AWS Learning Assistant Case Study
Guided Learning Within AWS Skill Builder
My Role
- Senior/Sole UX Designer
- User Research & Usability Testing
- Accessibility Notation (a11y)
- Stakeholder Collaboration
Working Group
- Product Managers
- Principal Engineers & Front-End
- Applied Scientists / LLM Engineers
- Accessibility Specialists
Stakeholders
- Executive Leadership
- Design Team
- Engineering Team
Customer Jobs to Be Done
Understanding what users are trying to accomplish and the outcomes they seek
Ask questions instantly
Unblock progress during labs and digital classrooms without breaking focus.
Deepen understanding
Get clear explanations of AWS services, trade-offs, and real-world applications.
Receive hints and explanations
Guidance for code, troubleshooting, and complex concepts in context.
Learn without judgement
Ask anything in a private, supportive space free from peer pressure.
Challenges
Lack of Real-Time Support
Learners in digital classrooms and labs didn’t have immediate help when stuck, unlike instructor-led training with live Q&A.
Knowledge Retention
Training often felt one-way and transactional, creating gaps in reinforcement and confidence.
Scattered Resources
Learners had to leave their training flow to search for answers, disrupting focus and progress.
Insight & Strategy
We envisioned the assistant as a personal study coach: approachable, clear, and context-aware. Three strategies guided design:
Awareness & Onboarding
Surface value early with contextual prompts and zero-state guidance.
Iterative Refinement
Continuously tune tone, detail, and UI based on learner feedback.
Accessibility & Inclusivity
Ensure usability with screen readers, keyboard nav, and WCAG guidelines.
Execution
Design Leadership
Drove end-to-end UX, from wireframes through high-fidelity prototypes, aligning daily with PMs and engineers.
Onboarding
Created a simplified first-use experience that introduced prompts based on training context.
Feedback Loops
Added thumbs up/down plus predefined categories and “Other” for more nuanced learner input.
Interface Design
Delivered a clean, unobtrusive chat widget integrated into labs and classrooms with contextual awareness.
Accessibility Advocacy
Marked up designs for a11y, ensuring compatibility with screen readers and inclusive patterns.
Designs
Example Scenario
Sue learns with real-time support
- While completing a lab, Sue highlights a line of code and asks the assistant what it does. She gets a clear explanation with links to AWS docs.
- During a course, she asks for a hint on a tough question and receives guidance without breaking her study flow.
- When reviewing concepts, Sue uses the assistant to reinforce tricky topics with simplified explanations.
- At the end of the week, she sees how the assistant’s support helped her complete more labs with confidence.
