Website analytics revealed a critical disconnect: 70% of NCTQ visitors exited after finding basic district information—they got what they came for but couldn't explore further. This exposed a fundamental misalignment between NCTQ's mission and their digital infrastructure. While NCTQ's goal was influencing decision-makers like superintendents and policymakers to improve teacher quality, their systems were better suited to serve researchers only. Critical teacher policy information spanning over 150 district contracts, 50 state policies, and hundreds of preparation programs was trapped in dense reports and rigid databases, inaccessible to those who could most benefit from it.

The fragmentation ran deeper than suboptimal user experience. Custom-built systems prioritized internal data management over public access, creating a digital ecosystem that actively prevented NCTQ's research from achieving its intended impact. The organization had spent years collecting valuable intelligence that could inform better education policy, but the people with power to act on those insights couldn't access them effectively.

We developed a comprehensive digital strategy focused on user needs rather than internal workflows. This involved separating data management systems from public-facing platforms to enable better user experiences and creating a framework for standardizing databases to enable cross-platform analysis. Our AI development philosophy emphasizes human-AI collaboration, explainable outputs, and privacy-first architecture, ensuring that technology augments human expertise rather than replacing it.

Learn: Understanding the Disconnect

Conducted user research with in-depth interviews across multiple stakeholder categories. Analyzed website analytics revealing 70% exit rates and performed technical audits uncovering systems built for researchers rather than decision-makers.

Lift: Making Data Accessible

Complete website redesign to improve usability and integrate more intuitive navigation. Introduced mega menu connecting various microsites and established unified WordPress Multisite platform as foundation for future innovation.

Lead: AI-Powered Innovation

Building specialized AI models for teacher contract processing, conversational AI for natural language database queries, and user-friendly interfaces with advanced search and customizable dashboards for researchers, policymakers, and educators (in progress).

Scale: Human-AI Collaboration

Currently building an AI system designed to scale from 150 to thousands of contracts while maintaining rigorous quality standards. Provides natural language access to complex education policy data for non-technical users with transparent, explainable outputs.

We increased user engagement, improved data accessibility, and established a foundation for ongoing innovation. We built a scalable framework that evolved from basic data access to AI-powered systems providing natural language access to complex education policy data.

Research once inaccessible now powers AI that helps answer complex teacher contract policy questions. Data is now accessible to superintendents seeking to improve teacher retention, districts making budget decisions, and policymakers crafting legislation. We focused on building technology around human needs rather than technical capabilities to create tools that actually get used.