Building an EduTech product that instantly connects students to a trainer via a video call.
Disclaimer
This case study covers only parts of several months of design process focusing mainly on my role within the project. I have retracted or changed portions of findings to conceal any confidential information.
About
Inzpira is the communication skills platform that provides an immersive learning experience with multiple coaches to enable learners to prepare for practical real life situations. “We believe that every individual is unique and requires a personalised approach to develop their communication skills.” With on-demand, 1-on-1 coaching, Inzpira provides an affordable and convenient way for people to improve their communication abilities quickly and effectively.
The Challenge
The investors were struggling to understand the value proposition of Inzpira because they were having trouble seeing how the product would be useful or valuable to users. It could also be because they had difficulty understanding the unique features or benefits that Inzpira offers, or how it solves problems in a unique or innovative way.
Role
Project Lead
User Experience (UX) Researcher
Interaction (IxD) Designer
User Experience (UX) Designer
User Interface (UI) Designer
Timeline
2 months
Skills
Product thinking
Interaction design
Market research
Tools
Figma
Miro
Illustrator
Notion
Photoshop
Objective
Provide an end-to-end solution for students to learn, assess, and test.
Develop a scalable, modular tool accessible to educators and moderators.
Enhance information transparency and streamline the process for improved efficiency and a hassle-free experience.
Research Phase
Understanding the Existing Structure:
Facilitating user onboarding via telephonic calls and WhatsApp.
Arranging sessions through Google Meet.
Communication conducted through WhatsApp groups lacking defined administrative roles and responsibilities.
Absence of backend data segregation.
Understanding Business Goals:
Crafting initial prototypes for investor presentations.
Creating a seamless experience for educators.
Facilitating personalized 1:1 learning and peer-to-peer instruction without external interference.
Identifying Challenges Faced:
Reliance on traditional tools leading to system maintenance issues.
Utilization of disparate tools resulting in process inefficiencies.
Inability to establish a distinctive market presence (Unique Selling Proposition - USP).
Understanding The Users
Type A - Someone who is only aware about where to learn (the platform).
Type B - Someone who has an interest to take action.
Type C - Some who has the flexibility of time to invest in improving their English.
Type AC - Someone who is aware of the platform, possesses flexibility of time to invest, yet struggles to take action towards it.
Type BC - Someone with the flexibility of time to invest and the willingness to take action but lacks awareness of where to begin.
Type AB - Someone who is aware of the platform, desires to take steps towards the goal, but lacks the time to do so.
Type ABC - Someone who is aware of the platform, possesses flexibility of time to invest, and actively takes steps towards it.
Key insights from the discovery sessions
Problem Statement
How might we build a unified platform that allows young adults (18 to 25 Y.Os) that are aspiring to learn English, to find and connect with tutors of their choice, over a video session at their own convenience?
Accessory Problem Statements
How might we make trainers accessible for users who don’t have the flexibility of time, allowing them to learn at their own convenience?
How might we assist with information and guidance for users who are unsure where to start, enabling them to make an informed choice about which course to select?
How might we personalize the teaching experience for users, enabling them to learn at their own pace and according to their preferences?
How might we design a course structure for users who don’t know where to start, facilitating a sequential learning process?
Defining the modules
After engaging in discussions with stakeholders and the development team, the platform modules have been visualized to prioritize the construction of the most technically complex modules first.
Information Architecture
This step was incredibly crucial to the entire redesign, considering the abundance of data to display and numerous actions to perform. With a clutter-free interface in mind, the following architecture for the Platform was devised.
Explore Courses Module
Final Screens
Screen Detailing
Instant Connect Module
Final Screens
Screen Detailing
Schedule Session Module
Final Screens
Screen Detailing
Project Results
After visualizing the product and assembling our product development team, Inzpira was able to secure a seed funding of INR 2.3CR from Avalon Capital.
My Learnings
As funny and obvious as it may sound, building products is much harder than I expected. There are so many stakeholders and scenarios to account for, and finding the right balance and making the right compromises was more challenging than I had anticipated.
It's really important to account for edge cases before you go into design lock-up for a design system. I found that user journeys were the most helpful in identifying these edge cases and accommodating them early into the designs.
Iterate, iterate, iterate.
It’s really important to work with a team and include the development team early in the project panning process. For a company as small as Inzpira, they were very conscious about the use of their funds and we had to spend a good amount of time on planning out the design of the modules so that development could run in parallel with the design.
As a designer, it's really important to understand and accommodate the business goals and decisions, but keeping the users at the centre is how great products are made.