Creating Connection, Data, and Flow in a Fragmented Learning Experience
Reimagining the Platform
Context
At Impact Theory, we served a global member base through an e-learning and community subscription. But the customer experience was fragmented: content lived in Kajabi, community thrived (unevenly) on Facebook, and member behavior data was nearly impossible to synthesize.
Members were forming organic accountability groups, yet had to jump between platforms to connect, learn, and engage. We saw an opportunity to unify this experience into a single, branded digital ecosystem.
The goal: to centralize coaching, courses, live events, and community while deepening relationships and giving us data we could actually act on.
Challenge
Building an in-house, custom platform was ambitious - and ultimately unsustainable.
While we gained unprecedented access to behavior data and created several successful features (like the 24/7 Ignite Café and enhanced member profiles), the UX complexity created friction we couldn't ignore.
Despite our best intentions, the platform overwhelmed many members with too many choices and too much self-navigation.
Our resource-intensive onboarding and continuous development cycles became increasingly difficult to justify, especially as customer acquisition slowed.
Approach
As Engagement Strategist, I worked cross-functionally with product, dev, and customer support to bring our vision to life. My focus was on customer motivation, connection, and retention.
Key strategies included:
Gamification Systems: I designed a multi-path badge and points system, grounded in behavior psychology, to reward not just content progression but platform interaction, group support, and leadership. (We discovered ~50% of members were deeply motivated by these systems.)
Community-Led Engagement: We created space for members to form custom groups, host workshops, and deepen bonds via live events and an open “Ignite Café” Zoom room.
Member Profiles & Directories: One of our most celebrated features, these allowed members to self-express, find aligned peers, and feel seen—fueling group formation and relationship-building.
Content Decomposition & UX Copy: I led the copy and voice of the platform, reshaping complex content into weekly activations, emotional micro-moments, and connection prompts.
Ambassador Development Pathways: Our new system helped identify not just vocal participants, but high-contributing members who previously flew under the radar—turning them into spotlighted leaders.
Result
Boosted visibility into customer behavior: Our team could now measure time-on-platform, event attendance, group formation, and more - enabling better targeting and retention strategies.
Improved member connection: Group activity, DM use, and peer engagement increased during the first 90 days post-launch.
Enhanced onboarding rituals: Although manual, our high-touch onboarding compensated for platform complexity and increased early adoption.
Human-first platform features: Member profiles and group dynamics became emotional anchors for users, creating trust and meaning beyond content consumption.
Leadership development pathways: We built systems to support and recognize members for all types of contribution—not just the loudest voices.
However, due to mounting development costs and limited resources, we made the strategic decision to sunset the platform in favor of a streamlined third-party solution. This allowed us to reinvest energy in member experience, activation, and scalable support.
Takeaway
This project taught me that retention doesn’t live in features - it lives in feelings.
Even the most elegant product will fall flat if the experience is confusing, noisy, or too self-directed.
But when members feel seen, supported, and invited into something meaningful, they will stay, even when the tech isn’t perfect.
This initiative deepened my belief in building for emotional connection, clarity, and guided progress, not just features. It also showed me that sometimes the boldest move is knowing when to pivot—and bringing your lessons with you.
Recommendation:
Here's the thing about Ambra... she's the human version of 'challenge accepted.' At Impact Theory, I watched her turn impossible problems into 'oh, that was genius' solutions. No corporate BS. No ego. Just pure creative firepower and the rare ability to make everyone around her better.
Strategic brains meets actual human connection? That's her superpower.
-Lauren Tassie, Marketing Strategist