top of page

Tutor App Redesign

I was part of a UX Design and Research challenge/workshop to increase the confidence score of an app that matched students with tutors. This is not client work, however, it's a way to show my approach to research and design testing that I have used in client work.

5 - Tutor List.png

Version 1 tutor list

My Tutor List showing more details

My redesigned tutor list

StudySesh is a fictitious app that matches professional tutors to students. User testing through Lyssna showed that the app only garnered a confidence score of 4.53. The aim was to bring the score up, hopefully to 5 or over.

In this case study, I'll walk you through my process and demonstrate my methodology and redesign strategy to show how I increased the confidence score to 7.56 (so far).

Workshop conditions and constraints

Participants

Participants:

  • N = 42

  • Remote

  • Global

Schedule

2 hours, held in the evening (ET):

  • 1 hour, 30 minutes for briefings.

  • 2 minutes for sketching.

  • 15 minutes for hi-fi design​.

  • 1 minute for voting.

  • 20 minutes for Lyssna data gathering and review.

Design

1 screen. determined by the workshop leader:

  • Based on analytics.*

  • Screen could "long scroll".

  • Adhere to style guide.

  • 2-minute sketch time.

  • 1 high fidelity Figma screen.

* Because the app is fictitious, the analytics were made up for the workshop challenge.

App Screens: Version 1

The first round prototype

The first round app screens were designed by the workshop leader for the workshop.​​

The hypothetical situation

  • 45% of users drop off at Create Account.

1st round mobile app screens for the redesign and testing workshop. 

1st round test results

1st test results of app screens on Lyssna. The test consisted of a question and a 1-10 Likert scale, with 1 being "Not at all confident" and 10 being "Extremeley confident". 2 people rated it a 2, 4 rated it a 3, 4 rated it a 4, 4 rated it a 5, 2 rated it a 6, 2 rated it a 7, and 1 rated it an 8.

Participants were asked, "Imagine that you are a parent using StudySesh for the first time for your own child. After answering the questions on these screens, how confident would you be that the recommended tutors are a great match for your child and their learning goals?"

 

The mean score was 4.53.

Analyzing feedback: 1st round

User metrics (hypothetical)

Since 45% of users dropped off right before sign-up, we would redesign the screen immediately preceding it, "Tell Us About Your Child." â€‹

Analyzing feedback

We only had a couple of minutes to review the 19 test participants' comments, quickly scrolling through the list to find some actionable feedback for the redesign. 

"...My child has specific learning needs that weren't asked about before recommending tutors."

3 - Tell Us.png

This screen had choices for grade level and subjects that students needed help with.

Vector illustration of a man.

My sketch and high fidelity redesign

2 Minute sketches

My rough sketch idea for redesign, including selections for learning disabilities and grades received in subjects.
  • My sketches aimed to capture ideas vs. the visual design.

  • I interpreted "learning needs" as meaning more details about grades and learning challenges, such as ADHD.

  • We were provided with and instructed to adhere to a minimalist design system and style guide.

15 minute Figma mockup

My high fidelity design for the "Tell Us About Your Child" screen. I kept the previous choices and added subjects with drop downs for grades received, and pills to choose if a child has a learning challenge such as ADHD or Dyslexia.
  • Initially, I thought knowing grades might be useful.

  • I added choices to select learning challenges.

My high-fidelity Figma screen design.

Voting and testing

Screenshot of confidence score results on Lyssna.

Testing a new screen

  • The moderator chose 3 of the 42 designs to vote on.
     

  • My design was not one of the 3 chosen.
     

  • We had 1 minute to vote in Figjam.
     

  • The winning screen was uploaded to Lyssna. The previous questions and demographics were repeated for the test.
     

  • The score increased to 6.96
     

Vector illustration of a man.

"It looks like it suggests teachers based on the qualities, characteristics and requirements of my child. But...

It doesn't show which tutors will work well with children who have learning needs."

Original tutor card showing an avatar, name, "Top-Rated Math & Science Tutor", and 4-star rating from 123 people.

Reviewing results of the 2nd design test

What should I address in my design?

Still curious how my design would fare in the test, I decided to pick up where the workshop left off. There were now more responses to the test, and I reviewed the detailed feedback from the 25 participants.
​

I exported the Lyssna participant feedback as a CSV  in order to analyze and quantify the data.

Shifting participant concerns

At a high level, participants now had trouble trusting the results. (fig. 1)

Drilling down into the feedback revealed that the majority of participants wanted more information about the tutors' teaching styles, personalities, and credentials. Without this information, participants did not feel confident that the tutors would match their children's needs. (fig.2)

Based on this feedback, I would tweak some ideas from my v2 design and redesign the tutor card.

Test 2 high level design feedback showing that 10 of 25 participants didn't trust the tutor match results.

Fig. 1

Test 2 detailed feedback showing the reason particpants didn't trust the results due to lack of information for tutors' teaching styles, personality, and credentials..png

Fig. 2

High level feedback

"Based on the fields shown and the tutors recommended, I wasn't able to get a good understanding of their style, personalities, or anything that makes them a good fit."

Original tutor card showing an avatar, name, "Top-Rated Math & Science Tutor", and 4-star rating from 123 people.
Vector Illustration of a woman.
  • 10 out of 25 participants didn't trust their tutor match results.

Detailed feedback

  • 9 out of 10 participants wanted to know the tutors' teaching credentials.
     

  • 7 out of 10 participants wanted more information about the tutors' teaching style and personality.
     

