Waterford Institute is a nonprofit, research-based educational technology company that creates adaptive learning curriculum products. During my 12 years as Waterford’s Creative Director — and Product Director, Design Director, and Producer — I oversaw the design, development, and direction of its learning products. These Waterford galleries showcase just some of the work produced by the Creative Media + Education Group during my tenure.

Designed as an online adaptive learning program for 2- to 8-year-olds, this subscription-based, at-home product delivers a complete blended curriculum of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social skills (character education modeling).

Roles: Product/Design Director · Creative Director · Producer

An adaptive computer-based learning program originally intended for kindergarten to 2nd-grade students in a school setting, this product is comprised of a comprehensive curriculum of English language arts, mathematics, and science.

Roles: Creative Director · Producer

An online adaptive assessment suite for pre-K to 2nd-grade students, the early literacy module consists of 11 skill areas, including: letter recognition, letter sound, initial sound, blending, segmenting, sight words, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.

Roles: Product/Design Director · Creative Director · Producer

A compilation of non-product specific work, including: corporate branding, marketing initiatives, sales presentations, Institute-sponsored conference experiences with supporting materials, and corporate processes, procedures, and training development.

Roles: Product/Design Director · Creative Director · Producer

The development of each of these highlighted projects spanned multiple years, from initial research and design through to production, testing, and release. The primary goal of each of these projects was to develop a pedagogically sound, high caliber learning product that was engaging and motivating for students and that was easily administered by teachers, computer lab managers, parents, and/or caregivers.

We employed iterative (agile) design and development processes and developed strict standards & style guides. Most importantly, we grounded each project in rigorous research and user testing. As is typical with edtech development, each project brought new challenges, which allowed us to further hone and expand our creative and technical skill sets and to continue strengthening our cross-functional, collaborative relationships.

In the role of overseeing the Creative Media + Education Group, it was my pleasure to work alongside such gifted teammates and the work in these galleries is a testament to their talents. This team was comprised of instructional researchers and designers, UX designers, concept and storyboard artists, scriptwriters, illustrators, photographers, animators, songwriters, sound designers, music composers, audio engineers, videographers, video editors, graphic designers, and web developers.

The images and videos in these galleries are just a sampling from Waterford Institute’s core learning products and initiatives. Concept sketches, wireframes, mock-ups, and prototypes, along with brief descriptions, accompany final product images to reveal the iterative design/production processes that were developed and the reasoning behind the work.