Discovery phase for custom tutoring website*
Business analysis for a tutoring platform that connects students with tutors for personalized video lessons tailored to specific academic needs
*The platform is not released yet so we can’t disclose its name or share real project materials.
01
Project idea
The owner of a tutoring agency approached us to design and develop a website that connects tutors and students. On the platform, students describe the academic problem they want to solve.
The admin reviews each request and assigns a tutor who matches the student’s needs. Students then get personalized lessons with a tutor. Such a personalized approach helps them focus on specific challenges, stay engaged with the material, and improve their academic results.
02
Client’s goal
Our client plans to use the website for internal operations. This tool has two main goals, which is to automate the agency’s routine operations, such as scheduling lessons and processing payments. And the second one is to provide students with a convenient tool and environment to have online video lessons with the agency's tutors.
When the client contacted us, she shared a Canva prototype of the platform’s dashboard. This prototype helped us understand her idea, but it wasn’t enough to start design and development. We began the project by analyzing the client’s concept to clarify the requirements and find the best technical solutions.
03
Action plan
Our task was to run a discovery phase and turn the client’s idea into a detailed plan for the design and development teams. During the discovery, we took the following steps:
Defined user roles, described their needs, and created journey maps for each role.
Broke down the features and grouped them into several versions.
Compiled rules for how the app works and manages user payments to keep the platform trustworthy.
Suggested the app format, technologies, and integrations that would help us launch the tutoring website trouble-free.
04
Discovery phase
Outlining user journeys
We started the discovery phase with a call where our team asked the client to describe her idea, define the target audience, and outline their needs. We discussed which problems the platform should solve and asked how the business planned to earn money.
During a face-to-face meeting, we learned that the client wanted a tutoring marketplace with a built-in payment system. Personalization was the key value. The client wanted the platform to help students solve specific academic problems and focus only on topics they needed.
Based on this, we decided to create interfaces for three user roles: students, tutors, and service administrators. To begin this work, we described the needs for each role and built user journey maps. Here are these artifacts.
Student’s needs
Wants to register and set up an account quickly.
Needs a clear view of their balance and payment history when buying credits and paying for lessons.
Prefers to describe their academic problem and get matched with a suitable tutor.
Wants the option to change tutors if the first match doesn’t fit.
Needs an easy way to schedule lessons and see their upcoming sessions in the interface.
Student’s journey map
Tutor’s needs
Wants to receive an invite from the admin and complete registration in just a few steps.
Needs a convenient calendar to manage availability and see all scheduled lessons in one place.
Wants a clear overview of upcoming trial and paid sessions.
Needs a transparent way to track completed lessons and see earnings for each session.
Tutor’s journey map
Admin’s needs
Needs to add, edit, and deactivate tutor accounts easily.
Wants to assign the right tutor to each student based on the student’s academic needs.
Needs quick access to statistics like revenue, number of booked sessions, and active users.
Admin’s journey map
After we finished the journey maps, we reviewed them with the client and changed it in line with client’s requirements.
This step is important because clients often want to adjust the journeys for different user types, and it’s much easier and less costly to make changes at this stage than during design or development. Later, designers use these maps as a foundation when creating the interfaces.
Creating a feature breakdown
Next, we broke the project down by features. During this process, we created a list of all actions that users in each role can perform. To describe these actions, we wrote user stories for every role.
User stories made it easier to explain to the client what functions the application would have, using simple and clear language. Later, either the client or our team could share this list with anyone involved in the project, such as stakeholders, investors, designers, or developers. This approach helps everyone understand what the application will do and aligns the team around a shared vision.
We also used the feature breakdown to set priorities. Our business analyst worked with the client to decide which features were most valuable and should be included first. Since most startup projects have budget or timeline constraints, it’s important to focus on the core functionality. Prioritizing features helps us stay within project limits and make sure we only keep the most essential items on the list.
After that, our business analyst and the client also decided which features to include in the first version of the product and which to save for future releases.
