CLASS MANAGEMENT APP
Potencia
English Tutoring for Immigrants
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CONTEXT
Potencia is a non-profit organization that offers low-cost English education to first-generation immigrants in the US. They do this by recruiting college students as tutors and holding sessions on various campuses.
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SKILLS
User Flow Design - Prototyping - Wireframing - Graphic Design - User Research
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MY ROLE
Lead UX Designer
This is a class assignment for a Human Factors Product Design at Tufts University.
I was part of a team consisting of 5 individuals for a duration of 6 months. We worked very closely with the founders, Amanda and Jun.
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TOOLS
Figma - Adobe Illustrator - Adobe Photoshop
DESIGN THINKING
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EMPATHIZE
Research - Interviews - Insights
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DEFINE
User Needs - Problem - Solution
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IDEATE
Features - Initial Designs
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PROTOTYPE
High-Fidelity Screens - Prototype
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TEST
Test - Feedback - Iterations
EMPATHIZE & DEFINE
USER RESEARCH
After conducting stakeholder interviews with Potencia’s founders, we got a better understanding of their current booking system. We conducted several user interviews with both Potencia tutors and students in order to better understand the problem and their needs.
THE PROBLEM
The tutor-student matching system is completely done manually
The student fills out a registration form.
The student’s name is added to a spreadsheet, in which they are paired with a tutor based on their general weekly schedule compatibility.
Potencia creates a group chat on WhatsApp and they both agree on a weekly meeting time.
PAIN POINTS
STUDENT PAIN POINTS
Prefer texting to emailing
Have multiple tutors for the sake of scheduling
Large language barrier for beginner learners
Inconsistent schedules
TUTOR PAIN POINTS
Demotivation due to last-minute cancellations or no-shows
USER NEEDS
STUDENT NEEDS
Easy rescheduling
Familiar chat feature
Smaller language barrier
Freedom to pick their tutor
TUTOR NEEDS
Few cancellations
Close connection to students
THE SOLUTION
Design a mobile app that allows students to:
Pick their tutor
Book a session
Cancel a session in advance
Chat with their tutor with translation
IDEATE
WIREFRAMES
To come up with the best solution, I led the team through a design sprint in order to explore different features and organization options. We came up with the following wireframes:
PROTOTYPE
HIGH-FIDELITY SCREENS
Our Scheduling Home Page features tags and a concise description for each tutor, enabling students to select the most suitable one.
The booking confirmation page also includes a cancellation policy to avoid no-shows.
Tutor Browsing
Tutor Selected
Book Tutor
We designed a personalized calendar for students to manage and check the sessions they already booked, as well as add another.
Cancellations are also clearly accessible through rescheduling and cancelling buttons under the respective booking.
Calendar
To further streamline the student's search, we incorporated filtering options for a faster find.
Our chat interface features a user-friendly design that students find intuitive and easy to navigate due to its familiarity. To enhance functionality, we added an image-sharing feature to enable students to share their homework with tutors, facilitating more effective learning.
We have also implemented a translation button under every message to reduce language barriers and ensure seamless communication between students and tutors.
Messages
Add Image
Translated
Filter - Teaching Mode
Filters
TEST
FUTURE DIRECTION
If we had more time, we would have performed usability tests for both tutors and students.
We would have also organized focus groups to better cater for the users.
As someone who grew up in a non-English speaking country, I understand the challenges that come from moving somewhere new, but I cannot imagine how hard it is doing so with limited language proficiency. That's why I found Potencia's mission particularly inspiring and was thrilled to contribute to making their platform more efficient and automated.
I also had the pleasure of working with a fantastic team. Group dynamics can be challenging, especially in the context of design projects, but I found our design sprints to be a highly innovative and engaging approach that enabled each team member to contribute and be heard.
REFLECTIONS
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