Maria Luiza Goncharenko

TUTmate
Hello, my name is Maria Luiza Goncharenko, and I was the lead UX designer for this project. The app I created is called TUTmate, and it’s part of a design exercise for the Google UX Design Certificate. It’s aimed at parents and students seeking tutoring services, with the main goal of simplifying the process of finding the right tutor, booking lessons, and tracking academic progress.

My responsibilities

Conducting interviews
Creating paper and digital wireframes
Designing low- and high-fidelity prototypes
Conducting usability studies
Considering accessibility
Iterating on designs
Responsive design

Project duration

July 2024 - September 2024

Problem

Parents often struggle to find qualified tutors for their children, while tutors face challenges in connecting with students. Additionally, parents want to track their child’s progress and have seamless communication with tutors.

Goal

The goal of the project was to create a user-friendly platform that seamlessly connects parents with qualified tutors, ensuring that both sides can easily find the best educational match. The app also allows tracking of the child’s progress and direct communication with the tutor.

Understanding the user
For user research, I conducted a combination of interviews and surveys targeting both parents seeking tutors and tutors looking for students. Initially, I assumed that parents would prioritize price and location when choosing a tutor, while tutors would mainly focus on their availability and teaching experience. However, the research revealed that parents were more concerned with the tutor's teaching style and their ability to connect with their child, while tutors emphasized finding students whose learning goals matched their expertise. These insights shifted my design focus towards features that highlight tutor teaching styles and student-tutor compatibility.

Pain Points

Difficulty Finding Tutors with Compatible Teaching Styles
- Reflection: To address this issue, the design will incorporate advanced search filters and detailed tutor profiles that highlight teaching methods and styles. This will enable parents to find tutors who match their child’s learning preferences more easily.
Lack of Tutor Credentials and Reviews
- Reflection: To build trust and credibility, the app will include features for tutor verification, credential listings, and user reviews. This transparency will help parents make informed decisions and feel more confident about the tutors they select.
Inefficient Communication Channels Between Parents and Tutors
- Reflection: Improving communication will be a focus, with the addition of integrated messaging systems and scheduling tools. These enhancements will facilitate easier and more effective interactions, ensuring both parties can coordinate and address any issues promptly.
Concerns About Safety and Trustworthiness of Tutors
- Reflection: The design will prioritize user safety by incorporating background checks and secure communication features. By ensuring a safe environment, the app will build trust with users, making them feel more comfortable using the platform.

User journey map

The user journey map outlines the key steps a user takes to find and select a tutor, focusing on actions such as browsing profiles and reading reviews. Each action is linked to specific goals and emotions, reflecting the user’s need for efficiency, reliability, and confidence in their choice.

The goal is to identify critical touchpoints where users might encounter difficulties or experience frustration and to develop improvements that make the experience more intuitive, effective, and satisfying.

Design Process

When designing screens, I usually create 3-4 draft versions, depending on the complexity and type of the screen. I analyze each of these elements and ask others for feedback to ensure that my feelings and beliefs do not dominate the evaluation. From these drafts, I select the elements that best meet the user's needs, and based on them, I create the final design on paper, and then in low-fidelity.

Main screen

The main screen of the TUTmate app is designed with simplicity and intuitiveness in mind, allowing parents to quickly and easily find the right tutors for their children. The key elements include clear subject categories, easy access to reviews from other parents, and fast search and filtering options. Additionally, a guide within the app explains its features and helps users choose the best tutor, providing useful tips along the way.

From the first draft, I incorporated three small icons displaying the number of tutors, students, and the average ratings, which helps to build trust in the platform. A horizontally scrolling panel with buttons answering the most common questions (e.g., how to use the app, how online lessons work, and group sessions) was also added. This ensures that users can quickly get answers to key concerns.

From the second draft, I introduced aesthetic graphics that give the app a more modern, friendly appearance. I also added large subject selection buttons, arranged in two columns, making it easy and quick to browse available tutoring options.

The final design also includes a user photo section at the top, providing easy navigation to their profile, along with a search bar to quickly find specific subjects or tutors. The section for reviews about lessons and the app reinforces trust and helps users make informed decisions.

Tutor profile screen

The tutor profile screen is designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind, giving parents quick access to essential information. It features basic tutor details (photo, specialization), experience, teaching methods, availability calendar, and reviews from other parents. A "Book a Lesson" button allows for fast lesson scheduling, and an integrated chat provides direct communication with the tutor. The layout is clean and user-friendly.

The tutor profile screen in TUTmate was designed to ensure an intuitive and user-friendly experience for parents. From the first draft, I incorporated the idea of a quick chat button with the tutor, which is a small icon located at the bottom right of the screen. As the user scrolls down, the chat button remains fixed in position, making it easy to initiate a conversation at any time.

From the second draft, I adopted the top section layout, featuring the tutor's photo on the left and basic details (name, location, price per lesson) on the right. There's also a "Book" button for lesson reservations, conveniently placed for right-handed users. I also took the clean layout for text and images, ensuring it stays simple and readable.

