Background

Company:  UPchieve
Role:  UX Designer, Volunteer

UPchieve is a non-profit organization that provides free online tutoring and college counseling services, targeting lower-income high school students.  Available 24/7, students can request help through the app and interact with volunteer tutors through a digital whiteboard and chat feature.

The Problem
Google Analytics showed a bounce rate of 52% and the team wanted to improve the conversion rate of visitors signing-up for tutoring services (see image for existing homepage). I was tasked with exploring potential redesigns or enhancements to support a higher conversion rate.  

The proposed solution involved incorporating other types of content on the homepage and structuring them in a way  to “nudge” and motivate visitors to sign-up.

Understanding Users

The team had gathered data through user interviews and other anecdotal evidence.  Target users - students from lower-income families - often start homework later in the day due to other extracurriculars and or responsibilities to the family, e.g., taking care of siblings or elders, working part-time jobs.  Therefore they tend to have tutoring needs that start at irregular hours or late at night.  They may face digital challenges such as access to high-speed internet.  

It’s also important to distinguish users from customers - students using the app may not be the same initial visitors to the landing page.  These could be parents or guardians looking for academic support for their children and signing them up for an account.  Their concerns include any financial costs, trustworthiness, and quality of the service. 

Ideation + Iteration

I began with a competitive analysis to better understand their content strategy.  Some of the larger and more established competitors in this space include Tutors.com, Skooli, and Chegg Tutors.  The type of content (see image) that is commonly found on these companies’ homepage include:

 - Behavioral cues
 - Social proof
 - Highlighting benefits
 - Downplaying alternatives
 - Clear and urgent action steps

It was clear through this analysis that their homepage supported a higher conversion rate through behavioral design strategies that keep visitors within a funnel and motivate them to sign-up for services. 

Solution

1 - Cue the user.  The hero image of a student doing homework at night is meant to trigger the visitor into thinking about the action.  These external cues are important when helping to establish a new behavior.

2 - Elicit a positive reaction.  A quote from another student offers validation and establishes a social norm within the peer group.  Logos from accelerator programs where UPchieve has been a participant demonstrates social proof.  These are all intended to elicit a positive emotional response as the intuitive part of our brain is the first to act in any decision-making.

3 - Support evaluation.  After a positive emotional response and the visitor continues, the more conscious part of our brain takes over to evaluate the details of the decision.  Here we present a list of points that will highlight the benefits of UPchieve and downplay the costs and competitors.

4 - Explain how to take action.  Once the visitor has made the decision to sign-up, we want them to be able to take action now - the longer they wait, the less likely they'll act.  Here we present what is needed logistically to access tutoring services and a call-to-action button to begin that first step.

What I Learned

Though the proposed redesign was not implemented due to other considerations at the time, participating in this design task helped to highlight the main intention of design - to affect a change in behavior.  And understanding human psychology and decision-making helps us as designers to build more effective products.