[PRD/Requirements]: Sign-in/getting started flow

[tczerwinski726]

Description of the problem

Target Metric: Drive 10% increase in number of new potential learners who start their first lesson. (Decreasing the number of learners who never attempt a lesson)
Potential Secondary Metric: Drive 10% increase in number of learners with a logged in account.

Note: It would be great to have data that informs us whether the above is the right metric vs number of learners who complete their first lesson.

Problems:

Oppia attracts a steady stream of new learners, but a significant portion of them (Specific numbers coming) do not begin a first lesson after signing up or landing on the platform. This creates a drop-off at the very start of the learning journey, limiting Oppia’s ability to deliver educational impact and reducing long-term learner engagement. Without improving the rate at which new learners start a first lesson, we risk losing potential users before they experience the value of Oppia’s content, which in turn diminishes overall retention, learning outcomes, and donor confidence in the platform’s effectiveness.

Possible solutions / ideas for addressing the problem

Hypothesis

Potential User Stories:
As a learner, I want to feel confident, excited and successful when I first log into Oppia, so that I can start my first lesson.

As a learner who is an early reader, who may struggle to pick a first lesson, I want help getting through the selection process, so that I don't give up.

As a parent or learner, I want to understand the benefits of creating a logged in Oppia account.

As a learner with some skills, I want to easily identify the best topic for me to start.

As a skeptical learner who isn't sure they want to invest the time, I want to feel confident that I can make progress with a reasonable amount of effort.

Specific Candidate Ideas

• Refine the UX/features that support the first 5-10 minutes of a learner's or parent's time on the platform with the intention of driving learners to start their first lesson.
• Reduce cognitive load for deciding which topic to start with.
• Provide accommodations in the learner home page for early readers.
• Encourage learners to create an account by explaining the values of additional features for logged in users.
• Explore existing learner data for the placement quiz and determine whether it makes sense to promote it more.
• Beginner difficulty labels: Clearly mark which lessons are best for first-time learners.
• Simplified home screen: Instead of showing the full catalog, highlight 1–2 recommended lessons to reduce choice paralysis.
• Progress preview: Show how short the first lesson is (e.g., “~5 minutes to complete”).
• Start with motivational encouragement.

Any other relevant context/info

No response