Client: Online photography school for adults.
Issue: Despite having various courses, clients tend to purchase only one, with a significant drop-off after the second course. Engagement wanes despite ongoing discounts, promotional emails, and advertising efforts.
Timeline: 1,5 months
Budget: Tight
My role: UX researcher
Hypothesis:
The course content may be dissatisfying, prompting the need to identify necessary curriculum changes.
Actions:
- Collecting and analyzing the website data,
- Analyzed the social-demographic traits of the audience and scrutinized course participants' profiles on social media.
Insight: The majority of students were women aged 20-40.
Identified three groups:
1. Moms on maternity leave seeking a creative occupation: 40%
2. Young, educated urban professionals pursuing a creative hobby: 50%
3. Serious career-switchers aiming to make photography a profession: 20% (predominantly men)
In-depth interviews
The 3rd group (career switchers) showed better engagement, so they were excluded from further research.
In-depth interviews were conducted with ten students from Group 2 and seven from Group 1 (the number of participants was restricted due to financial and time constraints).
Insights:
-Courses were perceived as academically serious; some found them too challenging.
-Some participants struggled with finding suitable locations and time for practical exercises.
-Lack of clarity on selecting the next course for skill progression.
-The participants experienced difficulty applying skills learned in the introductory course to more advanced ones.
-Aspirations for professional photography focused on weddings, kids, fashion, and Photoshop/Lightroom skills.
Improvements offered:
1. Establish a clear learning path for inexperienced students, categorizing courses into two introductory and 32 specialized courses.
2. Organize courses by difficulty, provide detailed skill requirements, and link prerequisites.
3. Develop targeted courses aligned with women's interests: family photos, newborn photos, fashion, retouching, and weddings.
3. Compiled situations where students take photos, aligning them with the course curriculum for use in advertising and course descriptions.
4. Identified courses for rapid rebranding to meet student needs, such as adapting reporter photo principles for event photos.
Next steps:
1. Developed a medium-fidelity prototype for the course catalog, allowing users to create a personalized learning path.
2. Conducted a usability test with real students, made improvements, and implemented changes.
Additional methods used: card sorting, tree testing
Insights:
1. Improved course search visibility and enhanced user experience.
2. Participants anticipated bundle discounts and expressed willingness to purchase multiple courses.
Complexity levels added to each course made the decision-making process more accessible for students.
Final Changes:
1. Organized courses on the website by learning paths.
2. Added complexity level indicators and explanations of required skills.
3. Introduced bundle pricing.
Results after six months:
+30% increase in second and third-course purchases by existing clients.
Bundle purchases raised the median bill.
The school received positive reviews from users due to improved user experience.
