Overview
Tutor Oriel is a platform designed for high school and college students to connect with fun, friendly tutors who support their learning. They launched their online flow about a year ago and have very low completion rates. They have gotten a lot of complaints and bad social media reviews about how confusing the process is. The business is struggling and many tutors want to leave because they are not seeing enough clients. Aiming to attract more student and improve tutor retention, Tutor Oriel sought to improve the onboarding experience.
MY ROLE
In this project, I conducted user testing and a heuristic evaluation, to identify key issues in the existing product. Based on these findings, I streamlined the sign-up and onboarding process, reinforced the brand identity, and optimized information placement to enhance the platform’s trustworthiness.
Role
Deliverables
Tool used
Timeline
Project Brief
Reducing Friction in Sign-Up & Retaining Tutors
TARGET USER
Tutor Oriel is a new tutor agency for
high school and college aged students
Mission
A place where students can find fun and friendly tutors to support their studies.
Identified Issues by client
Low sign-up completion rates
Complaints and bad social media reviews about confusing processs
Leaving tutors
Problem statement
How might we make the sign-up experience
feel more engaging and less overwhelming for students?
Design Solution
Improved Design for a More Trustworthy and Engaging Experience
The previous design of Tutor Oriel’s website lacked professionalism and failed to build trust due to its clumsy layout and lack of information. While the platform promotes fun and friendly tutors, the website felt dull and uninspiring.
To address this, I redesigned the landing page to create a more positive first impression.
I balanced a fun and approachable feel with a professional tone. By incorporating vibrant graphics and real photos of tutors, I highlighted the service’s friendly nature while also presenting key information clearly. I used numbers and student reviews to build credibility and enhance trust.
2. Sign-up Process
Simplified Sign-Up Process for a Smoother User Experience
The previous sign-up process included too many fields on a single screen and used a non-standard UI, causing cognitive overload for users. It was unclear which step they were on, making it easy for them to abandon the process. Additionally, questions for students and tutors were mixed, creating confusion, and there were too many unnecessary or burdensome questions.
To improve this, I simplified the student sign-up process by breaking it into multiple screens and redesigning the interface to minimize cognitive load. I optimized the sign-up flow by removing redundant questions and restructuring complex prompts into clear, multiple-choice formats that incorporated emojis, reducing user effort and improving overall engagement.
3. Tutor Information
Enhanced Tutor Information for Trust and Motivation
The previous website lacked detailed tutor information, making it harder for students to trust the platform and engage with tutors.
The updated site now features comprehensive tutor profiles with student reviews, helping students make informed choices while motivating tutors by recognizing their contributions.
Research
1. Heuristic Analysis
The sign-up experience suffers from inconsistent UI, lack of feedback, and high cognitive load, making it difficult for users to complete the process.
Users struggle with unclear password requirements, an overwhelming number of form fields, and an absence of progress indicators. Additionally, button styling inconsistencies and excessive illustrations reduce trustworthiness, while poor visual hierarchy and non-standard design choices negatively impact usability. These issues collectively lead to user frustration, increased drop-off rates, and a diminished overall experience.
Original User Flow
2. Adjacent Industry Audit
Key UX insights: onboarding, booking flow, and interface simplicity
Key Takeaways
1. Trust-building features (verified profiles, reviews) reduce decision friction
2. Clear onboarding flows and strong CTAs improve retention & conversion
3. A seamless booking & scheduling experience enhances user engagement
Preply
Tutoring UX/UI - Focusing particularly on the onboarding survey during the sign-up process.
Airbnb
Booking process - Seamless, intuitive, and trustworthy scheduling flow
SkillShare
Clean and intuitive UX/UI - Its intuitive, clean, and minimal interface.
Mega Insights
Lack of seamless UX, insufficient information, and weak brand differentiation weaken user trust and engagement.
Key Findings
Lack of trust impacts onboarding drop-off
The user journey needs to be more seamless and flexible.
Users struggle to find the right tutor due to missing information.
A seamless booking & scheduling experience enhances user engagement
A weak brand identity reduces student and tutor loyalty, affecting long-term engagement.
Goals
Enhancing User Experience
Reduce friction and minimize cognitive load to enhance overall usability and engagement.
Providing Sufficient Information
Ensure that users can quickly find essential information on the landing page.
Offer detailed tutor profiles to help students choose the right tutor while also motivating tutors.
Rebuilding Brand Identity
Establish a distinctive brand identity to differentiate the service from competitors.
Reinforce user trust by aligning the design system with the client’s mission and ensuring visual consistency across the UI.
Design Process
Problem 1
Onboarding flow:
Preventing user drop-off through an optimized sign-up process
Problem Statements
Users dropped off during the onboarding process due to a lack of transparency and flexibility.
The previous flow required users to complete a survey and make a payment before exploring available tutors, leading to hesitation.
Users found the survey process tedious and overwhelming.
Students and tutors share the same flow, causing confusion.
Solution Overview
To reduce user drop-off during onboarding, I adjusted the flow to allow users to first complete a survey, receive tutor recommendations, and review available schedules before making a payment. This provided users with a better understanding of the service before committing. To minimize confusion, I restructured the user flow to be specifically tailored for students. I conducted user testing at each stage and iteratively refined the flow based on feedback.
