Lesson learned

What was committed

Mia will revise the first-run screen so a difficulty toggle appears before the listening sample, and redesign the progress ring on screen 2 so it is obvious what it is counting.

Why

In the design review nobody could say what the progress ring measured, and the difficulty toggle was decided as part of the listening-first onboarding flow that ships this month.

Done when

• Difficulty toggle shows before the first listening sample
• Progress ring has a label and counts lesson steps
• Updated flow is in the design file and signed off by design

Context

Learners who open the podcast in their first week churn at twice the rate of those who reach it later, because the episodes assume vocabulary they have not learned yet.

How we decided

The question

The new onboarding opens with a 2-minute listening sample followed by a comprehension check instead of a placement quiz. How should this flow handle learners who start with literally zero vocabulary? Should they even receive a listening sample?

Why it matters

Absolute beginners are the largest signup group. If the first thing they hear is a sample they cannot follow, we risk making them feel lost in the first minute instead of showing them the value of listening-first learning.

Options raised

• Skip the sample for self-declared beginners and go straight to first words
• Play a slower, ultra-short sample built only from cognates
• Keep the sample but frame it as a preview, not a test

Description

Priya Rao, the district admin who championed Saga at Northwind Academy, is leaving in two months with no named successor, and the renewal lands 90 days out.

Risk to mitigation