The canvas we all wanted
Brief
Canvas LMS is an educational platform widely used by schools to manage course content, assignments, and student/professor interactions. As a student who uses Canvas every day, I had plenty of thoughts on where and how the experience could be improved in order to make navigation faster, more intuitive, and more reassuring—all highly important in the realm of education where stress and clarity are paramount.
Team
Makena Lyle
Josie Welin
Focus
UI/UX Design,
Design Research
Duration
3 months
YEAR
2025
Initial Research
Where does Canvas fall short?
During our initial research, we explored which parts of the Canvas experience were actually working well for both students and instructors. Conversations with peers revealed that many students struggled with navigating the app and finding assignments/readings—largely because each class was laid out differently. When we spoke with professors, they shared that Canvas gives them a lot of freedom over what content to include and how to organize it, resulting in inconsistent experiences for students across courses.
Ideation and Down Selection
What are Canvas' users' biggest pain points?
During the ideation and downselection phase, we discussed many of our own pain points (we do use the app everyday, after all) and then polled classmates to see if they shared the same struggles. The most consistently reported issues related to finding & completing assigned readings, and with the overall assignment submission flow.
Checking Assigned Readings
The user starts by opening the class syllabus (note that certain professors put readings elsewhere though).
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the syllabus to check what reading is assigned for tonight.
Users might not even know they have anything assigned since they have to actively seek out reading assignments.
Even if users know there is reading assigned, they may not even think to look for it at the very bottom of the syllabus.
Turning in Assignments
When uploading files for submission,
the user starts here.
→
The user can select one file
at a time to upload
→
After uploading a file, the user can
see its name and size in the list.
The file submission drawer feels visually separate from the assignment page, possibly leading to confusion
Users can only upload one file at a time, requiring the file picker to be opened/closed multiple times
Users can't preview uploaded files before submission. Last minute previews assure users they've uploaded the correct files.
Design changes
Changes to the Dashboard
We've always found the “Dashboard” frustrating, mainly because the name is misleading. A dashboard should provide a clear, high-level overview of classes and relevant high-level info (like grades , assignments, and announcements), but Canvas’s current version only displays what classes you're enrolled in, groups, and optionally your grades (disabled by default). The current class cards are also large, but content-thin. Overall, the current dashboard page functions more as a set of shortcuts to class pages, rather than an actual dashboard.
In our redesign, we kept the layout familiar but added the features we, as students, always wished the Dashboard included.
Current Design
Design changes
Assigned Readings Flow
Assigned readings in Canvas are often overlooked because they don’t appear in the “To-Do” page alongside other assignments. Since Canvas doesn’t treat readings as their own assignment type, they’re typically buried in the syllabus, forcing students to actively seek them out. To make matters worse, the associated files are usually stored in a separate section of the app, requiring students to remember details like page numbers or file names while switching between disconnected parts of the interface.
In our redesign, we introduced a dedicated assignment type for readings, allowing professors to attach files and even specify assigned pages. The app now opens readings directly to the correct page—right from the assignment page. When students reach the end of the reading, they’re notified inline and can mark the reading as complete and exit to home in a single tap. We also added a mobile-friendly reader mode that converts PDFs to plain text with images, along with built-in annotation tools, making completing readings on the mobile app both easier and more accessible.
Select a reading—in this case "Chapter 12 Reading."
→
Tap "Open to Assigned Page" to be taken directly to the first assigned page of the file.
→
Tap the reader icon in the top right to quickly enable reader mode, improving accessibility.
→
A large "Mark Reading as Complete" button appears after the final assigned page.
Further research
Competitive Analysis
Before redesigning the turn-in flow, we analyzed top competitors like Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams for Education to understand how their submission processes differ from Canvas and identify best practices we could apply.
Strengths of Google Classroom
Simple chronological feed "Stream" makes navigation quick
App doesn't offer many features beyond assignments, files, and quizzes, making the app intuitive across classes.
Weaknesses of Google Classroom
"Stream" page could be overwhelming
Strengths of Teams for Education
Files are easily accessible from anywhere
Lots of sorting options
Weaknesses of Teams for Education
File often unorganized and in one huge list
Lengthy scrolling can make it easy to miss important readings
Turn-in Flow
Canvas' turn-in flow lacks key features that encourage user confidence and clarity. In the current design, students can only upload one file at a time, with no option to preview what they’ve attached before submitting. This often leads to frustration and uncertainty; users aren’t sure if they uploaded the correct file, or whether the submission was successful.
In redesigning the turn-in flow, we prioritized transparency and ease of use. We added support for multiple file uploads at once and added a clear preview step before submission, giving students that last bit of peace-of-mind right before they hit "submit".
Select an assignment—in this case "Zero G Flying Practice Worksheet."
→
Choose a submission type—in this case File Upload. You can now select multiple files at once.
→
You can preview your uploads before submitting, so you know you uploaded the right files.
→
A fullscreen animation and a toast pop-up make it 100% clear that the assignment is complete.
Storyboarding
Creating a Narrative
To help ourselves and our peers better understand our proposed redesigns, we created both narrative and technical storyboards. The narrative storyboard followed a fictional student, allowing us to explore the user’s actions and emotions throughout the redesigned experience while the technical storyboard gave us a better sense of how the redesigned flow might actually function.
Class Page Redesign
The class page within Canvas is currently just a list of pages in whatever order a professor so chooses. There are often more than twenty pages, including things like Campus Resources which just takes you to the schoolwide mental health resource page or Namecoach—a page where you can listen to audio recordings of how to pronounce other students' names. These pages are equal in hierarchy to pages like Syllabus, Grades, Files, and Assignments.
In redesigning the page, we aimed to restructure the content, featuring the most accessed pages—like Syllabus, Grades, Files, Announcements, and Assignments—far more prominently instead of buried behind pages and pages of lateral navigation.
