Microsoft's Assignments App is a leading learning management software used by teachers and students globally. As one of the original creators of the Assignments app, I had turned in hundreds, if not thousands of assignments in testing.

It was always the same. You click a button, and that's it. I thought, what if we could make this moment a little more special? What if we could make it fun? What if we could make it a celebration?

My initial objective was to just make the turn-in experience a little more fun. I wanted to create a moment of joy and celebration for students and teachers when assignments were submitted. I didn't know just how much of an impact it would have.

Concept Development: When brainstorming ideas, I considered confetti, fireworks, and ribbons. They were nice but lacking. After a few iterations, we realized that the animations needed to be more, well, animated. So we went a more engaging route.

Design: Teaming up with a well respected illustrator, we came up with characters and animations that would make you want to turn in your homework. I randomized them so students would get a different celebration each time.

Development: We created the animation in After Effects and exported them as Lottie files. I then built a system to randomize and dynamically load an animation after each turn-in. Having the animations show up correctly on all devices was a challenge, but the results were fantastic.

The introduction of Turn-in Celebrations led to a remarkable 30% increase in assignment submission rates. The feature received widespread acclaim from users, becoming the most loved aspect of the app. Its success was highlighted by extraordinary user stories, including a teacher who celebrated the feature by getting a tattoo of one of the animations!

This project underscored the importance of integrating user feedback into the design process and the powerful impact of adding playful elements to educational software. It demonstrated that enhancing user experience leads to not only increased engagement but also a stronger emotional connection with the product.

The Turn-in Celebrations feature in Microsoft's Assignments App exemplifies how thoughtful design and user-centric development can significantly enhance engagement and satisfaction. This feature not only met the initial objectives but also set a new standard for user interaction within educational technology platforms.