JACK.ORG · EDHUB EDUCATOR PLATFORM · 2023
CASE STUDY · ZERO-TO-ONE EDUCATOR PRODUCT
The curriculum was still taking shape.
The product still had to be classroom-ready.
I led the zero-to-one development of Jack.org’s edHUB—turning an evolving public-health program brief, emerging curriculum content, educator needs, and a fixed launch commitment into a searchable, classroom-oriented resource platform.
- Challenge
- Create a net-new classroom resource platform while content, curriculum mapping, and operating requirements were still evolving.
- Role
- Manager, Digital Products → Senior Manager, Digital Products & User Experience
- Project window
- January – October 2023
- Scope
- Discovery, agency selection, product strategy, UX architecture, CMS model, QA/UAT, analytics, launch and handoff
- Collaboration
- Program team, curriculum experts, educators, Sweven.design, Webflow Enterprise, internal design and development team
- Outcome
- English launch on September 8, 2023; French rollout sequenced afterward; scalable CMS-led resource foundation
Evidence note: This case reconstructs the product strategy, launch, and operating decisions using retained project records, official launch communication, agency documentation, and public product context. Internal system details and user data have been anonymized.
PORTFOLIO CONTEXT
A zero-to-one product moving alongside larger platform work.
edHUB was developed while the wider digital portfolio was also managing modernization and resilience priorities. The product needed enough focus to respond to educator needs without competing for the same decision capacity as every other initiative.
MY PORTFOLIO ROLE
Protect discovery while creating a path to launch.
01
PRODUCT DIRECTION
Used educator research and testing to redirect an early solution toward a more useful, curriculum-aligned product experience.
02
SEQUENCING
Balanced research, content architecture, taxonomy, bilingual requirements and delivery capacity through a staged launch approach.
03
OPERATING CONTEXT
Used the internal product pod and specialist partners to maintain ownership, clarify requirements and deliver within the approved budget while other portfolio initiatives remained active.
PROBLEM FRAMING
The visible request was a resource hub.
The real challenge was creating a usable product before the system around it was fully defined.
Jack.org had a clear program ambition: give educators practical mental-health promotion resources they could use in the classroom. But the digital product did not begin with a finished curriculum, stable taxonomy, complete bilingual content set, or established operating model.
The work therefore could not be treated as a simple website build. The product had to define how educators would discover resources, how content would be structured, how curriculum alignment would be represented, how French content would follow, and how the internal team would manage the experience after launch.
Teachers needed fast access to useful materials during real planning and classroom moments—not an archive organized around internal program structures.
Resource materials, copy, curriculum mapping, branding, taxonomy, and bilingual needs were developing while the digital product was being designed.
Jack.org needed a platform the internal team could update, expand, and maintain without constant agency dependence.
RESEARCH-LED PIVOT
Educator evidence changed the product direction.
The initial architecture and design direction reflected the emerging program structure and the information available at the beginning of the engagement. Educator user-group sessions and parallel research revealed that teachers needed a more practical way to discover and use resources before, during, and after classroom instruction.
- 01Initial direction
Program-led architecture shaped around the emerging content, internal structure, and early product assumptions.
- 02Educator evidence
Teachers needed rapid resource discovery, predictable formats, classroom relevance, and fewer steps from lesson planning to use.
- 03Product response
Task-based navigation, clearer resource taxonomy, search and filtering, and classroom-ready content pathways.
- 04Value created
A product better aligned with how educators actually prepare, teach, and return to resources.
THREE DECISIONS
Where the product judgment showed up.
Pivot from program-led structure to educator workflows.
- Evidence
- The initial architecture and design direction reflected the emerging program structure and the information available at the beginning of the engagement. Educator user-group sessions and parallel research revealed that teachers needed a faster, more practical way to find and use resources during lesson planning and classroom delivery.
- Tension
- Continuing with the initial direction would have protected completed design work and reduced near-term rework, but it risked producing a polished experience organized around internal assumptions rather than educator behaviour.
- Decision
- Under my direction, the internal team and Sweven changed course. We reorganized the experience around educator tasks, classroom-ready resource types, clearer discovery pathways, and the practical realities of using materials before, during, and after classroom instruction.
- Trade-off
- The pivot introduced additional design and architecture work while the content was still evolving, but it produced a more useful product and a stronger foundation for adoption and continued expansion.
- Principle
- Research should be allowed to change the product—not merely validate the original idea.
PRODUCT SYSTEM
A resource hub only works when the content model, discovery model, and operating model work together.
edHUB needed to serve educators trying to find credible resources quickly and internal teams responsible for managing a growing library of program content.
Product-system artifact
edHUB product system: roadmap & outcomes
Reconstructed product-system artifact based on retained project records, official launch communication, agency documentation, and role-based delivery evidence.
Search, quick filters, curriculum context, resource-type paths, and clear classroom-planning entry points.
Resource collections structured around unit plans, lessons, activities, teaching guides, topics, authors, and curriculum metadata.
CMS-led internal ownership, reusable templates, responsive pages, SEO metadata, accessibility, and bilingual publishing.
Educator testing, QA/UAT, launch readiness, stakeholder alignment, post-launch handoff, and continued operating capacity.
EVIDENCE & IMPACT
The launch delivered the product promise: classroom-ready mental-health resources for educators.
Jack.org introduced edHUB as a free, comprehensive library of educator resources designed to bring mental-health promotion into classrooms. The launch communication emphasized curriculum-expert collaboration, classroom-ready materials, learning goals, procedures, assessments, youth-friendly content, and curriculum alignment.
The launch positioned the resources as ready for use in real educator and classroom contexts.
Resources were developed with curriculum experts and aligned with education requirements.
The English experience launched first, with French resources following through a sequenced rollout.
CURRENT PUBLIC PRODUCT CONTEXT
The product foundation continued supporting a growing educator experience.
This screenshot shows the current public edHUB experience. The product continued evolving after its initial 2023 launch and after my tenure. It is included as public product context and evidence of the scalable foundation—not as a claim that every visible feature or later enhancement was personally delivered by me.
VALUE CREATED
What this work left behind.
Educators received a clearer way to discover and apply mental-health promotion resources in the classroom.
The CMS model supported continued resource expansion without rebuilding the product whenever the program evolved.
Internal teams gained a manageable way to organize, update, and publish resource content.
The work created a model for turning mission-driven program ambiguity into structured, usable digital products.
- I can create product clarity while the brief is still forming.
- I can translate program expertise into usable product architecture.
- I can balance funder commitments, user needs, and delivery reality.
- I can build systems internal teams can operate and expand.
REFLECTION
What I would strengthen next.
What I would strengthen next
With today’s AI-enabled product capabilities, I would add stronger guided discovery, curriculum recommendation logic, and educator personalization. The foundation was intentionally structured around reusable resources and metadata; the next layer would help educators move from search to recommendation, planning, and classroom sequencing faster.
PART OF THE JACK.ORG DIGITAL PORTFOLIO
The zero-to-one product demonstrated how the operating model protected discovery and staged delivery while larger transformation work continued.
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