Codesign Product Research
Create edtech products that schools love through codesign research.
We match innovative edtech companies with aligned K12 school partners to conduct product development and evaluation research.
Benefits of Codesign Research
Get matched with a K12 school or educators in need of your solution.
Collect preliminary evidence of impact.
Build a school-centered, data-informed product roadmap.
Collect unbiased feedback from relevant school stakeholders.
Evidence from a third-party research organization.
Increase overall school satisfaction, adoption, and renewal.
Research Options
SBIR Research Partnership
Interested in applying for ED/IES SBIR funding? Leanlab Education offers the SBIR Research Partnership Program, supporting education companies in their journey to secure Phase I or Phase II funding and conduct further research. For the 2025 grant cycle, Leanlab will provide third-party research consultation, design, and partnership for a select few edtech companies as they submit their ED/IES SBIR applications.
Where is your company in the research journey?
We view research as an ongoing process of iteration, improvement, evaluation, and progress. We’ve designed our research offerings as a progression from studies that validate a product concept all the way to correlational studies that help explain the relationship between usage and outcomes. We work with early-stage companies who are starting with a demo; growing startups who want to improve their product's usability; and international companies that want feedback from educators to help build the best, most impactful tools.
More questions about
Codesign Product Research?
Fill out an intake form and schedule a time to talk!
How Our Research Process Works
1.
Drop Us a Line
Fill out an expression of interest form and tell us about your company and why you’re interested in research.
2.
Define research goals
We’ll get in touch to understand what you’re hoping to learn through the research process.
3.
Product Audit
Our team will evaluate your product and create a customized research plan.
4.
Match with a school
Depending on the needs of your research study, we will match you with one or more highly aligned schools in our AGILE Network of schools or educators from our Codesign Collective.
5.
Implement the study
After a match is made, our team will guide you and your partner school or educators through a research study.
6.
MAKE ITERATIONS
We’ll present you with a final research deliverable that includes opportunities for product improvements and results from the study.
Here's what our clients are saying.
Christie Chu
LitLab.ai
“I really appreciate Leanlab's commitment to truly partnering with teachers. They provide a truly collaborative process that engages teachers and edtech companies, which pushes edtech companies to build what teachers actually need..”
Ben Grimley
Speak Agent
“Leanlab knows exactly the kind of research that K-12 edtech companies need at their stage of development and does a stellar job of executing an impactful study.”
Edna Martinson
Boddle
“Leanlab's commitment to improving student outcomes and helping educators be successful is something that has been evident throughout the years, and their great approach to research that prioritizes the feedback of end users (students and teachers) is something that our team finds a lot of value in.”
Our clients and strategic partners
ESSA Tiers of Evidence Case study
Learn how Leanlab Education helps companies build ESSA-aligned evidence in this case study by the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology.
The Basics of Building Evidence
What does it take to develop an evidence-based edtech product? Deepen your understanding of the ESSA tiers of evidence and the codesign research process.
FAQs
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You must provide your solution to your school partner(s) at zero cost for the duration of the academic year, be available for and responsive to product feedback, troubleshooting, and modification, and attend codesign research meetings with the Leanlab team and the pilot school partner. You must also pay the agreed upon fees for service to cover the cost of the research study.
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Companies will have 2-3 codesign meetings with the Leanlab research team to establish the research plan. If technology integration with the school partner is necessary, companies will work with the school's IT team to set that up.
Companies that provide training for teachers or other end users would also be expected to give the training at the school's convenience. Once the study begins, companies are on "stand-by" for technological trouble-shooting.
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No, during the research process, our priority is helping you improve your product by connecting you with end users at schools.
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Leanlab's list of clients and strategic partners includes Logitech, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's education products, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Newsela, Sown to Grow, LitLab.AI, Digital Promise, Charter School Growth Fund, Reach Capital, ERDI, and more.
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Leanlab offers an IES/ED SBIR Phase II Research Partnership Program for select companies.
Leanlab is able to provide a letter of support and a custom research proposal based on the stage of your company. We can recommend the best research study to start with after conducting a Research Ready Audit. We are NOT able to provide letters of support from schools.
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Leanlab specializes in Codesign Product Research with K12 education partners and does not conduct research on products geared toward post-secondary learning environments.
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LitLab.ai Rapid Cycle Evaluation
Completed research is given exclusively to our clients and only shared with their permission. Additional publicly available samples of our research can be found here.