1:1 with Berkeley College - Key Takeaways from our Customer Discovery Session

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We were thrilled to meet with the Berkeley College community for our first 1:1 Customer Discovery Session (CDS), engaging directly with administrators, educators, and students: three key Canvas user profiles. A huge thank-you to the wonderful team at Berkeley College for welcoming us to their Woodland Park campus and sharing their time and perspectives.

Berkeley College is a forward-thinking institution known for its career-focused programs and dynamic campus environments in New Jersey, New York City, and online. With a strong emphasis on innovation, flexible learning, and real-world experience, their approach aligns well with Instructure’s mission, making them an exciting institution to engage with and explore meaningful opportunities for collaboration.

While much of the EdTech industry continues to buzz about generative AI and advanced automation, conversations during our CDS surfaced a different priority for Berkeley College: simplicity and consistency in the teaching and learning experience. Administrators, educators, and students alike emphasized the challenge of balancing standardization with customization to support the diverse needs of departments and instructors. Students also highlighted their heavy reliance on To-Do lists and the mobile app to stay organized. Together, these insights underscore a clear need for solutions that are simple, dependable, and adaptable to unique instructional contexts.

The tension between standardization and customization in educator workflows

In our discussions with institutions, one core pressure that surfaced is the struggle between standardization and customization. This isn’t just a philosophical debate; it’s a practical challenge. One department we spoke with shared that 80% of their faculty are adjuncts and only 20% are full-time. For the smaller group of full-time faculty, customization is highly valued. But standardization proves far more effective for the majority of adjuncts who are balancing multiple responsibilities with limited training opportunities.

At the same time, institutions are asking for ways to refine this balance with greater granularity in the Blueprint process. They shared that even more lockable features would allow leaders to preserve consistency where needed while giving faculty targeted flexibility.

Group of Berkeley College CDS participants engaged in a workflow mapping exercise using sticky notes.

Instructor pain points in course setup

To better understand where technology could ease instructor workflows, we asked faculty to walk us through current pain points at the start of each term. Common issues include:

• Cleaning up announcements or other time-sensitive content from previous terms.
• Consistently searching for and remediating broken links.
• Re-adjusting third-party tool placements, which differ by instructor and create student confusion.

Inconsistent setups, particularly around home pages and modules, compound these challenges. Leaders emphasized that when students encounter different structures across courses, confusion and support requests rise sharply.

Yasi, one of our Product Managers, reviewing prioritization exercise results and comments.

The larger impact of course design and educator workflows

While each task might seem minor in isolation, together they demand significant time and attention from instructors. If overlooked, they can directly affect the quality and consistency of the student experience. Ultimately, the most impactful technology solutions will be those that prioritize consistency and reliability, while making it easier for educators to carry course details forward term to term.

A CDS participant engaged in a priority mapping exercise.

Students are open to educator uses of AI in education, but there’s a catch

One of the most surprising findings was students’ openness to their instructors using AI to assist with key activities such as grading. Given widespread debates about students using AI, this was an unexpected perspective. However, this acceptance is highly conditional and comes with critical caveats.

Students’ willingness hinges on the assurance that the technology is an assistant or tool, not a replacement for their instructor’s expertise or attention. A primary concern is that AI feedback is inherently “impersonal.” When an instructor was asked how to make a machine’s feedback feel more personal, she articulated the core challenge: “I don’t know, it’s a machine so it can’t really be personal.” Students in the course largely agreed with this sentiment. Students also pointed out the clear double standard at play, which can erode trust if the AI technology is used improperly.

This reinforced the position that Instructure is uniquely positioned to solve. AI-enhanced tooling isn’t going away any time soon, and ultimately it can be a powerful tool to boost efficiencies in many common teaching and learning processes. It is up to us to help instill proper use cases for utilizing AI-enhanced technology, promote ethical utilization, and build products that make AI use highly visible when used. We will continue to keep these insights top of mind as IgniteAI Grading Assistance, and other features, progress.

Prototype Findings

We also shared design concepts, from course-setup workflows to a reimagined Student Dashboard. These conversations gave us valuable insight into what faculty and students need most.

Faculty on course setup: We tested two prototypes to help instructors prepare their courses. One was a powerful, chat-assisted course setup. The other was a guided setup wizard with a simple, step-by-step approach.

Feedback was clear - the wizard won. Participants described it as “more intuitive,” with the structured flow making it easier to avoid mistakes and get courses ready quickly. For busy educators, the wizard’s value wasn’t in offering more power, but in reducing the time and cognitive load required to set up a class. It ensured consistency, prevented common errors like broken links, and ultimately offered a reliable way to start the term strong.

Students on the Dashboard: Students also previewed a new take on the Dashboard. They reaffirmed how central the Mobile App and To-Do list are to their daily routines, and highlighted some of their most common challenges that we’re in a position to help solve for:

• Difficulty finding instructor information contact across courses quickly, leading to delays in asking questions or getting help.
• One-stop-shop offering important information like grades or key coursework. It can be buried or overlooked, making it hard for students to stay on top of priorities.
• Having to check multiple courses for announcements, resulting in students missing critical course updates.
• Video conferencing details scattered across emails and calendars, making it hard to keep track of when and where to join live sessions.

Across both groups, one theme stood out: simplicity and clarity matter most. Faculty want straightforward tools that save them time, while students want a dashboard that makes it easy to stay organized and connected. These learnings help guide us toward solutions that make everyday experiences in Canvas both more reliable and more intuitive.

Zoe, one of our Product Managers, reviewing student feedback during the Dashboard prototype discussion.

The power of listening

These takeaways share a common theme: the most valuable insights don’t come from speculating about the future of technology, but from listening directly to the people who use it every day. In this case, their feedback revealed that the institution’s core challenge is balancing the need for standardization with the desire for customization. Their voices consistently pointed toward a fundamental need for simplicity, consistency, and reliability over flashy, complex new features.

How can AI tools, with their unparalleled power and efficiency, be designed to meet the practical needs of an adjunct instructor fixing broken links late at night, or a student simply trying to find a professor's email? These crucial insights will significantly influence future design concepts and strategies.