Our general development process is as follows:

• Faculty / Students express a disconnect where technology can be improved or a solution help bridge the divide or enhance the relationship between them
• We discuss concept with an instructional designer / faculty member about the instructional challenge
• We rapid prototype with a goal of getting the information architecture (IA) correct
• Concept is tried in classroom setting when possible
• Iterate over refinement of IA with minor usability enhancements using things core to how drupal handles interaction flows
• Once IA is assumed correct, developer works with those that this directly affects to craft a more usable method of accomplishing the same thing
• We take a more "headless" approach to Drupal, constructing the interfaces and visuals needed that would make this task as automated as possible
• We integrate it with Drupal and put it into the workflow; the interface tapping the same information that was native to Drupal but without the standard admin-UX