By: Megan Walker, Director of Product Planning
This article offers guidance and examples of how to make sure your PIE item has all the information D2L needs to effectively review and triage it.
Submitting the perfect PIE
You have a great idea for our Product Idea Exchange, now how can you ensure that submission is as effective as possible? Here are some tips:
- Search! Great ideas can be contagious, and it’s common for another customer to have already submitted something similar. Before adding your own PIE item, please use the search feature to check if your idea already exists. PIE uses AI to help identify possible duplicates.
- Review the PIE Guidelines
- Submit new product ideas only
- Stick to ideas, not general commentary
- Not every idea can be implemented
- Implementation takes time
- Focus on the problem you're solving
- Keep it respectful
- Review the examples below for "Perfect PIEs" and an "Under-baked PIE"
- Submit your unique idea by filling out the PIE submission form!
Thank you for sharing your ideas to help make Brightspace better!
Perfect PIEs
Example 1:
Title: Ability to restrict external learning tools by role
Category: Evaluations (i.e. rubrics, outcomes, quick eval, awards)
What is the problem you are facing? (Indicate the job statement, struggle, context and desired outcomes)
As an admin I would like the ability to restrict access to external learning tools added via insert stuff by role. Currently we are seeing student using links that aren't specifically for them, no matter how well named the link is
When students are submitting assessments and under stress they choose incorrect links, specifically with assignments that need to be locked down, meaning that their submissions aren't secure and leading to an academic integrity risk for the UniversityI would like to see roles being applied to external learning links so that students can only choose those relevant to them
What value would you and your organization receive if this Idea was implemented?
The above example uses a jobs to be done statement which helps Product Managers understand the problem, key role and impact which is key in prioritization work during roadmap planning.
How are you accomplishing this today? We try to ensure links are well named, and student guides specifically mention the link to be chosen, but this is not really a suitable workaround
The above example uses a jobs to be done statement which helps Product Managers understand the problem, key role and impact which is key in prioritization work during roadmap planning.
Example 2:
Title: Open Rubrics by default when grading
Category: Evaluations (i.e. rubrics, outcomes, quick eval, awards)
What is the problem you are facing? (Indicate the job statement, struggle, context and desired outcomes)
Job Statement: We want grading with rubrics to become easier for faculty
Struggles: When grading with rubrics, the rubric will need to manually be opened
Context: Grading can be a long process, so anything that can make it faster/easier is best for faculty
Desired Outcome: When grading a student with a rubric, clicking on their name should automatically open the rubric
What value would you and your organization receive if this Idea was implemented?
Grading with rubrics would become easier for faculty, as it would be one less click per student as the rubric would start open
The above example uses the suggestion right from the submission form template which again gets at the same detail which helps Product Managers during roadmap planning. Even though there is no true workaround, the user has provided the information on what happens today to help understand how users are attempting to solve this.
Example 3
Title: Print Quiz
Product Area: Brightspace
What is the problem you are facing? (Indicate the job statement, struggle, context and desired outcomes)
As an Instructor I need to be able to print off a quiz to allow for learners that have an individual learning plan/accommodations for taking quizzes offline.
As an Instructor I need to print off multiple versions of my final exam to be taken offline. I need multiple versions so that learners sitting beside each other (in person) can not cheat off their neighbour's exam.
As an Instructor I need an Answer key to help me quickly and easily mark the offline quizzes.
As an Instructor I need to submit paper copy of my exams to my department head for our auditing requirements.
What value would you and your organization receive if this Idea was implemented?
This would allow me to more easily provide accommodations for learners with an ILP.
This would allow me to keep my final exam within Brightspace (to be re-used in future copies of course) but allow me to administer the exam in person on paper.
This would allow me to easily mark offline paper copies of quizzes/exams.
This would allow me to comply with my departmental auditing requirements.
In this example there are several jobs to be done which add helpful detail on the varying use cases for the idea.
Under-baked PIE
Title: I’m not used to this UI?
Category: Brightspace:
What is the problem you are facing? (Indicate the job statement, struggle, context and desired outcomes)
I was using a different LMS and my organization switched to Brightspace 2 years ago. The usability difference is huge. For example, in my previous LMS we had this one page where you could do everything at once — edit content, grade, message students, set calendar dates and make my grocery lists for me. It was all in one place. I don’t get why Brightspace doesn’t just have that. Can you create that one page. It would make my day to day so much easier as it’s what I’m used to.
Also, you need to overhaul your calendar functionality. It takes too many clicks to get my job done.