Kids A-Z
One Portal. Every Product. Millions of Students.
The Opportunity
As the Learning A-Z product portfolio expanded into more student-facing offerings, the need for a unified student destination was rushing toward us. I conceived of Kids A-Z in 2014 as a single portal where any student could access every product their teacher owned. I led the design and build of the entire platform, student-facing and teacher-facing, guiding its evolution for over a decade. What started with 4 million students grew to 14 million. Ongoing user testing across age groups and grade levels drove continuous iteration.
The Kids A-Z student experience is split into two purpose-built interfaces: an immersive space-themed environment for K-2, and a stats-forward interface for grades 3-5 that respects older students' growing sense of ownership over their progress. Designing a login flow for pre-readers required its own solution: a class chart with unique color and shape combinations, pictogram passwords, and a lab mode for shared devices. The teacher side gives educators a single destination to manage rosters, adjust settings, and monitor progress. A native-built mobile app with full feature parity across iOS and Android extended the experience beyond the classroom.
Meet Spark
The Kids A-Z mascot has evolved continuously alongside the platform, with the most recent redesign in 2024 built to be more expressive, communicative, and gender-neutral while appealing across the full K-5 age range. A face-screen display communicates nonverbally through basic expressions and emojis, giving pre-readers a way to connect with the mascot before they can read. The personality was carefully crafted to be a genuine partner in the student's learning journey: taking ownership of failures with encouragement while turning wins completely over to the student. Focus testing across ages 5-11 and multiple genders confirmed the redesign landed. The result is a futuristic, friendly presence built specifically for digital natives.
Scale & Reach
At its peak, Kids A-Z served 14 million rostered students in a single year, up from 4 million when it launched in 2014. Built as a free companion to every student-facing Learning A-Z product, it became the daily destination for K-5 learners across a portfolio that grew aggressively for over a decade.
