 2000 I worked at an educational startup and led the design of an online study skills course.