Helping Students Succceed

Learning Ally

A decade-long partnership dedicated to bringing the best learning tools online

Background

Learning Ally was originally founded in 1948 as Recording for the Blind, an organization that helped disabled soldiers continue their education after returning home. Since then, the organization has changed its name and expanded beyond visual impairment to include others with learning differences like dyslexia. Learning Ally’s research and innovation is now making a difference for nearly half a million students across the U.S.

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Opportunity

When our relationship with Learning Ally started, the desire for innovation was already there. They were changing the game for students and educators and blazing trails in the science of learning, but they were still mailing out CDs. Our team helped them prepare to make the digital leap to streaming and finally introduce online catalog management.

 

We wanted to design an online presence that matched the magnitude of what they were doing in the field and supported the impact of their efforts. Since we first brought Learning Ally into the digital world, they’ve looked to us as trusted partners in innovation. Over the past decade, we’ve worked as an extension of their team, helping them identify opportunities, bring new ideas to life and introduce tech across their business.

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Approach

The Lat Long team would eventually work with important internal stakeholders at all levels to define and write the requirements necessary to bring Learning Ally into the digital age, but our first order of business was to define the requirements for a massive new online platform that would catapult them from a mail order supplier to a world-class digital learning toolbox.

 

As Learning Ally’s first-ever consumer-facing asset, it would set the tone for everything else to come. We laid out comprehensive roadmaps and requirements, balancing input from dozens of departments and audiences while managing timelines and resources from 4 partner agencies. In addition to overseeing the entire project from the product management perspective, our technical teams also built the public-facing marketing site for the whole organization.

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Then we moved onto detailing the requirements for their revamped mobile reading app, LINK. LINK allows students and teachers to manage their “bookshelves” from anywhere. Teachers could choose and assign books from the “library” and students could follow along, reading and engaging from their devices.

 

The data collected during each interaction helped parents monitor progress and become active participants in their child’s reading journey. We didn’t build the app itself, instead taking the lead by writing the requirements and simplifying the journey from start to finish. As the product managers, we continued to support Learning Ally post-launch.

 

Over our years-long partnership, we’ve helped guide the requirements of numerous digital assets, built many standalone elements and major platforms like Honeycomb, and piloted various 2-3 month initiatives covering everything from data visualization and sales support to student success and marketing.

“They’re very creative and able to envision things others can’t…it’s a true partnership with Lat Long, they really are an extension of my team.”

Heather Wiederstein
Heather Wiederstein
Content Manager, Airstream
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Results

Since 2011, we’ve helped Learning Ally transform every aspect of their internal processes to bring their business online. With new projects on the horizon, we’re looking forward to working with Learning Ally to pioneer new initiatives where learning, inclusivity and accessibility converge.


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