New Year, New UI: Blackboard’s Refreshed Course Experience Delivers Results
Hello, February—the month when New Year’s resolutions perish. Needless to say, the gym is already a lot quieter than it was a few weeks ago.
In a welcome showing of resolve, however, the Blackboard® product team is sticking to its own New Year’s commitment: a “low on clicks, high on learning” diet.
And unlike most resolutions, this one delivers measurable results. Our first round of system navigation updates went live in the January release, instantly simplifying the user experience.
What changed?
To recap, the refreshed user interface features:
- Simplified base navigation
- Full-screen course view to replace course panels (a Blackboard exclusive!)
- A course switcher that allows students to easily pass between courses without having to backtrack through menus
This short video shows the new experience in action:
What are the results?
Amalgamated product data, extracted with the help of our terrific partner Pendo, shows that these new features are already significantly improving the user experience.
In the first month, we’ve seen:
- A 28% reduction in accidental exits since removing the close action
- Strong adoption of the course switcher:
- 51 million feature clicks
- Used by 92% of accounts
- 41% reduction in journeys back to the main courses page, demonstrating that users are staying in flow and navigating more efficiently
- Improvements in course consistency:
- 90% increase in clicks to add a course banner
- A huge reduction in error clicks:
- 41% on the courses page and 48% on the activity stream, indicating clearer, more intuitive navigation overall
When combined, these changes have increased students’ time on the course content homepage by 68%. Fewer clicks = fewer interruptions = better learning.
We’d like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of our great institutional partners for their support of these updates. Your feedback through the development process has been fundamental to the refreshed interface, and we’re delighted to see feedback from users reporting their positive experiences:
“Love these changes. The whole experience just seems more snappy!”
–Faculty Leader, United States
“The Blackboard experience is excellent and easy to use.”
–e-Learning Leader, Latin America
“I like the Course Switcher; this new thing seemed intuitive to me.”
–Instructor, United States
What’s next?
To close, don’t forget we have a series of additional usability improvements to roll out across 2026. These include further iterations to the Blackboard course experience, as well as a similar overhaul of the gradebook, providing instructors with more screen space and fewer clicks when assessing student work.
Initial results clearly point to the link between UX and learning outcomes, and we’re working tirelessly to ensure that Blackboard continues to set the standard.
These updates to usability in Blackboard have received a terrific reception at this week's roadmap webinars. If you missed it, no worries - the recording will soon be available on the Community.
Simon Warwick
