Online tutoring, examined.

Summary

By conducting a series of experience audits, I gave the product team at Nerdy an authentic picture of what new tutors and students were going through during onboarding. My research uncovered a number of major pain points for users, and my recommendations provided the team with the data they needed for 18 months of improvements.

Contribution

• Customer journey mapping

• Evaluative UX research

• Expert review

Situation

Nerdy offers an online learning platform to students who want to get tutoring or take a remote class. Their Varsity Tutors business uses proprietary technology and AI to connect teachers and learners for live instruction.

Onboarding for new tutors and students was a convoluted process with many steps and touch points across many channels and contexts. The product team lacked a current, comprehensive view of what was there and how it was performing.

Task

The team needed to get quick, authentic, and unbiased insight into the new tutor and student onboarding experiences.

Solution

Through multiple consulting engagements, I helped the company better understand how their customers experience their product. I conducted in-depth UX audits for two key audiences: new tutors and new students. I used the "secret shopper" method for the audits. This involved presenting myself as a real user at all times, so the experience I received was 100% authentic.

Posing as a new tutor, I went through the interview process, background check, approval, payment setup, and scheduling. Later, I used the same approach to get a comprehensive view of becoming a new student.

My work took the form of illustrated walkthroughs. These included diagrams of the customer journey, as well as screenshots and videos of each step and individual touch point. Everything was captured and documented; from screens on websites and mobile apps, to email messages, text messages and phone calls.

Results

I shared my findings with a cross-functional team in a series of presentations. The data I presented were eye-opening and provided the foundational research needed to guide over a years-worth of subsequent improvement projects.

Varsity Tutors has become a major player in the field of online live learning. In 2021, the company had $140M in revenue and Nerdy went public earlier that year (NRDY).