Each month is full of its own unique errors, bugs, low test scores, and confusing explanations. And each month we tackle these head on, knowing that each step is one more closer to making a better test prep product for our students. With nearly 2,000 questions coming in last month, and a holiday to boot, we were able to keep satisfaction high, and help students work towards their final goal—university!

Stoke—By the Numbers

We are an ambitious bunch here at Magoosh. Our goals are big and are dreams even bigger. Whether we set our sights on building content for new flashcard apps, on expanding the Magoosh community in social networks and face-to-face networks, or on aiming for a revenue goal, our diverse set of interests and skills helps us get there.

When it comes to helping our students, we set a high bar for success. We aren’t satisfied unless 98% of Magooshers are happy. This month we missed our goal, which means that next month, if we don’t want coal in our stockings, we need to double down and make an effort to be better (And we are on track. We had 10 days straight of 100% satisfaction in December! But I am getting ahead of myself. That’s for next month).

With every project and task, we have to consider trade-offs—quality vs. quantity, effort vs. benefit. Our goal is helping students improve their score, and this is a task that we do not take lightly. That said, we aren’t rushing to answer each question at break neck speed (unless someone can’t access their account or it’s Thanksgiving and you’re our Founder…more on this later). We are happy to reply to 86% of our student’s questions, coming in from around the globe, within 24 hours. But we’ll keep looking for ways to improve.

Comparing us with other education companies is not quite honest. The type of support that we provide goes beyond technical bugs and errors, which is the general rule for other education companies. We offer our students support on how to study and prepare for the test. A person takes the time to understand the student’s issue with a practice problem or to analyze the student’s account to think of ways they can improve in reading comprehension. That’s why we have so many more requests than other companies (1,823 vs. 305). Again, just another way to keep the stoke high and help students reach their goals.

Stoked Customers

Phew! We are through the numbers and now on to the good stuff.

As a teacher, I was always able to make micro-adjustments to explanations on the fly. By watching student reactions, reading confused looks, or just by prompting students, I was able to give a better explanation than I could have by myself. Now that my teaching takes place in front of a computer, it’s a challenge to predict what the best explanation will be, to know exactly what the student needs. Same goes for building a product. You never know if it really will help until it is released into the wild and students start using it.

That’s why I love seeing all the feedback that comes in. It’s a reminder that things are working, or are not working! Nothing quite stokes us like these messages.

I mentioned our founder earlier as an example of someone who is eager to reply to a student’s question. Definitely a case of passion > balance. Here is a perfect example from Thanksgiving Day. It turned into quite a fun interaction.

Initial Request

Rating with Comment

After the Rating

Stoked Customers on Twitter

We find stoked students all over the place 🙂

GRE = DEFEATED! Thanks #Magoosh!

— Sarah Evans (@Clout_Control) November 6, 2013

The rigor of @MagooshGRE and @MagooshGMAT math prep is tremendous. Covered trig and stats over one week and seeing the gains I needed. #FF

— Rich Richards II (@Rich_Richards) October 11, 2013

If you’re an #slp2b and studying for the #GRE, I highly recommend Magoosh. Silly name, seriously awesome. http://t.co/97aFjSs3Xc

— Sara F. Pool (@LeRainInSpain) October 7, 2013

The app for magoosh gre flash cards is my new bff

— Rouge L. Salvatore (@rougette66) October 18, 2013

Staying Stoked

Satisfaciton is ephemeral. It can’t be sustained forever and requires hard work. We are looking forward to the hard work of keeping Magooshers happy in the coming year! I’ll leave you with a quote from Gandhi to ponder until next month:

“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”