How Western Governors University doubled their monthly active users

What we found was both an “Aha!” moment and a “Doh” moment. Many users, using correct credentials were getting an error message that prevented them from logging into the app. Why was this happening? That was our problem to solve.

Anthony Ranallo

Senior Product Manager

The challenge

WGU’s product team initially began using UXCam to track app metrics and better understand the app’s overall performance.

Before UXCam, the team lacked reliable data, relying instead on guesswork and assumptions. With UXCam, they quickly discovered a significant challenge: only 19% of the WGU student population, about 40K users, were actively using the app.

The team also discovered that many users only had a single session and never returned. With these findings in mind, the team turned once again to UXCam to understand the reasons behind such a low engagement.

They needed answers to key questions: 1. Why were so few students taking advantage of the mobile app offering? 2. Why did so many users fail to find value in the app?

The solution

The support and attention that our success manager gives us is one reason we continue to use the platform.

Anthony Ranallo

Senior Product Manager

The team filtered for the user’s first sessions with the app and discovered a critical problem: many students faced login errors despite using the correct credentials preventing them from accessing the app.

WGU needed to quantify this issue to understand its impact. Was it a minor glitch, or was it affecting a large number of students? To address this, the team used funnels in UXCam to track conversions from the login page to the home page.

The findings were striking: 61% of sessions were dropping off at the login page. To gain more granular insights, the team set up event tracking for all login attempts: both successful and failed login. Through a combination of funnels and session replay, they validated the hypothesis that login was a significant barrier.

Now that the core problem had been identified, further investigation revealed the root cause: The app only recognized "Active-status" students—those who had started their term. Consequently, students with portal credentials but who had not yet started their term were unable to log in.

WGU's actions & results

To solve this, WGU adjusted the login logic to allow "cleared to start" students to access the app. While the pre-term experience was not yet built into the app, these students were redirected to a web view of their web portal, enhancing their initial app experience and encouraging them to return as active users.

The results were impressive:

• Login Funnel Conversion: Increased from 61% to 95.6%

• Monthly Active Users: From 55,000 to 117,000

• User Reach: Expanded to 65% of the student body from the initial 19%

WGU continues to track login attempts and user engagement through custom events in UXCam, enabling them to proactively address issues before they escalate.

What’s next?

The use of UXCam is expanding at WGU, with adoption by leaders and departments beyond Ed Tech, providing valuable insights into user behavior across the university.

WGU aims to:

• Offer a more personalized user experience

• Introduce multimodal learning opportunities within the app

By continuously integrating insights from UXCam, WGU is committed to enhancing the educational experience for its students, ensuring they can access and benefit from their studies anytime, anywhere.