at a glance
High schoolers feel the pressure to do well academically for their college applications. However, the generalized curriculum means they might not receive the 1-on-1 help they need for difficult subjects. Summit Learning supports student learning by pairing them with tutors based on their unique academic needs. The personalized onboarding experience aims to increase completion rates and customer satisfaction.
ROLE
UX Researcher
Product Designer
TEAM
Solo project
TIMELINE
3 months
Aug - Oct 2023
Problem
High schoolers struggle to get personalized help in complex subjects.
The pressure of college applications and a general curriculum make academic struggles more common in high school. This is unlike middle school, where GPA is less emphasized, or college, where students study areas they already excel in.
Solution
Personalized onboarding that assesses students' needs to match them with the right tutor.
The tutoring platform offers a simple, bite-sized onboarding quiz to get a full understanding of students' needs and goals. It helps them discover their learning style and pairs them with a tutor who tailors their teaching to match.
The Problem
A study conducted by the National Institute of Health in 2023 found that incorporating individual learning styles had a positive effect on students’ GPA while group learning styles had a negative effect.
user interviews
Students worry that their academic difficulties in high school will prevent them from getting into their dream college.
I conducted 4 generative interviews with people who had experience learning with a tutor. They were all motivated to get tutoring in high school because they were struggling in a specific subject and didn't want this to affect their college applications.
So, how might we…
Ensure students feel supported academically by considering their unique needs when matching them with a tutor?
user Testing
Does having a tailored, bite-size onboarding experience increase completion rates?
After 4 user testing sessions, I found that breaking down each step of the onboarding quiz made it easier to answer. However, users felt the self-assessment didn’t fully cover their academic needs and concerns, and many were unsure how to identify their learning style.
Landing Page
Onboarding Quiz
Tutor Profiles
Plan Selection
Payment Details
Confirmation
Didn’t think that the quiz had enough questions on who he was. Wasn’t probed enough to fully discover where he’s lacking.
herzen
tutors: 1
Over 6 months
"I wasn't sure if I would have known in high school what my learning style was on my own."
Alyssa
tutors: 10
Over 6 years
“It’s important to include the degree they got or what school they went to, if they’re post-college, in college.”
Alyssa
tutors: 10
Over 6 years
Expected to see the tutors and their backgrounds and that they would be ordered by the percentage of fit or compatibility.
rachel
tutors: 3
Over 4 years
Would like the option to go back and make changes to her plan selection.
Angelika
tutors: 2
Over 2 years
When making purchases, it makes her feel safer knowing there’s a ‘way out’ like a return
Rachel
tutors: 3
Over 4 years
Refining site mapping
Helping users discover their learning style.
Originally, the pairing quiz and learning style quiz were in separate flows. I redesigned the site map to let users discover their learning style without interrupting the pairing quiz.
Home Page
Walks users through what they can expect from the platform’s lessons.
Users learn how students are paired with a tutor, the benefits of teaching based on their individual needs and learning style, and past success stories to validate the tutor’s effectiveness.
Pairing Quiz, Account Creation
Understand the student's academic needs and learning style to effectively pair them with tutors
When asked for their learning style, users are given the option to take a brief quiz in order to discover or confirm what theirs is.
Tutor Selection
Book a trial lesson with one of the matched tutors based on the student’s preference.
Students are able to select a lesson time based on the tutor’s calendar availability or message them directly.
Learning Plan, Payment Confirmation
Student learning packages with increasing amounts of classes, catered to varying academic goals.
What did I learn?
When would users actually drop-off?
All my interviewees were asked to review the onboarding experience, setting the expectation that they would have to complete it. However, if this site were to launch, I'd be curious to see how users would interact with the product outside of a closed environment like an interview. I wonder where they might drop off, their reason for doing so, and how the design could be improved based on these findings.