When we selected features for each version, we focused on the main value of the project — personalization. For the first version, we included only the functionality that let students describe their academic problems in detail, allowed admins to find and assign the right tutors, and gave tutors the ability to manage their schedules and hold one-on-one lessons with students. The entire feature breakdown centers on these core capabilities.
As a result, we created a prioritized feature list together with the client. Once we finished this work, we prepared an estimate for the project’s cost and timeline based on the list. This gave the client a clear understanding of the project scope and what to expect in terms of delivery.
Writing business rules
In addition to the list of user stories, our business analyst prepared a set of rules describing how the system should work. These rules cover money holding and charging, refunds, lesson cancellation policies, class management, scheduling, dispute resolution, and the safety of students and tutors.
We created these rules to set clear guidelines for handling payments, scheduling, cancellations, refunds, tutor assignments, and other core scenarios. Clear rules remove ambiguity and prevent inconsistencies, helping the platform earn users’ trust. They also protect both users and the platform owner by making it easier to resolve disputes quickly and fairly.
Also, clear money management is crucial for an online tutoring platform, especially when it handles payments, refunds, and cancellations. Transparent and well-communicated business rules make sure that both students and tutors always know what’s happening with their money. This removes uncertainty, prevents misunderstandings, and helps everyone feel safe using the platform.
Advising technologies
During each discovery phase, we not only describe the product’s functionality but also suggest technologies that let us build all required features as quickly as possible. We also recommend which formats the app should use — web or mobile.
For this tutoring platform, we suggested creating web interfaces for all three user roles and making the student interface responsive for mobile devices. Web suits both tutors and students for running lessons, while students often need to check their lesson schedule on their phones. A responsive web version covers these needs and allows us to deliver the mobile experience without the extra cost of developing a separate mobile app.
Considering that our team is going to design and develop this platform, we offer our typical tech stack.
It’s React.js for frontend, Laravel for backend, and Laravel Nova for an admin panel. These technologies proved to be reliable on many of our projects, and we have gathered extensive libraries of components, helping us to build up interfaces quickly.
Apart from the technologies, we helped the client to opt for integrations of third-party services.
This integration will allow the developers to save time on building several functions from scratch and allow them to use already existing reliable, and tested technologies instead. Here’s the list of integrations:
Stripe Billing
will be integrated to accept one-time payments, recurring payments, and subscriptions, as well as make refunds.
Zoom SDK
will be integrated to schedule and conduct online lessons with video and audio, automatically generating meeting links for each session.
Google Calendar API
will be used to sync lesson schedules, allowing tutors and students to add upcoming sessions to their calendars and avoid booking conflicts.
Intercom Chat
will be connected to provide live chat support on the platform, helping students and tutors get quick answers and resolve issues in real time.
By defining the list of technologies during the discovery phase, we align the tech stack with the client’s goals, timeline, and budget. This helps us avoid costly or overly complex solutions that don’t fit the project’s needs.
Early selection of proven integrations like Stripe, Zoom, and Intercom also reduces technical risks. When we choose these tools at the start, everyone knows that payments, video calls, and chat support will work reliably.
What expertise helped us run the discovery phase?
This tutoring platform works like a typical marketplace. It connects students and tutors, manages payments by holding funds until lessons are delivered, and uses booking features instead of product shipments. Tutors go through a vetting process before they can offer their services, similar to how some marketplaces review new sellers.
Our team has solid experience building marketplace-style platforms. We’ve launched products for exchanging edible goods, renting various items, booking yacht berths, and platforms in other business domains. This background helped us run the discovery phase efficiently and plan the product’s interface with clarity.
When planning unique features for this project, we focused on the client’s main request — personalizing the student experience. We analyzed similar platforms in detail to design features like personalized tutor matching and the trial lesson system. This helped us make sure these elements worked well for every type of user.
How the tutoring platform will work
Based on the analysis from the discovery phase, the tutoring will have the following flows and features.
