From Solution-First to User-Centered
How the Alliance for Decision Education shifted their approach and created a scalable vision with Fabrik Labs
The Challenge
The Alliance needed a scalable way to bring decision-making skills into classrooms—but they kept reaching for solutions before fully understanding what teachers actually needed. Without validated user insights, they risked building tools that wouldn't work in real classroom environments. The team needed to shift from solution-mode to discovery-mode, embracing an iterative, user-centered approach that would reveal the real barriers to implementation and point them toward what would actually help teachers.
Key pain points:
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No clear indications of what’s next
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Jumping to solutions before defining the problems to solve
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Lack of clear user needs
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Tendency for scope expansion and goalpost moving
User-Centric Discovery — Continuous feedback loops through concept testing and focus groups
Lean Validation — Small experiments to test assumptions and pivot as needed
Clear Roadmapping — Defined stopping points and scope management throughout
The Solution
Fabrik Labs started by slowing things down. The team explored multiple potential directions before committing to building anything. Once a clear winner emerged—an AI-powered tool that could enhance teachers' existing lesson plans with decision education content—we moved into prototyping.
Our lean product team featured strong product ownership to keep stakeholders aligned and assumptions tested. The work moved through disciplined sprints with clear timeboxes and shared definitions of done. Rather than letting scope expand, we prioritized must-haves over nice-to-haves and kept communication transparent throughout. The result was a functional prototype built quickly, validated continuously, and designed to fit into teachers' existing workflows.
Rapid Discovery → Understanding users before jumping to solutions
Lean Prototyping → Small experiments with clear stopping points
Product Stewardship → Strong ownership that keeps teams aligned
The Outcome
The Alliance now has a working AI-driven prototype that enhances teachers' lesson plans with decision education content. It's not just a proof of concept—it's a tool they're using to gather feedback from real teachers, demonstrate value to funders, and drive internal alignment around what's next. More importantly, the project shifted how the organization approaches product development, proving that lean methods and user-centered thinking deliver results even in the nonprofit sector.
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Validated direction through real user feedback
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Functional AI prototype ready for testing
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Clear path forward for scaling impact
About the Client
The Alliance for Decision Education works to bring decision-making skills into K-12 classrooms across the country. Their mission is to help students develop the ability to make thoughtful, informed decisions—a fundamental skill often overlooked in traditional curriculum.
Industry
Education Technology
Services Provided
"
The tool itself is a great success, but the process we followed—and the proof to ourselves that we can do it—is almost equally as impactful.
Sara Smirnoff
Director of Education