As Moraa expanded from single live events to full-fledged courses, it became clear that our existing planning tool was no longer sufficient.
This case study walks through how I reimagined the planner experience.
Team
Product Designer (me)
My Role
UX Design, Interaction Design,
Prototyping
Duration
2 Weeks
PROBLEM
There are three major gaps in the current experience:
Limited Scope
Heuristic Issues
Starting from Scratch
SOLUTION
Enabled course-level planning.
Reduced user friction by offering plan import, templates, and flexible modular editing.
Balanced structure and flexibility, allowing both first-time and expert users to plan in their preferred style.
CONTEXT
Moraa is a platform for professional development trainers — including industry experts, subject matter experts (SMEs), and workshop facilitators — to create content and conduct interactive live sessions.
USER RESEARCH
Before jumping into solutions, I needed to deeply understand how trainers think about planning across entire learning journeys.
I started by creating a mind map, mapping out different user goals like "organize sessions," "blend live and self-paced activities," and "reuse existing material."
Through secondary research (reviewing user interviews from our target users), I discovered that 70% of the trainers preferred starting with a rough outline first, then layering details in stages.
Planning needs to support both top-down (big picture to detail) and bottom-up (activity first, then grouping into sessions) approaches.
DISCOVERY
Facilitators: Seek flexible tools to adapt session flow based on audience engagement.
Industry Experts: Want to package their expertise into repeatable learning formats.
SMEs: Need to organize complex knowledge into structured courses/workshops.
DISCOVERY
There are 3 main JTBDs as uncovered from the user interviews.
DISCOVERY
Summarized below are the key user pain points and features/aspects that they would benefit from.
COMPETITOR RESEARCH
To ground my ideas in real-world patterns, I conducted competitive research into tools like Butter, Gatheround, SessionLab, Teachable, and Sana Labs.
Insight Gained:
While structure was a must-have, users got most excited about flexibility and speed — being able to quickly move modules around, duplicate existing plans, and visualize progress.
Based on this, I knew my design had to offer both structure + flexibility, without locking users into rigid flows.
COMPETITOR RESEARCH
I plotted them on a Kano Model to classify what users would expect vs. what could delight them.
PROCESS
While Timeline-Based Planning, Linear Planner, and Template-Based Planning each offered specific strengths, I ultimately chose the Flexible Modular Canvas approach because it best balanced freedom, scalability, and visual clarity.
Timeline-Based Planning worked well for strict schedules but risked rigidity for trainers building modular, nonlinear courses.
Linear Planners provided strong onboarding but felt too restrictive for experienced trainers who needed to jump across sessions.
Template-Based Planning accelerated early setup but could easily constrain creativity and required constant upkeep.
In contrast, the Flexible Modular Canvas empowered users to start anywhere, structure freely, and visualize their plan dynamically - accommodating both beginners (through scaffolding options) and advanced users (through modular editing).
Despite the risk of potential visual clutter, I knew I could mitigate it through smart UI practices like grouping, zoom controls, and template overlays.
PROCESS
Now with a clear direction on which option to go with, I mapped out the core user flow to guide the experience.
Planning is an iterative process. Users need to jump between levels, edit on the fly, and not lose their place. This realization became the blueprint for designing modular blocks, inline editing.
Takeaway
Planning needs to support both top-down (big picture to detail) and bottom-up (activity first, then grouping into sessions) approaches.
DESIGN
Interactive high-fidelity prototypes focusing on:
Dual-entry points: Start from scratch OR Import existing.
Modular blocks: Each session/module treated as editable blocks.
Flexible sequencing: Top-down and bottom-up flow possible.
Hybrid plans: Blend synchronous sessions with self-paced material.
Supports course level planning with ability to have self-paced sections
This supports varied planning approaches, aligning with user goals and requirements.
Reduces the initial friction of starting from scratch
This is intended to help users overcome the blank-page problem by offering options to import existing agenda files or generate a first draft with AI assistance. This reduces initial setup time and builds momentum to get started quickly.
Designed for flexibility in planning
The combination of list and map view gives crucial information about incident details and real time location on the map.
Interaction Design Patterns Used
Progressive Scaffolding
I have provided default starting structures to help users start and complete tasks more easily, rather than having a blank page that says "Add Module".
Drag-and-Drop Modular Blocks
This allows flexible reordering of sessions/activities. Accommodates iterative planning styles without forcing a rigid workflow.
Inline Quick Edits
This enables editing directly within the plan view (e.g., changing session titles, times) without breaking flow.
Edge-Cases
Considered
The planned time for the frames exceeds the total time for the session
I have provided default starting structures to help users start and complete tasks more easily.
The user leaves the planning mid-way
I have provided default starting structures to help users start and complete tasks more easily.
Appropriate warning before taking irreversible action
I have provided default starting structures to help users start and complete tasks more easily.
Enabled course-level planning by moving beyond single-event planning, supporting both live and self-paced learning formats.
Reduced user friction by offering plan import, templates, and flexible modular editing, thus helping trainers start faster and customize easily.
Balanced structure and flexibility, allowing both first-time and expert users to plan in their preferred style (top-down, bottom-up, or hybrid).
Good design makes complex tasks feel easy and keeps users in control
This project showed me how important it is to design tools that are flexible, not just functional.
By choosing a modular, visual approach, I could support both trainers who need structure and those who prefer more freedom.
Thinking through real-world edge cases helped me make sure the planner works smoothly, even when things don't go perfectly.