From the third draft, I added the ability to swipe between sections, dividing information into two tabs: "About Me" and "Reviews". This helps users quickly find relevant details while maintaining a clear structure.

Usability study

I conducted a usability study with five participants, each of whom was assigned three tasks: finding information about online lessons, booking a session with a tutor, and creating a profile for a child. During the tasks, the users actively shared their impressions, doubts, and issues they encountered while interacting with the app.

I took notes on their reactions, gestures, and significant quotes, which provided valuable insights into points of frustration and areas that needed improvement. This allowed me to better understand how users interact with the app and identify which elements of the interface need enhancement to improve overall usability. The analysis of this data will help me implement crucial changes to the interface and functionalities, ultimately improving the user experience.

Findings: It is necessary to improve the visibility and accessibility of information regarding the availability of online lessons.

Solution: I implemented a filter option that allows users to search for tutors offering online lessons. This feature enables parents to easily select the option during their search. Additionally, the availability of online lessons has been added to the tutor's profile, visible alongside location details.

Findings: Users require the ability to book recurring classes when scheduling a tutor. The lack of a confirmation page creates confusion for users after completing a booking.

Solution: I added an additional button that allows users to choose between booking recurring classes or a single session. After making a selection, users are directed to a confirmation page that displays all the details of their booked tutor sessions.

Findings: To simplify the process of creating a second child’s profile, it is necessary to design an intuitive and accessible pathway for adding multiple profiles. Additionally, it is valuable to offer the option to input more detailed information about the child, such as learning difficulties or disabilities, to better tailor the profile to individual needs.

Solution: I added a visible and intuitive “+” button next to the child profiles, allowing users to easily add a new profile. This ensures a straightforward experience when expanding the list of profiles. Furthermore, I introduced an optional section during the profile creation process where parents or students can provide additional information, such as learning challenges or disabilities. This helps to customize the profile based on the child's specific needs without overwhelming users who do not require these features.

User journey

User Journey – Booking a Tutor

Subject Selection: The user begins by choosing the subject, in this case, Mathematics.
Filters: They apply the "Newest first" filter to display the latest tutors.
Tutor Selection: Based on rating (stars) and experience, the user selects the appropriate tutor.
Profile Review: The user reviews the tutor's profile to confirm they meet the desired criteria.
Booking a Lesson: Clicking the "Book Lesson" button starts the booking process.
Choosing Date and Time: The user selects a convenient date and time for the lesson.
Switching Children: Realizing the booking is for the wrong child, the user quickly and easily switches from Alex to Leo using the button in the bottom right corner.
Booking Recurring Lessons: The user opts to schedule recurring lessons.
Confirmation: The process concludes with confirmation and a congratulatory message.

Insights

The app ensures a smooth and intuitive booking process, enabling users to make adjustments, such as switching children, quickly and effortlessly, which greatly enhances convenience in day-to-day use.

User Journey – Checking a Child’s Lessons

Lesson Overview: The child’s lessons are divided into two categories: future classes and past classes.
Future Classes: First, the user checks the future classes section to confirm that the regular lessons recently booked are properly scheduled. All lessons are visible, and the user can also make edits, such as deleting specific lessons or adding a note, e.g., requesting the tutor to review a specific topic with the child.
Past Classes: Next, the user navigates to the past classes section, where they review notes from the last history lesson and additional information about homework.

Insights

The app offers clear and intuitive access to a child's lessons, with flexible options for managing and reviewing lesson details, enhancing the overall user experience.

User Journey – Completing a Child’s Profile

Navigating to Child Profiles: The user navigates from the main profile to the child profiles section.
Selecting a Child: They select the child named Alex and enter their profile.
Checking Information: The user notices that the "education level" field is unfilled.
Entering Data: They select the appropriate education level – "Elementary School" – and choose "4th Grade."
Saving Changes: After entering the data, the user saves the changes, and it's done!

Insights

The app provides a simple and fast way to update child information, making it easy for users to manage profiles. Intuitive steps ensure that users can easily modify profile details.

Takeaways

Impact

The app has the potential to significantly transform how parents find tutors for their children by streamlining the entire selection and booking process. With the progress-tracking feature, parents can stay informed about their child’s education, giving them more control and enabling them to quickly respond to their child's needs. Direct communication with tutors allows for real-time adjustments to educational priorities, increasing learning efficiency. The app fosters trust and engagement between parents and tutors, ultimately leading to better student outcomes, greater satisfaction with the learning process, and more efficient time management.

What I Learned

Throughout this project, I realized the importance of a user-centered approach. Solving pain points and designing features that provide real value and simplify users' lives are critical to delivering a successful product. I also learned how crucial iteration is, based on usability testing and feedback, to ensure the design is truly intuitive and meets the expectations of parents, helping them better manage their child's education journey.

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