Building EduNugget: From UX Concept to Scalable EdTech MVP

EduNugget has just entered a new stage: its pilot program is now underway in a network of schools in Madrid supporting newly arrived immigrant students. To mark this milestone, we spoke with founder Jaime Delclaux about the research behind the product, the decisions that shaped its development, and what it took to turn the original idea into a working platform. 

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Katarzyna (TeaCode): Before we get into the product itself, could you tell us a little about your background and how the idea for EduNugget came about?

Jaime Delclaux (EduNugget): I worked as a business consultant for almost a decade, focusing on talent, people, and organizational transformation. I was designing training and learning programs for employees. After some time, I decided to make a career change and transition into UX design.

I went to the UK to do a Master's program. As part of any master's degree, you are encouraged to base your final project on a problematic space closely related to humanity, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Given my professional background and the fact that my mother is a teacher, I decided to address a problem within the education sector.

I spent about three months conducting research – talking to teachers, visiting schools, and running workshops. This highlighted a massive problem space that was simply not being addressed.

That research became the foundation for how EduNugget was developed. From the start, the product was co-designed with teachers, so their feedback played an important role in shaping the solution.

The project I built eventually won a UX Design award, though it had a different name back then due to patent processes. After getting the green light and securing finance, things took a serious turn. We started building the company and the product, which brings us to where we are today.

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TeaCode: What did that research show you?

Jaime: In Europe – and pretty much everywhere else – we are currently experiencing a massive influx of immigration. Whether it's due to the war in Ukraine, instability in South America causing a lot of migration to Spain, or instability in North African countries.

When these children arrive in a new country, they need to be integrated into the local classrooms. The problem is that there is no standardized European framework explaining how to integrate them. It’s entirely up to the specific country, the region, and ultimately, the individual school and teacher.

Let's say I move to Poland with my kids. The Polish teachers need to quickly figure out: What is this child’s level of mathematics? Is what they studied in Spain equivalent to the Polish curriculum?

Currently, teachers try to do their best, coming up with their own ad-hoc tests, but it’s very inaccurate. They simply don't have the standardized data they need.

So, from the very beginning, I knew my target user group was the teachers. Specifically, teachers working on the frontlines of education integration. It’s not for university professors; it’s for primary school teachers who welcome newly arrived immigrant children into their classrooms and need to quickly understand their academic level and language skills.

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TeaCode: EduNugget is quite different from a traditional learning platform. How would you explain what the product actually does?

Jaime: First, it’s important to clarify what EduNugget is not. It is not an educational learning tool. If you want to learn math or English grammar, there are plenty of apps on the internet for that.

EduNugget is a diagnostic educational tool. Think of it like the triage system in a hospital. When you go to the hospital feeling sick, someone first evaluates how sick you are, what the priority is, and where you need to be placed. That’s exactly what EduNugget does for schools.

The diagnostic starts with a standardized set of initial tests. Based on the student's age, they are assigned a specific test level, for example third-year primary school. These tests evaluate their global competencies, primarily in mathematics and language.

This allows us to make a 1:1 match between what they learned in their home country and the requirements of their new country's curriculum.

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TeaCode: But academic performance is only one part of that diagnosis. Why was it important to include the psycho-emotional side as well?

Jaime: Because you cannot address academic issues if you don’t address the emotional issues first.

A child fleeing a war zone might have high potential in math, but if they are experiencing severe anxiety or trauma, they won't perform well on a standard test.

So, the tool also evaluates the child's psycho-emotional state. We measure cognitive states of mind – like whether the child feels "safe" in their environment.

For us, those two sides have to be considered together. Academic performance alone doesn't necessarily tell you what a student is capable of or what kind of support they might need.

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TeaCode: Once teachers have that information, how does EduNugget help them interpret it and decide what to do next?

Jaime: The data is organized into a comprehensive Student Profile.

This profile gives the teacher a 360-degree view. It tells them: "This student belongs in the 3rd year based on age, and here is their exact level in math and language comprehension. Additionally, here is their current emotional state."

Based on this, the system provides suggestions. We gathered existing literature from school academics and child psychology to formulate these suggestions.

However, it is crucial to note that EduNugget does not intend to substitute the teacher's work. It is a support tool. We don't tell teachers how to do their jobs. We simply provide them with the missing data and suggest methods or reinforcements they might not have considered.

If a teacher sees that a student is academically gifted but suffering from high anxiety due to issues at home, they can tailor their approach accordingly.

After the initial diagnosis, the student joins the regular classroom. Teachers can then revisit the psycho-emotional assessment over time – for example monthly or quarterly – to see how the child is adapting and whether their emotional state is changing.

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TeaCode: You already had the visual concepts and user flows when you came to TeaCode. At that stage, what were you looking for in a development partner?

Jaime: What I was looking for was very straightforward. I was looking for a partner that could help me create a solid backend and address the system architecture.

For me, TeaCode was very important in its ability to design and properly map out a system architecture – a backend skeleton that could support scaling and further development.

There was also another aspect. Because I don't come from a software development background, I wanted the advisory skills of knowledgeable people and experts in their field who could advise me as I went through the different stages.

As you go through the development process, you realize that certain aspects sometimes are not the best to address right now. Sometimes it's better to completely eliminate a set of features that perhaps you had initially envisioned until you have an MVP in place.

That advisory part was also very important to me, and TeaCode really did help me with that.

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TeaCode: How would you describe the collaboration throughout the development process? What worked particularly well, and what could we have done better?

Jaime: In terms of how we worked day to day, things were very clear. The operational side of the collaboration worked well – how we communicated, how we went through meetings, and how we handled the different releases.

During the second cycle of development, there were some hiccups, and I think there are some lessons to be learned from that. At times, I felt I was getting mixed signals around expectations and the messaging could have been clearer.

That said, those issues were addressed and we pushed through them together. I never had the feeling that problems were being ignored or left unresolved.

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TeaCode: Looking back at the project as a whole, what stands out to you most about working with TeaCode?

Jaime: What stood out to me most was how clearly the team showed that they wanted to build the best version of what this could be. I never had any reason to doubt that.

When issues came up, I could tell that the team wasn’t happy to just leave them there – they wanted to understand what was happening, get to the problem quickly, and move things forward.

I got that sense throughout the whole project.

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TeaCode: And where is EduNugget today? What is the next big milestone for the product?

Jaime: Right now, our main goal is adoption by governments.

We are launching an official pilot program at the end of September in a network of schools within the region of Madrid. These are specific schools that participate in a government "welcoming program" for immigrant students.

The ultimate metric of success for us is adoption. We want this standardized framework to be officially adopted by regional governments in Spain, and eventually on a national and European level.

If we can standardize the integration process and reduce the societal friction caused when children are poorly integrated into new systems, that will be our biggest success.

TeaCode: It’s a really meaningful project, and it will be exciting to see where EduNugget goes next. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing the story behind it with us.

Jaime: Thank you. It was a pleasure.