Empowering Educators, One Lesson at a Time

The Problem

Brilliant is all about turning people into world-class problem solvers. They provide a learning platform for those who want to master quantitative skills—think math, data, and the ever-growing fields of CS and AI. They deliver interactive lessons that cut out the fluff. The team behind Brilliant is over 100 strong, with folks based in San Francisco, NYC, and scattered across the globe, all working together to make learning as impactful as possible.

Brilliant for Educators is an extension of this mission, offering free access to Brilliant’s rich content to K-12 students and teachers worldwide. It’s not just about access, though—Brilliant for Educators provides educators with tools to invite students, organize classes, assign lessons, and keep tabs on student progress. But with all this functionality tied up in Brilliant’s core platform, they needed a serious revamp to give Brilliant for Educators the space it needed to grow.

Client Need:

The client needed to decouple both the onboarding experience and the educator admin tools. Brilliant needed to break Brilliant for Educators out of its current mold and build it as a separate entity, all while keeping it connected to the main platform. The challenge was to do this without disrupting what was already working, especially since Brilliant for Educators was tangled up with the rest of Brilliant’s codebase. They were looking for a partner to help bring this vision to life and ensure that Brilliant for Educators could stand on its own while still playing nicely with the rest of Brilliant.

The Plan

Our solution? Create a brand new Next.js application specifically for Brilliant for Educators. This way, we could lift and shift the necessary parts from the existing Vue 2 and Next.js codebases, ensuring everything looked and felt like Brilliant, but with the freedom to innovate and expand Brilliant for Educators without stepping on the main platform’s toes.

Traps and Challenges

This wasn’t your typical “start from scratch” project. Brilliant for Educators was already established and deeply intertwined with Brilliant’s core platform, so separating it out had challenges. We had to be super careful to avoid breaking anything in the process, especially when moving from Vue 2 to Next.js. Consistency was key—everything had to look and feel just right to make the transition seamless for users.

How We Fixed Things

• Frontend Development: We built the new Brilliant for Educators platform using Next.js and React, with Chakra UI handling the styling. This combo allowed us to create a responsive, sleek interface that mirrored the main Brilliant site, making sure users felt right at home.
• Backend Development: On the backend, we used Next.js alongside Supabase for the database. We utilized RLS (Row level security) from Supabase which fostered a “security first” approach. For deployments, we leaned on Vercel to streamline the process.

Signs of Success

Result/Impact:

We’re proud to say that Brilliant for Educators v2.0 was launched on schedule, just in time for the new school year. Educators now have a platform that’s not only easier to use but also packed with powerful tools to manage their classes and content. Brilliant for Educators is now a shining example of how educational tools should work—intuitive, powerful, and built to grow with its users.

Future Scalability

Looking Ahead:

Now that we have decoupled the platform from Brilliant, there are more opportunities to independently expand and enhance the tool with educators and students in mind. Brilliant for Educators not stopping here; there’s plenty more on the horizon:

1. Enhanced Progress Monitoring: We’re working on real-time updates that will let teachers see exactly how their students are progressing, down to the minute.
2. Content Navigation Enhancements: We’re refining the content navigation tools with improved UI, better search functions, and more accurate tagging—making it even easier to find the perfect lesson.
3. Educator Portal UI Improvements: We’re giving the Educator Portal a facelift, creating a more cohesive and seamless experience from start to finish.