Rethinking Home Tutoring Through User Experience
DIVYANSHI AGRAHARI , Ruchi Gaur
Purpose – The main aim of this study is to explore user needs and experience challenges associated with finding and selecting home tutors through digital platforms. The study focuses particularly on trust, tutor verification, safety, affordability, flexible scheduling, tutor–student matching, and progress tracking from the perspectives of parents and students. Based on these insights, the study proposes a user-centred approach to designing a more accessible and trustworthy home tutoring experience. Design/methodology/approach – A user-centred design approach was adopted. Qualitative insights were gathered through interviews with potential users to understand their experiences, concerns, expectations, and difficulties in finding and managing home tutors. A competitive audit of existing tutoring platforms was also undertaken to identify gaps in usability, tutor verification, reviews, communication, payment, progress tracking, and tutor matching. The findings informed the development of personas, empathy maps, user journeys, user stories, information architecture, user flows, and an interactive prototype. Findings – The findings indicate that users experience difficulties in identifying qualified and trustworthy tutors and have concerns regarding safety, privacy, unclear pricing, unreliable reviews, and poor tutor–student matching. Users also expressed the need for flexible scheduling, transparent information, easy communication, demo classes, and progress updates. Practical implications – The study demonstrates how user research can inform the design of digital tutoring platforms that simplify tutor discovery, comparison, booking, communication, and learning management. Originality/value – The study contributes a user-centred perspective to digital home tutoring by bringing together the experiences of parents and students and translating their needs into a proposed UX solution. It highlights trust, personalization, and usability as important considerations in designing more effective digital home tutoring experiences.