Student’s interface
Onboarding
When students enter the platform for the first time, they can create an account using their email and password. During registration, they fill in personal details such as place of study, age, and nationality, so tutors have the information they need to prepare for lessons. As part of onboarding, students can also purchase the platform’s internal currency to pay for upcoming lessons.
Dashboard
On the dashboard, students can view their current balance and see a list of upcoming lessons. They can also easily buy more platform currency to schedule additional lessons.
Matching with a tutor and doing a trial lesson
Students fill out a form to describe their learning needs. After the admin assigns a tutor, students can schedule and attend a trial lesson, then decide if the tutor is a good fit for their goals.
Scheduling and lesson management
After the trial lesson, if the student decides to continue with the tutor, they can purchase a package of lessons and schedule them using a convenient calendar. Students can also cancel or reschedule lessons and view their lesson history.
Payment management
Students can buy the platform’s internal currency to pay for lessons. They can always track their funds by viewing their current balance, purchase history, and any credits held for scheduled lessons.
Notifications and support
Students receive notifications about important events, including lesson reminders, booking confirmations, and cancellations. If they have questions or encounter any issues, they can access a 24/7 support chat directly on the platform. This keeps students informed and ensures they get help whenever they need it.
Tutor’s interface
Onboarding
Tutors can register on the platform using an admin’s invite and set their password. They can also fill in their profile page, add a photo, and describe their experience and competencies to make their profiles attractive to students.
Dashboard
Tutors have a dashboard where they can track upcoming trial and paid lessons at a glance. They receive notifications about new student assignments, so they never miss important updates.
Schedule management
Tutors manage their availability through an interactive calendar. They can open or block specific time slots, set up recurring hours, and sync their teaching schedule with Google Calendar to prevent booking conflicts.
Session control
After each lesson, tutors confirm session completion or report any issues that occurred. They can also cancel lessons if needed, with clear steps for handling these changes.
Earnings tracking
Tutors see a detailed record of all completed lessons and the number of credits earned for each session, helping them keep track of their work and payouts.
Admin panel
Tutor management
The platform allows easy adding, editing, and deactivating of tutor accounts. Profiles can be searched, reviewed, and updated at any time. Also, an administrator can set lesson costs and adjust them according to each tutor's needs.
Student and class management
All student requests and academic needs are visible in one place. An admin can assign tutors to students based on the requirements.. Admins can also close or reopen classes to manage ongoing learning or address issues as they arise.
Session oversight
Active and upcoming lessons are tracked in real time, making it simple to monitor progress. If cancellations happen or refunds are needed, these actions can be processed directly from the panel.
Statistics and reports
A dashboard displays key data, including the number of students, tutors, booked lessons, credits purchased, and total revenue. This helps track the platform’s growth and performance.
Support management
Support tickets can be viewed and responded to, with options to filter by category or status. When needed, technical or billing issues are escalated to the right specialists for quick resolution.
05
Results
Our business analyst completed the discovery phase and reviewed all artefacts with the client.
The client was glad to see her idea turn into a clear, actionable plan that could be handed off to designers and developers. With the discovery phase finished, we could move on to design and development of the agency’s new business tool.
Based on our experience, we always recommend running business analysis before starting design and development. In this case, it brought several key benefits to the client:
01
The discovery phase turned the client’s idea into a clear and structured plan, and ensured our team and the client had a shared vision of the project.
02
We defined all key features and rules upfront, which helped us avoid miscommunication and unclear expectations later in development.
03
By prioritizing features early, we kept the project within budget and timeline limits.
04
We discussed business rules and technical details in advance, which lowered the risk of expensive changes down the road.
05
With all artefacts in place, the team could hand off the project to designers and developers without confusion or delays.
06
Market and competitor research during discovery helped us shape unique features to fit real user needs.
07
All artefacts from discovery gave stakeholders, investors, and the team full transparency and alignment from the start.
$1,300
Price
2 weeks
Timeline
