Brightr
Designing a tutoring platform for time-strapped college students.
ROLE
Lead Product Designer
TIMELINE
Spring 2020
SKILLS
Product thinking
User research
Interaction design
Visual design
TOOLS
Figma
Illustrator
Photoshop
In Spring 2020, I cofounded and led design on Brightr, a platform that connects students to tutors in a matter of seconds, reimagining tutoring as an on-demand service.
THE PROBLEM
Academic support at USC is inefficient and unreliable, especially during late hours when students need help most.
We often received messages from classmates scrambling to finish assignments before midnight deadlines—they often tried other resources before asking their friends, but none were as available or convenient, especially at late hours.
THE RESEARCH
Understanding students
Our team sent out a survey to USC students to assess the attitude towards academic support systems at our school. From of the sample of responses we received, we identified the two most popular grievances among students.
Not trustworthy
Students are reluctant to spend money on tutors that they’ve never met before.
Not efficient
Scheduling conflicts and friction communicating with tutors deters students who need quick assistance.
THE FIRST PASS
Laying the groundwork
01 THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
A familiar user flow for students
The first iteration of Brightr took a lot of inspiration from rideshare apps. College students — and USC students especially, thanks to Fryft — are very comfortable with rideshare interfaces. I leveraged this pre-established experience to ensure that students who are facing deadlines don't waste time navigating a novel interface.
Student user journey map.
Low fidelity student user flow.
Student user flow (intermediary iteration).
02 THE TUTOR EXPERIENCE
An autonomous user flow for tutors
A key feature of the tutor side is the ability to dictate when and where you want to work. When tutors encounter free time (e.g. in between classes), they can "Go Live," making their profile visible and available for immediate requests.
Rather than displaying real-time locations, which may be uncomfortable given the public nature of the platform, tutors can set their location at community hotspots like cafes or libraries.
Tutor user journey map.
Low fidelity highlights.
Tutor user flow (intermediary iteration).
"Go Live" feature highlight.
MAKING IT GREAT
Elevating the experience
After laying the groundwork with the first few versions above, my team revisited the platform to uncover ways we could improve it further.
GOAL 01 • KEEP USERS ACCOUNTABLE
Rating system
Students rate tutors after every session, keeping tutors accountable for the quality of their instruction. Ratings broken down by course, then averaged for the tutor’s overall rating.
GOAL 02 • EMBED SECURITY
Security codes
To initiate and conclude every session, tutors must input their student’s unique security code. These codes operate as extra safety net, ensuring that users don't have to rely on grainy profile pictures to verify the other party.
GOAL 03 • CULTIVATE COMMUNITY
Connection requests
If a student has a particularly successful session, they can request to "connect" with their tutor. If the tutor accepts the connection, this authorizes a more open line of communication between both parties. Students can then send personal messages and request tutoring sessions even while the tutor is offline.
THE BIG PIVOT
Seamless virtual integration
A month into the project, the pandemic began. To adapt to this rapidly changing situation, I conceptualized virtual features, while still offering users the ability to book in-person meetups (with a warning).
I further refined the visual design for an even more frictionless experience.
To integrate virtual tutoring options without reworking the entire app, I designed a toggle that allowed users to easily filter for the tutoring modality that they were most comfortable with.
Tutors can broadcast high-demand lessons to an audience (for an MVP this would link to Twitch). Students can ask questions over a chat feature.
I added tags to tutor profiles to reflect whether they offer virtual instruction. For tutors that livestream, a section in their profile would showcase their livestream schedule and link to their Twitch channel.
In our pre-COVID iterations, the tutor search map was set as the homepage, but as things were shifting online, there was a diminished need to meet locally. I re-focused the homepage towards helping students organize their schedules, and added entrypoints for finding course-specific tutors.
Visual identity development
I centered the branding around education, ultimately deciding on the lightbulb + question-mark logo and blue palette after several rounds of experimentation.
I wanted to design a logo that elegantly captured what Brightr helps students achieve.
Visual evolution of the user interface.
I chose a friendly, but sturdy font to complement the more delicate mark.
TUTORING, SUPERCHARGED.
TUTORING, SUPERCHARGED.
FINAL OVERVIEW
Onboard with ease.
The onboarding quiz asks questions that inform how the app recommends tutors.
Tutors within the same major who have taken the same courses are surfaced at the top of recommendation lists.
Find tutors that suit your unique academic needs.
Students can search for tutors via course offerings, virtual availability, location, and other filters.
Prefer virtual tutoring? Book with a tap.
To make it easier to book virtual tutors, users can activate the “Virtual” toggle to enter a search mode that filters for tutors that offer virtual sessions.
Book sessions fast.
Students just fill out a simple form, confirm their request, and wait for the request to be accepted on the tutor’s end.
Meet up safely.
The meetup experience consists of three stages: live directions, session tracking, and feedback. Tutors must input their student’s code to initiate + conclude session tracking, which is how the app calculates payment.
Learn virtually on livestream.
In addition to 1-on-1 sessions, tutors can also schedule livestreams to teach larger audiences at once.
Challenges and Learnings
Maintain a flexible mindset.
When COVID-19 threw a massive wrench in my team’s plans, I had to be unhesitating about adapting. Maintaining a flexible mindset is huge for designing products that last in the face of challenges.
Communicate constantly.
This was a pivotal experience in understanding what it takes to succeed as part of a team. I learned how important it is to communicate clearly and precisely, and to share work early and often.
Thank you
I owe a lot to this startup for being the launchpad for my design journey, and for being the launchpad for so many opportunities I would later encounter. Thank you to my cofounders, Sandeep, Scott, and Parker, for sharing in this experience with me <3
More Projects
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FIGMA DESK • JANUARY 2023
DUET • SUMMER / FALL 2020