Alicia Quan and Sarah Mondestin interview Alex Darrow, Principal Designer at Microsoft Education.
Alex discusses his journey from a childhood love for gaming to leading the design of innovative reading tools at Microsoft. He shares his experiences working on reading products, including the development of the Reading Coach and Reading Progress tools that have become essential in classrooms, especially during the COVID pandemic. Alex highlights the importance of observing children's learning processes and emphasizes creating engaging, gamified educational experiences.
The episode also features a special guest, Alex's daughter Zoe, who provides her perspective on her dad's work and shares valuable advice for designers creating educational tools for kids.
Chapters
01:13 - Early Gaming Influences
03:04 - Career Journey and Academic Background
05:07 - Transition to Microsoft and EdTech
10:02 - Voice User Interface Design
12:11 - Hackathons and Product Development
19:17 - Reading Progress and COVID-19
27:01 - Future of Reading Coach and Gamification
31:34 - AI Hype vs. Panic: Where Do You Stand?
32:21 - The Role of AI in Education
33:57 - Advice for EdTech Designers
34:14 - Personal Literacy Journeys
38:01 - The Impact of Reading Progress and Flipgrid
42:02 - Lightning Round: Quickfire Questions
49:03 - Special Guest: Zoe's Perspective
👋 Follow us
UX of EdTech is a design studio that cultivates learning, creativity, and play.
LinkedIn ↗︎