Edus
Edus
Fixing the front door without breaking what's behind it.
Fixing the front door without breaking what's behind it.
Fixing the front door without breaking what's behind it.
How we redesigned onboarding for a national education platform with 100,000+ active users and 650+ schools, without breaking the system already in motion.
How we redesigned onboarding for a national education platform with 100,000+ active users and 650+ schools, without breaking the system already in motion.
How we redesigned onboarding for a national education platform with 100,000+ active users and 650+ schools, without breaking the system already in motion.
Industry
Industry
EdTech
Classroom management
Growth stage
Growth stage
Bootstrapped
Bootstrapped
Services
Services
UX Audit
Strategy & Discovery
User Testing
Product Design
Most platforms we work with are still proving the model. This one had already proved it. Edus is a national education management platform with 100,000+ active users across more than 650 schools in Romania, with an onboarding flow that was costing them new teachers at the front door. We had three weeks to redesign it without breaking the rest.
Most platforms we work with are still proving the model. This one had already proved it. Edus is a national education management platform with 100,000+ active users across more than 650 schools in Romania, with an onboarding flow that was costing them new teachers at the front door. We had three weeks to redesign it without breaking the rest.
Most platforms we work with are still proving the model. This one had already proved it. Edus is a national education management platform with 100,000+ active users across more than 650 schools in Romania, with an onboarding flow that was costing them new teachers at the front door. We had three weeks to redesign it without breaking the rest.
100K+
100K+
100K+
Active users on the platform
Active users on the platform
Active users on the platform
650+
650+
650+
Schools across Romania
Schools across Romania
Schools across Romania
3 weeks
3 weeks
3 weeks
Discovery to dev-ready
Discovery to dev-ready
Discovery to dev-ready
the situation
An onboarding flow that was costing them teachers
Edus is a complete education management platform, used by teachers, students, and parents across Romania. By the time we started working with them, they had 100,000+ active users and 650+ schools depending on the platform every day. The product worked. People relied on it.
Edus is a complete education management platform, used by teachers, students, and parents across Romania. By the time we started working with them, they had 100,000+ active users and 650+ schools depending on the platform every day. The product worked. People relied on it.
The problem was the front door. Teachers signing up to the platform for the first time were dropping off before they ever became users. Every new school onboarded meant new teachers, and many of those teachers weren't particularly tech-savvy, didn't have personal email addresses, and had been told the platform would be "another thing to learn." If they bounced during onboarding, they didn't come back.
The problem was the front door. Teachers signing up to the platform for the first time were dropping off before they ever became users. Every new school onboarded meant new teachers, and many of those teachers weren't particularly tech-savvy, didn't have personal email addresses, and had been told the platform would be "another thing to learn." If they bounced during onboarding, they didn't come back.
That's a different design problem than starting from zero. The platform had real users, real workflows, real expectations. Anything we changed had to fit the existing system. Anything we delayed had a cost the team could see in the dashboard.
That's a different design problem than starting from zero. The platform had real users, real workflows, real expectations. Anything we changed had to fit the existing system. Anything we delayed had a cost the team could see in the dashboard.
Onboarding losing teachers at the front door
A user base that was already large and growing, but where every new school brought new dropoff. The platform's growth was leaking out of the same hole every month.
A user base that's not the typical SaaS user
Teachers who don't read tutorials, students without email addresses, parents on patchy connections. The flow had to work for the least-confident person on the platform, not the most.
Stakes that didn't allow for "let's see what breaks"
100K+ active users meant every change rippled. The redesign had to be tested before it shipped, and the testing had to surface real teacher behaviour. Designer intuition wasn't enough.
A team aiming higher than the existing design supported
Edus wasn't building for 100K users. They were building for millions. The design system had to scale to that ambition without needing replacement at the next milestone.
the situation
the situation
Powerful features that nobody could find
Powerful features that nobody could find
Powerful features that nobody could find
Bliro is an on-device AI meeting assistant that integrates with all meeting tools without relying on bots. It's highly customizable, users can create different AI notes for various meetings and automatically send them to Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and more.
