tutorfinder
A place to find the right tutor for you.
Context
I've been studying Japanese for over a year, and finding the right tutor was really challenging. Many of the existing platforms lacked key features like sorting, filtering, and ratings. Moreover, they lacked responsive design and had desktop-only design.
Problem Storytelling
Maria, a 24-year-old university student, wants to improve her Japanese for an upcoming exchange program. She spends hours browsing different websites, reading inconsistent tutor profiles, and messaging several tutors before finally finding one she likes, only to discover their availability doesn’t match hers.
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Lena, a 19-year-old student, has just started learning English as a hobby. She feels nervous about making mistakes and wants a tutor experienced with beginners. Yet existing platforms offer little detail about tutors’ teaching styles, leaving her uncertain about who will create a comfortable and encouraging learning environment.
02
Daniel, a 32-year-old sales manager, is learning Italian to work with a new client in Milan. His unpredictable hours mean he often searches for tutors during his commute. Most tutor platforms are built for desktop use, with awkward layouts and tiny text on mobile, making it frustrating to browse profiles or book lessons from his phone.
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Design Principles
Make Finding the Right Tutor Effortless
Enable users to quickly discover tutors who match their subject, skill level, availability, and budget through clear sorting, filtering, and search tools.
Build Trust Through Transparency
Provide consistent, detailed tutor profiles with ratings, reviews, and teaching style descriptions so learners feel confident in their choice.
Design for On-the-Go Learning
Deliver a fully responsive mobile and desktop experience with smooth navigation, easy booking, and secure payments, ensuring users can manage their lessons anytime, anywhere.
Designed with You in Mind
With easy filtering across subject, level of experience, price and location; it's easy to find the right tutor for you.
Once you have found a potential match, you can even favourite them ready to start your learning journey
Key Features
Finding your subject area
Start off by searching for your subject area, and you can even choose your current level to make sure you see the best options.
Exploring the options
Finding the right tutor can be difficult, that's why there are clear and helpful filters and sorting to make sure they tick all the right boxes.
Taking the first step
Taking the first step and arranging that first session is easy. You can find a slot that works for you both and get calendar invites direct to your emails.
Design Without Barriers
Responsive design means whether you're browsing your phone on your morning commute, or at home with a tablet or desktop, you will get a consistent experience that works.
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Built to be accessible for everyone, with readable text, easy navigation, and colors that work for all kinds of vision.
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Easy to use whether you’re a tech whiz or just getting started online; tutorfinder has simple navigation, clear wording, and no confusing steps.
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Key Takeaways
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Testing with real users - I gave a demo of my project to friends and family and got their feedback, but this wasn't true user testing. Given the chance it would be great to test my project with real students and tutors to find friction points and ideas.
My first key learning was to clearly define my users and understand their pain points and needs fully. I put a lot of time into the experience of students, and with more time and effort I can seek to ensure I give tutors the same level of experience.
02
Designing a mobile first experience definitely helped with prioritisation and creating a streamlined experience. Certain features and design elements that I originally had planned to create were cut from my mobile design and gave me the opportunity to think about if they were really needed at all.
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Final Notes
This project challenged me to think deeply about user needs, balancing functionality with an inclusive, mobile-first design. By prioritising clarity, trust, and ease of use, I created a platform that works seamlessly for learners of all backgrounds and abilities. With further testing and iteration, tutorfinder has the potential to become a truly indispensable tool for connecting students and tutors worldwide.