Native English Engels

the problem

Native English Engels doesn't have a native website to house information about the school or schedule a trial lesson

Native English Engels has seen steady growth in the last 4 years while advertising and is active only through a private Instagram page.

Having a website would allow the school to further its influence in the community, attracting a larger number of potential students and building trust in the brand with a dedicated website in Russian and English.

Note: This project was completed at the request of the owner of Native English Engels and will be built into a live website using these designs.

the solution

A credible, bilingual website optimized for mobile

Credibility and trust are paramount for a local business such as this. We would foster this trust with professional language in Russian and English, showing prospective customers that everyone at the school is proficient in both languages.

Personable teachers wh love their jobs

Extracurricular activities include monthly English club with native speakers
Teacher feature page to introduce teaching staff to students
Credibility is established with the site’s English version

Flexible class settings, group or individual

Convenient scheduling for trial lessons
In-person and online options are available for whoever desires
Corporate education for businesses looking to help their employees improve their English

Customizable methods, pricing fit to student

Opportunity for a free trial lesson before you commit to paying
Classes are open to children and adult learners alike
The more family members who attend class, the lower your monthly rate

competitive analysis

Monthly English club meetings with native speakers set this school apart from the rest

As I researched language schools local to Engels I found that most offered classes to adult-age language learners and some even had English clubs for free on weekends. But only Native English Engels offers classes with real native speakers of English, hard to find in this region.

discovery research

I wanted to learn what "sold" a school to potential students

I conducted 4 remote interviews with people who had "leveled up" in their language ability with the help of a teacher.

Research objectives:

Identify the most important pieces of information students look for when choosing a language teacher/school
In which ways was the teacher successful in improving language ability?
If there were extracurriculur events, would they attend? Do they see value in these?

the meat

Foreign language students want a judge-free environment, and agency in how they learn

Because the learners emphasized methodology and price as their primary motivators when choosing a teacher, my focus was on building an intuitive interface that showcased these factors prominently.

Interviewees expressed that they preferred to see examples of methodology/how classes were led before signing up for a trial lesson
Interviewees expected a first lesson for free or discounted before they committed to regular classes
Most interviewees preferred in-person, individual classes while only 1 preferred group classes online
Students are attracted to language schools that have extra amenities: office hours, English Club, movie nights, English olympiads for competitive kids

the adult learner persona

ideating

Designing information architecture for dual-language content

I began designing the content in Russian, as it would be the default language on the site and the tone had to be established and approved by stakeholders before proceeding. While this was a fun challenge, it took me much longer as a second-language speaker of Russian.

testing + improvements made

3 improvements made after usability tests

During moderated usability testing with 7 users, pain points were identified and addressed to simplify the design and reveal a more intuitive experience for potential students and their parents.

Switching from collapsible card to static page

In testing, participants feared accidentally swiping and closing the card before they could confirm their trial lesson
This gave more room for white space around the relevant content

Removal of 2nd degree personal information

Based on user feedback, giving a phone number is unnecessary as most would prefer to take their trial lesson over Zoom
The “I understand” checkbox under the button was confusing and superfluous

Optimizing options for better usability

Zoom was the most popular option and moved to the top. None of the testers wanted a lesson over the phone
The “Submit” button was widened to fill the screen for a more prominent touchpoint on mobile

final screens

Trial lesson signup flow

These screens illustrate the process of discovery to adoption; finding out about classes at Native English Engels, deciding to signup for a free trial lesson, and following the prompts to reserve a time with a dedicated teacher.

conclusion

Lessons learned to carry forward

This was the largest project in the highest fidelity I've done so far and every step was an opportunity for learning. I took them all in stride and I'm grateful to the school for letting me build this interface.

Perfection doesn't ship. This project quickly turned into a large time commitment trying to get things perfect every step of the way. In the future, I plan to get what is necessary done at an MVP level and test, test, test.
Be present during the interview and transcribe later. I can really build a rapport with research participants when I'm not trying to type and talk. For this project, I started recording my interviews and transcribing them afterward which improved my ability to listen attentively and ask the right questions at the moment.
Stakeholders’ suggestions should be tested before implementation. The first iteration of the content didn't include any prices by stakeholder request. However, everyone who saw that iteration claimed that they wouldn't even sign up for a free trial if they didn't at least have an idea of the potential cost.
Version histories should be saved periodically and properly dated. In terms of ideating and iterating the content, the tone of the site should be tracked as it changes, especially when dealing with multiple languages.

Native English Engels

Company

My Role

Duration

Link to Figma file