Abstract

Currently, the Open edX platform lacks a convenient feature to save courses for later. Students Browse the course catalog often discover many potentially interesting courses but may not have the immediate opportunity or time to enroll. Without a "Favorite Courses" feature, there's a high probability that students will forget or lose track of courses they'd intended to revisit, leading to missed learning opportunities. In addition, we have already had an interest in this functionality on the Open edX forum: “Favorite courses” list in Open edX.

This initiative proposes to implement a "Favorite Courses" feature. We propose to add an intuitive "Add to favorites courses" button (or a corresponding Paragon icon button) to both the course card and the "Course About" page (we already had an issues for this in Paragon - https://github.com/openedx/paragon/issues/1408, https://github.com/openedx/paragon/issues/1406 ). If a student finds a course that interests them but isn't ready to start it right away, they can click this button to save it. This action will store the course in their personal "Favorite courses" list, which will be accessible via a new page within the Account/Profile Micro-frontend (MFE).

This new feature will significantly improve the user experience for Open edX students. It will give them the flexibility to plan their studies more effectively by adding courses to their "Favorite Courses" list and returning to them whenever they're ready.

Context & Background

To fully grasp the value of the proposed "Favorite Courses" functionality in Open edX, let's look at the current User Experience (UX) gaps:

1. Students typically begin their Open edX journey in the course catalog. This catalog can be vast, holding hundreds or even thousands of courses on diverse subjects. Learners often spend considerable time browse and filtering this catalog to pinpoint courses that align with their interests and, crucially, their goals for developing specific competencies.

2. Imagine a student exploring the catalog who discovers several intriguing courses, but:

   • They're already enrolled in another course and lack the immediate bandwidth for a new one.

   • The course hasn't started yet, but the student wants to remember it for future planning of their learning path.

   • The course requires prerequisite knowledge or competencies the student plans to acquire later. In a Competency-Based Education (CBE) context, this is especially vital as learners often "collect" competencies from various sources.

   • The student is simply comparing several courses that could help them achieve a particular competency before making a final decision.

3. Currently, if a student doesn't enroll in a course immediately, they're left to remember its name, save an external link, or search for it again later in the catalog. This is inconvenient and often leads to interesting courses being forgotten or becoming difficult to relocate amidst numerous other offerings. This directly hinders a student's ability to form individualized learning trajectories, a cornerstone of CBE. The absence of a simple "save" mechanism for later consideration means the platform potentially loses opportunities to convert a student's initial interest into actual enrollment. Students might simply leave the platform if they can't easily "postpone" a course for later.

4. The current design leans heavily towards instant enrollment or immediate course starts. This doesn't always align with the behavior and needs of modern online learning. This is particularly true for the CBE model, where users often plan their learning in advance with a view to acquiring specific competencies, and may return to a course at multiple stages of their development.

For new learners who are just starting to get acquainted with the Open edX platform and its courses, the problem is even more acute. New students may feel overwhelmed by the volume of courses available and not know how to effectively manage their potential interests. The "Favorite Courses" functionality will significantly reduce cognitive load and make the process of exploring courses more engaging and less frustrating.

Scope & Approach

This initiative focuses on improving the UX by implementing "Favorite Courses" functionality at key points of interaction with courses on the Open edX platform.

Specific elements included in the scope:

1. “Add to favorites courses” button:

• This button (or a corresponding Paragon IconButton) will be strategically integrated onto the Course About page (placed either next to the "Enroll" button or in another logically prominent location) and inside the Course Card component (Index/Home, Course Catalog pages).

• Upon clicking, the course will be added to the student's personal "Favorite Courses" list. The button's color or state will visually change to indicate the course has been successfully added. A second click will seamlessly remove the course from the list.

2. New "Favorite Courses" Page:

• This dedicated page will display a comprehensive list of all courses the student has marked as "Favorite."

• Students will have the ability to easily view, manage (including removing courses from the list, and eventually filtering or searching), and directly enroll in courses from this centralized "Favorite Courses" page. This page will be accessible within the Account/Profile Micro-frontend (MFE).

3. Notifications about changes in “Favorite Courses”. The system will actively track and monitor critical parameters for all courses marked as "Favorite" by students. The student will be sent summary emails summarizing all changes to selected courses, providing a clear overview in one place. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Content changes: Updates to course modules, lectures, assignments, or learning materials.

• Course parameters: Modifications to the course name, description, duration, or other meta-information.

• Pricing adjustments: Any changes to the course price, including discounts, promotions, or increases.

These notifications will be delivered to students, ensuring timely and relevant information, both within the emails and via mobile push notifications.

Out of Scope/Future prospects

• Enhanced management capabilities for “Favorite Courses”lists (e.g., creating multiple lists, tagging courses in the list).

• In line with the Dedicated Enrollment Page Editor in Studio to Enhance Course Discoverability for Learners proposal, which proposes improvements to the “About Course” page, including learning competencies, based on what a student has added to the “Favorite Courses” list - the learner-dashboard page can recommend courses that provide competencies according to the types of competencies of the courses found in the “Favorite Courses”. Furthermore, leveraging the notifications for courses in the "Favorite Courses" list, it becomes possible to inform students about changes in the competencies and skills offered by the courses they've favorited. This will ensure students are always aware of the most current content and development opportunities provided by their chosen courses.

Value & Impact

• Reduced Cognitive Load & Frustration. Students currently face the burden of manually tracking interesting courses. "Favorite Courses" eliminates this, making the discovery process less overwhelming and more enjoyable, especially for new users.

• Enhanced Study Planning & Flexibility. Learners can strategically plan their educational journey by saving courses that align with future goals, prerequisites, or competency acquisition (especially vital in CBE models). This fosters a more flexible and less rushed learning environment.

• Preventing Missed Opportunities. By providing a reliable way to save courses, the feature ensures students don't forget or lose track of valuable learning content, maximizing their potential engagement with the platform.

• Improved User Experience (UX). A streamlined "save for later" option is a widely expected and highly valued feature in modern online platforms. Its absence is a current UX gap that hinders intuitive interaction.

• Enhanced Engagement Through Proactive Notifications. A key component of the "Favorite Courses" functionality is the integration of a robust notification system. Beyond simply saving courses, students will receive timely and relevant updates to their favorited items. This addresses a critical gap in the current UX: the lack of dynamic engagement with saved interests.

  For instance, imagine a student favoriting a course they're keen on, but it's not starting for another month. With the notification system, they could receive an email notification saying: "Heads up! Enrollment for 'Introduction to Data Science' closes in 2 days. Don't miss your chance!" This proactive communication prevents missed opportunities and empowers students to act on their learning intentions. This significantly boosts the likelihood of conversion from interest to enrollment, by providing students with the actionable information they need, exactly when they need it.

Implementation Plan

Milestone 1 – Detailed Design & Technical Planning

• Create high-fidelity Figma mockups

• Identify necessary backend API changes and data structure changes

Milestone 2 – Core Feature Development

• Develop and implement the necessary backend endpoints for adding, removing, and retrieving favorite courses

• Implement the button component for both the Course Card and the "Course About" page

• Create the new dedicated page within the Account/Profile MFE (including the functionality of search and filtration)

• setting up a notification system for courses added to "Favorite Courses"

Named Release

Verawood

Proposed By

Raccoon Gang

Additional info

• frontend-app-catalog

• Figma design for Catalog MFE