  • 3 out of 10 participants didn't believe every tutor rated 5 stars.

Redesigned and new screens: my 2nd iteration

Having a bit more time than 15 minutes to design a screen, I thought through my 1st solution. I added a couple of extra screens to avoid long scrolling on the static screens for the Lyssna test and added more criteria to match children with tutors.

My redesigned "Tell Us About Your Child Screen" showing grade, subjects and a drop down that allows users to select specific subcategories within subjects that are students need help with. Here, it shows "Math" as a subject, with the subcategories of "Algebra" and "Percents" selected in a drop down.

I added subcategories for subjects in a drop-down, vs. only main categories. This change was requested in feedback.

My added design of the "Learning Needs" screen showing buttons for ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalcula, Neurodivergent, Blind, Deaf, Non-Verbal, Colorblind, Visually Impaired, and Other. ADHD and Neurodivergent are selected.

I kept my version of learning needs, and used Perplexity AI to generate a range of learning needs students might have.

New screen based on another person's design for the "Learning Style" screen. I added more styles to choose from: Social, Auditory, Hands on, Solitary, Logical/Mathematical, Reading, Visual, Verbal, Other. Hands on is selected.

I included the winning concept from the designer whose screen was chosen in the workshop test and added more options.

Create an account

Creating an account is probably important for StudySesh's business goals. However, I thought its presentation might be improved.

4 - Login.png

Original Create Account screen.

Preview NEW.png
  • I thought that allowing more of a preview for tutor cards (similar to Glassdoor's UI) would help users better understand the results they would get before providing the app with an email and password. In allowing a partial view, I hoped to build my test participants' confidence in the legitimacy and usefulness of their results.

My redesigned Create Account screen.

Tutor information

Participants wanted more tutor details, so I redesigned the tutor card to provide more information and build trust for participants. I also added "sneak peeks" for tutor matches on the landing and sign-up screens,  I took care to match at least three criteria points with tutor credentials from the survey questions on the tutor card results. I also added sort, filter, and favorites functions.

Original tutor results list showing portrait, name, that they are top-rated math & science tutors, and star ratings.

Version 1 tutor list screen.

My redesigned tutor results list providing the same information as the first version, and adding school credentials, how they match with your child's needs, and an about section. There is a button to schedule a call with the tutor. Also, I added sort, filter, and favorite functionality to the list.
  • The results screen keeps the "Here are your matches" text and adds sort, filter, favorite, and account profile functions. "Favorite" would be used to compare tutors later.

  • "Credentials" shows the details of tutors' education.

  • A "How you match" section shows the parents' choices and tutor expertise matches for children.

  • An "About" section allows tutors to present themselves in their own voices.

My redesigned tutor list screen.

  • "Schedule a call" allows users to select a time to chat with the tutor for a more detailed conversation about their needs.

Uploaded screens for Lyssna testing

My design's Lyssna test results

My design's Lyssna Results.png

Confidence increased

"The onboarding is designed with good empathy with me."

Vector illustration of a woman.
  • 20 participants rated my design at 7 or higher.
     

  • 5 participants rated my design 5 or lower, but nobody 
    gave it a 1.
     

  • The score increased to 7.56
     

Detailed analysis of the design

What went right?

  • 10 out of 25 participants felt the app was useful, appreciated the questions in the survey, and that learning needs and styles were represented. They also liked that scheduling was flexible. 
     

  • 1 out of 25 said the screens were easy to read.

Test 3 Actionable Feedback bar chart

Where can my design improve?

  • 3 participants stated they wanted more detailed questions in the survey.
     

  • 2 participants had trouble reading and/or seeing the screens.
     

  • 1 participant stated there were too many typos, but I didn't see any.
     

  • 1 participant stated they were skeptical that the app could register high-quality tutors in real life. This is something that can only be proven after launch.

"To give it 10/10 I would like a few more questions to be asked of my child."

Vector illustration of a woman.

"Learning needs and learning styles pages provides a personalised experience for my child."

Vector illustration of a man.

Retrospective

Snippet of my Excel analysis.

"To give it 10/10 I would like a few more questions to be asked of my child."

Vector illustration of a woman.

N=25

60 minutes

Results analysis

It's better to have a bit more time to do a deep dive of the feedback. Seeing the numbers behind the qualitative information helps to form ideas for the best solutions.

Tell me more

Participants left feedback that would benefit from a moderated test. People wanted more questions in the flow, but what kinds of questions do they want?

Research time

The additional time I took to analyze the 2nd round of test results helped me create a tailored solution that increased people's confidence in the app. 

Screenshot of the screens I uploaded for my testing.

Test design

The legibility of the screens might have been affected by my decision to add more screens to the test. In retrospect, I probably didn't need one of the sign up screens.

Next Steps

Prototype

At this point, I want to create an MVP interactive prototype and perhaps add some questions to test with participants.

Usability testing

Once the prototype is completed, I will interview and test the app with at least 5 participants to better understand the specifics of what people would like to see. 

Iterate

Based on the feedback I get in the interviews and tests, I will iterate the design and test again until the confidence score is at least a 9.

Review of before and after screens

1st round mobile app screens for the redesign and split testing workshop: 

1st round app screens showing landing page, tutoring preferences, tell us about your child, sign up, and match results.

1st version scheduling screen and my screen designs:

Screenshot of the screens I uploaded for my testing.
Screenshot of the screens I uploaded for my testing.

Thank you for stopping by!

If you'd like to have a conversation about how I can help with your project, please contact me!

bottom of page