Bliro is an on-device AI meeting assistant that integrates with all meeting tools without relying on bots. It's highly customizable, users can create different AI notes for various meetings and automatically send them to Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and more.
Bliro is an on-device AI meeting assistant that integrates with all meeting tools without relying on bots. It's highly customizable, users can create different AI notes for various meetings and automatically send them to Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and more.
The product grew organically over time. Features were added in an 80/20 fashion, which left many powerful capabilities hidden in the platform. Users didn't know they existed or couldn't figure out how to use them.
The product grew organically over time. Features were added in an 80/20 fashion, which left many powerful capabilities hidden in the platform. Users didn't know they existed or couldn't figure out how to use them.
The product grew organically over time. Features were added in an 80/20 fashion, which left many powerful capabilities hidden in the platform. Users didn't know they existed or couldn't figure out how to use them.
In some cases, users couldn't even find their way around the platform after being personally onboarded. The design itself didn't look professional, and there was no unified design language across web, mobile, and desktop.
In some cases, users couldn't even find their way around the platform after being personally onboarded. The design itself didn't look professional, and there was no unified design language across web, mobile, and desktop.
In some cases, users couldn't even find their way around the platform after being personally onboarded. The design itself didn't look professional, and there was no unified design language across web, mobile, and desktop.
Product didn't match the team's ambition
Onboarding losing teachers at the front door
Onboarding losing teachers at the front door
Bliro had just raised a €2.8m seed round and needed a product that reflected the quality of the technology behind it.
A user base that was already large and growing, but where every new school brought new dropoff. The platform's growth was leaking out of the same hole every month.
A user base that was already large and growing, but where every new school brought new dropoff. The platform's growth was leaking out of the same hole every month.
Product didn't match the team's ambition
A user base that's not the typical SaaS user
A user base that's not the typical SaaS user
Bliro had just raised a €2.8m seed round and needed a product that reflected the quality of the technology behind it.
Teachers who don't read tutorials, students without email addresses, parents on patchy connections. The flow had to work for the least-confident person on the platform, not the most.
Teachers who don't read tutorials, students without email addresses, parents on patchy connections. The flow had to work for the least-confident person on the platform, not the most.
Product didn't match the team's ambition
Stakes that didn't allow for "let's see what breaks"
Stakes that didn't allow for "let's see what breaks"
Bliro had just raised a €2.8m seed round and needed a product that reflected the quality of the technology behind it.
100K+ active users meant every change rippled. The redesign had to be tested before it shipped, and the testing had to surface real teacher behaviour. Designer intuition wasn't enough.
100K+ active users meant every change rippled. The redesign had to be tested before it shipped, and the testing had to surface real teacher behaviour. Designer intuition wasn't enough.
Product didn't match the team's ambition
A team aiming higher than the existing design supported
A team aiming higher than the existing design supported
Bliro had just raised a €2.8m seed round and needed a product that reflected the quality of the technology behind it.
Edus wasn't building for 100K users. They were building for millions. The design system had to scale to that ambition without needing replacement at the next milestone.
Edus wasn't building for 100K users. They were building for millions. The design system had to scale to that ambition without needing replacement at the next milestone.
the results
the results
A redesign that fit the platform
Validated before code. Adopted after launch.
When you're working on a platform with 100,000 active users, the bar for "results" is different. It's a redesign the team can ship with confidence: tested with real teachers, validated against the existing system, and ready to scale alongside the platform's growth ambition.
When you're working on a platform with 100,000 active users, the bar for "results" is different. It's a redesign the team can ship with confidence: tested with real teachers, validated against the existing system, and ready to scale alongside the platform's growth ambition.
When you're working on a platform with 100,000 active users, the bar for "results" is different. It's a redesign the team can ship with confidence: tested with real teachers, validated against the existing system, and ready to scale alongside the platform's growth ambition.
