Wyzant: Various Projects

Wyzant is an online marketplace for one-on-one tutoring supporting learners of all ages. For over five years I have been working in a fast-paced environment, designing end-to-end experiences for students and tutors in support of both their learning journey and the marketplace’s growth. I’m excited to announce that Wyzant was recently acquired by IXL.

Project Table of Contents

Online Lesson Entry Flow Redesign

We capitalized on the growing adoption and retention rates of our Online Lesson Tool to optimize the room entry flow, making it more intuitive for students and tutors to join a lesson.

The Previous Lesson Entry Flow

The previous multi-step entry flow was slow and caused more AV issues than it solved. It also didn’t meet users expectations for how a modern video conferencing tool should behave.

Step 5- Old Design — Step 5 - Old Design

Updated Lesson Entry Flow

I did competitive research on popular video conferencing tools, created user flows, designed high-fidelity prototypes, and conducted usability studies to launch the updated lesson entry flow.

My Solution: A Single Screen Approach

A single-screen entry room flow streamlined the experience.

Users can set up and troubleshoot AV issues through a settings modal.

Tablet Support

With an increase in the usage of our Online Lesson Tool came more access from tablet devices, like iPad. I designed our new user flow using responsive breakpoints to ensure more availability and support for our students and tutors.

Outcomes

We shipped the new room entry flow in May of 2020 and saw a decrease in customer support tickets related to AV issues and an increase in our Online Tool Net Promoter Score.

TRY THE NEW ENTRY FLOW

Adding Email Verification

I joined a cross-functional team to analyze our student onboarding experience in order to test the addition of an email verification step. I was responsible for documenting the existing flow, making determinations on points of entry for email verification, and designing the end-to-end user experience. While admittedly not the most exciting project on paper, it’s these types of complex problems that I enjoy collaborating on and designing effective solutions for.

Documenting Existing User Flows

Documenting these flows helped the team get a grasp of the problem space and potential solutions

My solution for the inclusion of an email verification step in a student onboarding flow.

Email Verification User Experience

Below are designs drafted for desktop and mobile web that show the student experience if they need to verify their email address to continue.

Outcomes

Through AB testing, we saw that despite the additional step, user behavior was hardly impacted by the addition of a verification flow. Our lead-to-lesson core metric remained flat, therefore we rolled out this design for all users in the Fall of 2020.

Mobile App Designs

I was hired by Wyzant in 2016 to lead design for their four core iOS and Android products. I was responsible for improvements to the student conversion funnel, integration of real-time messaging, branding and style updates, and tablet support.

Android Student App Screens

Tutor profile screen

iOS Student App Screens

Student account screen

Android Tutor App Screens

Outcomes

During my tenure, we’ve seen that our improvements to the student and tutors apps have resulted in an increase in both student and tutor retention to the platform.

Ask An Expert Design Sprint

I facilitated a design sprint to test a student acquisition hypothesis using a question and answer video-based service. The design sprint prototype was successful in our user research which gave us the confidence to pursue developing the full product.

Design Sprint Questions and Sketches

Prototype Design With Live Video

Final Ask An Expert Designs

My responsibility after the sprint was designing a product from concept to launch, this included a new design language, user interface, and supporting video answer flows.

Outcomes

Post-launch we’ve seen the Ask An Expert feature generate a wealth of unique content that has had an overall impact on SEO rank and gains in student acquisition.

Better Converting Search Results

Wyzant is driven by matching students with tutors who can support their learning needs. With conversion and growth metrics in mind, I’ve made significant design improvements to our list of tutor search results over the years. Most notably updating the UI to a more professional aesthetic, displaying subject-specific headlines for tutors, and highlighting subject expertise.

Previous Designs

Updated Designs

Cross-Platform Updates

To support our focus on conversion improvements, I translated the improved designs into our native iOS and Android apps.

Before iOS search results

Updated iOS search results

Outcomes

These updated search result designs are a contributing factor to a 65% student conversion improvement.

Product Marketing Web Designs

I’ve led research and design for a number of strategic projects focused on conversion through SEM, SEO, and other landing page flows. Below are examples of web designs supporting those projects.

Outcomes

Our various acquisition strategies have had a major impact on SEO rank, SEM conversion, and new student acquisition through design improvements at the top of the funnel.

YouTube Creative Direction

I was responsible for driving the concept and creative direction of a 30-second YouTube ad. I wrote scripts, collaborated with casting and production crews, and supplied designs for visual effects. In addition, I carried out the design and direction for supporting marketing materials, such as landing page conversion flows.