Learn About

Three questions to the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The challenge was to create 'a TA for every teacher and a Tutor for every learner' that was approachable, fun, and flexible enough to handle any question and learning level. We needed to spark curiosity and give users agency to pursue their interests, while also blending the flexibility of generative AI with the factual accuracy, trustworthiness, and diverse human perspectives found in Search. We wanted it to be truly educational (high quality, rich, linked to high quality sources) but also so fun that users would choose to use it instead of products that simply provide answers.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
Working through ambiguity to rethink human-computer interaction was a thrill. 'Erica the Explainer' and 'Sam the Socratic' were early LLM breakthroughs as they helped define the role of genAI for education. “Chalkboard” showed us how students could do work together with an AI, solving a math problem or exploring a map or annotated diagram. Leaning into pedagogy, and differentiating from other AI chats, led to the learning resources (Vocabulary, 'Did you know?', 'Test your knowledge'). A fun moment was when the AI invented a new learning resource “Stop and Think”, which we brought into the design. Our collaborative work style across Design, Engineering and Product Management, with everyone contributing across disciplines, was a highlight.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
In five years, we believe we'll be much closer to our vision of a 'TA for every teacher and a tutor for every learner.' We envision Learn About as a dynamic, personalized textbook, a powerful concept with the potential to transform education. We hope the project inspires other product and instructional designers to create experiences that are more visual, multimodal, and personalized. But we do hope to go beyond our current abilities, and imagine AI becoming a true learning partner, not just providing explanations and resources, but offering feedback and guidance to help people develop a true and deep understanding. Our ultimate motivation: helping everyone in the world learn anything in the world.