Validated onboarding
Validated onboarding
Validated onboarding
Team alignment
Team alignment
Team alignment
Dev-ready design assets
Dev-ready design assets
Dev-ready design assets
"Working with Durran was a breath of fresh air for our project at a time when we were struggling. They gave us a new ambitious perspective which we were able to put into practice quickly."
"Working with Durran was a breath of fresh air for our project at a time when we were struggling. They gave us a new ambitious perspective which we were able to put into practice quickly."
"Working with Durran was a breath of fresh air for our project at a time when we were struggling. They gave us a new ambitious perspective which we were able to put into practice quickly."
Costina Papari
Costina Papari
Product Manager
Product Manager
how we got there
how we got there
Three phases. Three weeks. A redesign that fit the live system.
Three phases. Three weeks. An MVP validated by 5, adopted by 50,000.
diagnose
diagnose
diagnose
Where exactly are we losing
teachers in onboarding?
What does this community actually need from a product?
Strategy workshops with the founder, product manager, CTO, marketing, and business development. Mapped user personas, customer journeys, and the assumptions baked into the existing onboarding. The work surfaced the specific bottleneck: teachers were dropping off before they ever made it into the platform.
Strategy workshops with the founder, product manager, CTO, marketing, and business development. Mapped user personas, customer journeys, and the assumptions baked into the existing onboarding. The work surfaced the specific bottleneck: teachers were dropping off before they ever made it into the platform.
Strategy workshops with the founder, product manager, CTO, marketing, and business development. Mapped user personas, customer journeys, and the assumptions baked into the existing onboarding. The work surfaced the specific bottleneck: teachers were dropping off before they ever made it into the platform.
define
define
define
What's the smallest change that
fixes the most bleeding?
What's the smallest version of this that's worth testing?
Used the Sprint method. Interviewed the founder and product manager, aligned the team on long-term goals, surveyed how others (Masterclass, Monday, InVision) had solved similar onboarding problems. Each team member sketched their own concept. We narrowed to one direction, built a clickable prototype, and tested it with three teachers. The people the design had to actually work for.
Used the Sprint method. Interviewed the founder and product manager, aligned the team on long-term goals, surveyed how others (Masterclass, Monday, InVision) had solved similar onboarding problems. Each team member sketched their own concept. We narrowed to one direction, built a clickable prototype, and tested it with three teachers. The people the design had to actually work for.
Used the Sprint method. Interviewed the founder and product manager, aligned the team on long-term goals, surveyed how others (Masterclass, Monday, InVision) had solved similar onboarding problems. Each team member sketched their own concept. We narrowed to one direction, built a clickable prototype, and tested it with three teachers. The people the design had to actually work for.
refine
refine
refine
What does the team need to ship
this without breaking the platform?
What do engineers need to ship without ambiguity?
Took the validated direction into production design, including flows that let users into the platform even without an email address. Built out the design system the engineering team could use as a foundation, for this redesign and the platform's next phase of growth.
Took the validated direction into production design, including flows that let users into the platform even without an email address. Built out the design system the engineering team could use as a foundation, for this redesign and the platform's next phase of growth.
Took the validated direction into production design, including flows that let users into the platform even without an email address. Built out the design system the engineering team could use as a foundation, for this redesign and the platform's next phase of growth.
where we start
where we start
Let's find out where users get stuck, and what to fix first.
Let's find out where users get stuck,
and what to fix first.
Let's find out where users get stuck,
and what to fix first.
We'll look at how users experience your product, identify the biggest friction points, and outline what to fix first.
We'll look at how users experience your product, identify the biggest friction points, and outline what to fix first.
We'll look at how users experience your product, identify the biggest friction points, and outline what to fix first.
more case studies
more case studies
Different products.
Same pattern of outcomes.
Different products.
Same pattern of outcomes.
Different products.
Same pattern of outcomes.
Product Design Studio
for growth-stage SaaS teams
© Durran 2026
Product Design Studio
for growth-stage SaaS teams
© Durran 2026
Product Design Studio
for growth-stage SaaS teams
© Durran 2026
Product Design Studio
for growth-stage SaaS teams
© Durran 2026