Khan Academy AI-Native Learner Dashboard

A reimagined learning experience that transforms overwhelming educational navigation into personalized, AI-guided pathways for millions of students worldwide.

Redesigned Khan Academy's core student learner experience to support their AI-native platform transformation. I led UX and visual design efforts to create an intelligent dashboard that provides personalized learning direction, reduces cognitive overload, and seamlessly integrates AI tutoring capabilities through gamification.

Product

Web • Mobile • Responsive

Skills

• UX design

• AI integration

• Visual design

• Design systems

• Gamification strategy

• Cross-functional alignment

Timeline

6 months (Q4 2024 – Q2 2025)

Team

• Qasim Brown (Senior Product Designer)

• 1 Visual Designer

• 3 Engineers

• 1 Product Manager

Why Redesign?

Khan Academy's platform needed transformation to support AI-native learning experiences that guide rather than overwhelm students.

Our existing learner interface surfaced vast educational content across 842 courses, but lacked personalized direction, clear learning pathways, and intelligent adaptation to individual student needs. With 700,000+ students now using Khanmigo (Khan Academy's AI tutor) and projections exceeding 1 million by 2025-26, students needed a focused dashboard that could provide AI-powered guidance while maintaining simplicity and clarity across devices.

As the lead UX and visual designer, I created a dashboard experience that felt intuitive, personalized, and immediately actionable—especially for students juggling multiple subjects and learning goals. I collaborated with product, engineering, and AI teams to identify core learning behaviors and define scalable design patterns.

From this work, I identified five key focus areas:

01

AI-native learning guidance:
Students needed personalized next steps without losing control over their learning journey. The dashboard had to surface intelligent recommendations as part of natural learning flow.

02

Simplified navigation and clarity:
Many students felt overwhelmed by Khan Academy's content breadth. We redesigned the interface to prioritize clear learning paths, progress visibility, and quick access to relevant materials.

03

Cross-device learning continuity:
Students learn across phones, tablets, and computers throughout their day. The dashboard introduced responsive experiences that maintain learning momentum regardless of device.

04

Cognitive load reduction:
We simplified decision-making by introducing intelligent content curation, clear progress indicators, and streamlined access to help. The goal was "what should I learn next" without analysis paralysis.

05

Gamified motivation system:
Building on Khan Academy's existing gamification (badges, energy points, mastery levels), we made these elements central to the student experience—similar to Duolingo's approach—to drive sustained engagement.Intelligent Learning Pathways

I restructured the dashboard around personalized learning journeys rather than static course catalogs.

• Smart Next Steps shows shows AI-recommended activities based on performance and goals

• Progress Tracking provides clear mastery indicators and learning momentum

• Adaptive Content adjusts difficulty and pacing to individual learning patterns

Gamified Progress System

I redesigned Khan Academy's existing gamification elements to be central to the dashboard experience.

Energy Points Dashboard shows daily/weekly totals with visual progress bars and point history

Badge Achievement Showcase features tiered badges (Meteorite → Moon → Earth → Sun → Black Hole) with clear progress indicators

Mastery Level System displays visual mastery for each skill (Familiar → Proficient → Mastered) with streak tracking

Course Level Progression shows subject-specific advancement with milestone celebrations at levels 5, 10, 25, 50, 100

Mobile-First Learning Experience

A major goal was creating seamless learning across devices, especially mobile where students often study.

For students accessing Khan Academy on phones:

• Prioritized essential actions and progress in thumb-friendly layouts

• Maintained full functionality while reducing visual complexity

• Integrated gesture-based navigation for intuitive mobile learning

AI Integration That Feels Natural

I designed AI-powered features that enhance rather than complicate the learning experience.

Students can:

• Receive personalized recommendations based on learning patterns and goals

• Get contextual hints and explanations powered by Khanmigo AI tutoring

• Access adaptive practice that adjusts to their current understanding level

• Track intelligent progress that recognizes different types of learning gains

Visual Design System

Applied Khan Academy's design principles to create approachable, encouraging learning interfaces:

• Clear information hierarchy that prioritizes next actions over comprehensive overviews

• Motivational progress indicators that celebrate learning gains and effort

• Accessible color and typography meeting WCAG 2.2 standards

• Consistent interaction patterns across all learning tools and subjects

Engineering Collaboration

We worked closely with engineering teams to balance AI sophistication with performance:

• Real-time personalization without impacting page load speeds

• Offline capability for uninterrupted mobile learning

• Scalable recommendation engine supporting millions of concurrent users

Projected Impact

The redesigned AI-Native Student Learner Dashboard launched with Khan Academy's 2025 platform update. Projected impact measured via:

38% increase in lesson completion rates (58% → 80%)

• 69% more skills mastered per month (6.2 → 10.5 skills)

• 48% improvement in mastery challenge success (42% → 62%)

• 81% increase in learning path progression (3.2 → 5.8 levels/semester)

Note: These are projected 6-month post-launch targets based on industry benchmarks, user research, and Khan Academy's stated goals.

Impact

This redesign helps students navigate their educational journey with AI-powered clarity and confidence. As the UX and visual design lead, I delivered a scalable system grounded in learning science principles, reducing friction while enhancing educational outcomes.

The result is a dashboard that feels personal, intuitive, and built for how students actually learn—with gamification that motivates and intelligence that grows alongside their educational progress.

Interested in how this AI-native approach applies to other complex domains? Let's discuss designing intelligent experiences that truly serve user goals..

Interested in how this AI-native approach applies to other complex domains? Let's discuss designing intelligent experiences that truly serve user goals.