Challenge Accepted! Design a Class to Hook Students & Keep Them Coming Back
Learn how to craft and publish challenge classes that hook students and keep them engaged.
This one is for the Skillshare teachers out there! Lately we’ve been obsessed with what drives student engagement. You might have read our tips on How to Optimize Your Classes and Sparking Engagement with Skillshare Discussions. What do we see working time and time again? Daily challenge classes!
We already know Skillshare students love classes where they complete a specific project. Building on this idea, challenge classes are the most engaging, habit-forming classes on our platform. Ongoing challenges give your students a reason to start and continue to show up for themselves every day.
When students return on a daily basis, we know they are enjoying their time on the platform and gaining valuable skills and techniques. Welcoming your students back on the daily means more visibility, more engagement, and better earnings for you.
Ready to learn how to publish your first challenge class? Let’s dive in.
What is a Challenge Class?
A challenge class is another variation on a standard class. The overall structure is the same as a standard class, but centered on multiple projects (generally one per day) so the class is completed over a set time frame.
Challenge classes are great for providing multiple opportunities for practice, incentivizing engagement around projects, and goal-setting — it can be really meaningful to create a space for a student to commit to a learning goal and then give them incremental ways to achieve it.
Read more about how we define a challenge class here.
Why Students Love Challenge Classes
Our data show that challenge-style and project-based classes outperform others in engagement.
These classes have benefits like:
- Encouraging students to do, not just watch
- Offering clear goals and quick wins
- Giving overwhelmed students a clear idea of what to make next
- Building momentum through short, repeatable tasks that lead to new skills.
A great challenge class gives students the satisfying feeling of progress. Don’t just take it from us, Top Teacher Zaneena Nabeel has published some of the most successful watercolor painting challenge classes on the platform. She says,
“Four years ago, I published my first watercolor challenge. It was an experiment, but to my surprise it was a hit! Since then, I've created many more on various topics, all warmly received with great enthusiasm. I try my best to keep each day's lesson under 20-25 minutes to make them manageable. I also come up with artworks where the result is easily achievable… People love challenges, possibly because they help them build a routine and enjoy some daily painting time.”
Student projects also bring more students to your class. As prolific student Diana Vodjansky told us, “The student projects page has been the biggest gear for me to lead me where I want to go next.” Visibility is key!
Inspiration and Ideas for a Challenge Class
So, what does a great challenge class look like? See for yourself! Here are 5 of the top performing challenge-based classes we recommend watching for inspiration:
Digital Decluttering: 11 Days to Organize, Simplify and Streamline Your Online Life with Emma Gannon
Why we love this class: Emma takes what can be a daunting task and breaks it down into easy, manageable steps.
Why students love this class: One student, Calli, wrote, “I always get overwhelmed with all of the ways you can improve your relationship with the digital world and it was really nice to have one class where the teacher covers all of the basics.”
30 Days of Mini Watercolor Landscapes - An Art Challenge for Busy Creatives with Zaneena Nabeel
Why students love this class: Neelam wrote, “It’s mini landscapes and it just take 20-30 min each day from [my] busy schedule and it’s very manageable.”
Everyday Journaling: 5 Creative Ways to Document Your Life with Abbey Sy
Why students love this class: Eloise wrote, “Abbey's tips are easy to follow, her examples are inspiring, and her teaching style feels like a friendly nudge to pick up your pen and start.”
Draw Simple Daily: A Playful 30-Day Challenge to Unlock Creative Flow with Genna Blackburn
Why we love this class: Genna’s choice to use crayons makes this class feel fun and approachable.
Why students love this class: Angelica said, "Great class! It provides simple, actionable steps to help build daily drawing habits, boost inspiration, and fight perfectionism."
Gouache Landscapes: 7 Days of Sketchbook Practice to Develop Your Style with Claudia Melchor del Rio
Why students love this class: Em wrote, “I liked how Claudia broke a complex landscape into smaller and easier to handle pieces. There is lots of room to make the project my own.”
How to Design Your Own Challenge Class
Based on metrics and feedback from our Top Teachers, here are suggestions for how to design your new challenge class:
1. Pick a theme or skill. Make it simple, specific, and actionable. (e.g., "5 Days of Sketching with Pen & Ink.")
2. Keep it short. Ideally, each daily project should take no more than 20 minutes. Focus on one small win per day.
3. Tie each lesson to a project. Even if it’s tiny! This keeps students actively learning.
4. End the class with a recap. Celebrate what they’ve accomplished and suggest what to do next.
5. Before you hit publish, make it clear the class is a daily challenge. Find more specific tips about how to title and publish in the Help Center.
Boosting Engagement: Be the Community Leader
Bringing your students back to the platform means you should be inviting and reminding them to return, too. How can you be a good accountability partner to your students? Challenge classes thrive when students feel seen. Here are a few ways you can bring your students together:
- Ask for projects at the end of every lesson
- Comment or like every project you receive
- Start a discussion thread to gather students in one place
- Share a "First Action Step" in your project video to help students get started
The numbers speak for themselves:
- Trial students who got project feedback were 43% more likely to become paying members
- Students who posted and received engagement were more likely to renew their membership the following year
Want to grow your community? Start with daily projects, and continue by being present.
Promoting Your Challenge Class
Promotion doesn’t end with hitting publish. Here are some ideas to get your challenge out into the world:
- Start a class Discussion before you launch. Ask: "Are you ready to join my 5-day creative challenge?"
- Include a clear call-to-action in your conclusion video: “Post your final project in the Project Gallery”
- Share student projects in a Class or General Discussion post to build excitement and bring more students to the class.
How to Get Started
Ready to make your next class more engaging? Here are 3 steps to get started:
- Brainstorm 3 challenge-style ideas based on your niche
- Outline a 5- or 7-day class structure with a daily mini-project to each lesson
- Prepare your promotional messaging so you know exactly what you’ll say when you’re ready to publish the class.
Want a head start on planning? Try out the Skillshare Class Planning Template.
We can’t wait to see what you create!
Nicola Balkind
Nicola manages Content and Community Programs at Skillshare.
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