Mid-fi
In the mid-fi stage, I tested two different user flows to evaluate their impact on engagement.
Users preferred receiving tutor recommendations based on a survey, but many also expressed a desire to skip the survey and explore tutors first, depending on their situation.
Ver.1 -Guided Survey
Users complete a survey after signing up, allowing the system to recommend tutors based on their needs.
Ver.2 - Direct Exploration
Users immediately explore available tutors after signing up, building trust by exposing them to a wider selection before allowing them to filter and choose.
Final Solution
Users receive tutor recommendations based on a survey but can skip the survey and explore tutors manually if they prefer.
The payment step was moved to the end to allow users to review all options.
Problem 2
Survey design:
Reducing cognitive load and improving usability
Problem Statements
The previous survey design contained too many questions on a single screen, including unnecessary items, leading to cognitive overload.
Certain UI elements caused confusion, making the process feel overwhelming.
Solution Overview
To improve usability, I streamlined the survey by removing non-essential questions and optimizing the flow. Visual elements such as emojis and illustrations were incorporated to enhance clarity and engagement. Additionally, input fields were replaced with selection-based answers, allowing users to complete the survey more efficiently with minimal effort.
Previous version
Improved version
Mid-fi
After removing unnecessary questions, I redesigned the survey using selection-based answers with emojis. However, user feedback revealed two key issues
1. The survey still appeared visually overwhelming due to an excessive number of options.
2. Users found it difficult to distinguish between positive and negative responses at a glance.
Final Solution
To address these concerns, I split the survey into two separate screens and restructured the questions using a 5-point Likert scale, allowing users to express their preferences and situations more precisely.
Problem 3
Landing page:
Delivering key information effectively to meet user needs
Problem Statements
Users see the same landing page before and after logging in, which does not effectively address their different needs.
The landing page lacks clear and detailed service information, making it difficult for new users to understand its value.
Solution Overview
To build trust with new users, I redesigned the landing page to present clear and compelling service information, using data-driven insights and visual elements to communicate value effectively.
After logging in, students are redirected to a dashboard designed to boost learning motivation and facilitate class management, ensuring a more engaging and personalized user experience.
Previous Landing Page
Improved LAnding Page
Dashboard
Landing Page
Low-fi
I structured the layout of the landing page to determine what information should be included and gathered relevant content for each section.
Hi-fi
I designed the landing page to reflect the rebranded identity, ensuring consistency with the new visual direction.
However, user testing revealed that it was unclear which subjects the tutoring service offered.
Final Solution
Incorporating user feedback, I refined the landing page to reinforce the new brand identity, creating a friendly and inviting impression while ensuring that users could easily find the information they needed.
Dashboard
Mid-fi
I designed the dashboard to motivate students, making it easy to manage upcoming sessions and review past lessons.
User testing revealed that students wanted better communication with tutors and the ability to receive ongoing personalized recommendations.
Final Solution
Incorporating user feedback, I added a tutor recommendation section and tutor feedback section, enhancing personalization and engagement. To improve readability and navigation, I used brand colors to visually distinguish each section, ensuring a clear and intuitive layout.
Problem 4
Rebranding:
Expressing brand values through a cohesive visual identity
Problem Statements
The fun and friendly brand identity was not effectively reflected in the product.
Inconsistent visual elements led to a lack of cohesion, making the overall brand experience feel less credible. Additionally, the brand failed to establish a strong differentiation from competitors.
Solution Overview
I translated the core brand values into a cohesive visual identity using color, typography, and graphic elements to ensure a clear and consistent brand expression. To maintain a unified user experience across the product, I established a design system.
Before Rebranding
After rebranding
Rebranding
Tutor Oriel brand was redefined to align with client needs, goals, and target users, focusing on becoming a Fun and Friendly Tutoring Agency for high school and college students.
To reflect this new identity, a vibrant color palette was introduced, reinforcing a lively and engaging brand presence.
For the logo, the monospaced font Söhne Mono highlights the professional and technical aspects of the tutoring service. The primary font, Poppins, features rounded and soft edges, providing a friendly and approachable feel while maintaining a professional and balanced geometric form.
Design System
To ensure a consistent user experience, I established a cohesive design system that standardizes visual and functional elements across the product.
Reflection & Growth
Key Learnings
The Role of Personalization in Engagement
It was initially expected that users would want to skip the survey due to its length. However, user testing revealed that a tailored approach was highly preferred, indicating that personalization plays a crucial role in engagement.
Measuring Impact
User Engagement & Retention
Sign-up Completion Rate → Tracked at each step (Sign-up → Survey → Payment → Scheduling) to identify where users drop off.
Onboarding Drop-Off Rate → Analyzed to uncover friction points and improve flow efficiency.
Landing Page Performance
CTA Click-Through Rate (CTR) → Evaluated to determine whether the page effectively encouraged sign-ups.
Future Considerations
Incorporating Tutor Feedback for Personalization
Research what specific student information tutors find most valuable in order to design a tailored tutor-side survey.
Conduct A/B testing with different versions of the survey to optimize usability and effectiveness for both students and tutors.