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Activity: The Learner-First Filter

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ART OF TEACHING @ CODEBASICS · SESSION 1 PRACTICE · LEARNER OBSESSION AND VALUES
The Learner-First Filter
6 real decisions from inside an edtech company. You just learned what teaching really is. Now decide: how will YOU call it when revenue and the learner pull in opposite directions?
Codebasics INC
How to play
1
Read the situation, each one really happens in an edtech company.
2
Pick the option you would actually choose. Not the textbook answer, your honest call.
3
Read why, then press Next. 6 scenarios, your score and a PDF report wait at the end.
SCENARIO 1 OF 6
The countdown timer
Sales are slow for the new bootcamp. Marketing proposes a countdown timer on the checkout page: “Price doubles in 24 hours!”, but the price won’t actually change.
How will you decide?
A.  Ship it. Every edtech company does this, and it demonstrably lifts conversions.
B.  Refuse. The only deadline we ever show is a real one, an actual cohort start date.
Reveal the learner-first call
Option B is the learner-first call. Principle: No fake urgency, no discount theater.

A fake timer converts a learner by lying to them - and a learner who discovers the lie never trusts your teaching again. Codebasics uses real deadlines only: a cohort genuinely starts on a date. If demand is weak, fix the course or the message, not the learner's fear.
SCENARIO 2 OF 6
Which metric do we optimize?
The product team can tune the course player two ways: maximize watch-time (autoplay next lesson, binge streaks) or maximize completion & outcomes (practice checkpoints that deliberately slow bingeing).
How will you decide?
A.  Completion & outcomes, even though the watch-time graphs will look worse in the board deck.
B.  Watch-time, more minutes watched means more learning and better engagement numbers.
Reveal the learner-first call
Option A is the learner-first call. Principle: Completion & outcomes over watch-time.

Watch-time measures attention captured; completion measures lives changed. A learner who binges 6 hours and builds nothing got entertainment, not education. What is good for learners is good for teachers - and for the brand that outlives any quarter's graph.
SCENARIO 3 OF 6
The “stupid” question
Live class, 30 people watching. A learner asks a question you answered clearly five minutes ago. You are mid-flow and the clock is running.
How will you decide?
A.  “As I just explained a moment ago...”, a quick recap, slightly pointed, so people learn to listen.
B.  Answer it fully and warmly, maybe with a fresh analogy, and thank them for asking.
Reveal the learner-first call
Option B is the learner-first call. Principle: No question is a stupid question.

If one learner asked, five more are silently stuck - the asker just had more courage. The moment a question earns even mild embarrassment, every question after it dies. Treat the learner as wounded with confusion; you are the healer, not the judge.
SCENARIO 4 OF 6
The struggling learner upsell
A learner at 12% progress emails: “I’m finding the basics hard.” Sales suggests this is the perfect moment to pitch the ₹35,000 live cohort upgrade, they clearly need more help.
How will you decide?
A.  Help them get unstuck first, free. Upsells unlock for engaged learners and are offered, never pressured.
B.  Pitch the upgrade now, more support is genuinely what they need, and the timing is emotionally perfect.
Reveal the learner-first call
Option A is the learner-first call. Principle: Honest value, offered - never pressured.

Selling to someone at their lowest moment converts desperation, not conviction. Codebasics gates upsells on engagement (about 30% progress) precisely so the upgrade is honest value for someone who is thriving, not a lifeline sold to someone who is drowning. First, help them swim.
SCENARIO 5 OF 6
Pricing the recorded tier
Live cohorts earn about 3.3x more per learner. Finance suggests raising recorded bootcamp prices sharply so more learners are pushed toward live.
How will you decide?
A.  Raise recorded prices, it protects the premium tier and nudges serious learners to the better product.
B.  Keep recorded affordable. It is the entry rung of an honest ladder; price every rung for what it truly delivers.
Reveal the learner-first call
Option B is the learner-first call. Principle: Affordable entry - sell the ladder honestly.

The recorded tier is how a student in a small town affords their first step - making it artificially expensive taxes the people the mission exists for. The ladder works because every rung is honest value: recorded feeds live because live IS better, not because recorded was priced to punish.
SCENARIO 6 OF 6
Impressive jargon
You are reviewing a new instructor’s lesson. Technically flawless, and packed with jargon that shows off deep expertise. Learners may feel a little dumb, but definitely impressed.
How will you decide?
A.  Send it back for rewrite: every term translated, every idea a notch simpler than feels natural.
B.  Keep it, authority builds trust, and learners should stretch toward the instructor’s level.
Reveal the learner-first call
Option A is the learner-first call. Principle: Simple explanations ARE the mission.

A learner who feels dumb doesn't stretch - they quietly leave. Codebasics exists to 'help people attain their highest potential through simple explanations.' Jargon impresses peers; analogies change lives. The instructor's image is never worth the learner's clarity.
The learner-obsession creed
✓  Completion & outcomes over watch-time, we measure lives changed, not minutes watched.
✓  No fake urgency, no discount theater, the only deadline is a real cohort date.
✓  Honest value on every rung, affordable entry, upsells offered to engaged learners, never pressured.
✓  No question is a stupid question, full empathy, always.
✓  Simple explanations are the mission, the learner’s clarity outranks anyone’s image.
✓  Raise the bar for every learner, that is what being the most loved learning platform means.
YOUR RESULT
– / 6
Complete the steps above
(If the buttons are not interactive in your LMS view, score yourself using the reveals above.)
When in doubt, ask: what happens to the learner?
Every policy above came from that one question. Carry it into every lesson, email and pricing meeting you ever touch.
Codebasics INC · Art of Teaching Crash Course · Session 1 Practice, Learner Obsession and Values