Referrals

Company
Outschool

When
May - July 2024

Key Metrics
Referral rate (sending and conversions), Class Bookings, New Buyers, Sign-up Rate

Team
Tutoring team

Collaborators
4 engineers, 1 PM, legal, & UXR

Successful referrals come from storytelling

To enhance our referral program, my UX researcher and I interviewed parents who had successfully referred friends to Outschool, whether through our program or independently. A common thread in these conversations was that parents loved sharing personal stories about how Outschool benefited their child, which made them more enthusiastic about recommending the platform. Unlike typical consumer referral programs, where the product isn't deeply personal and motivation is driven by monetary gain, Outschool is tied to their child's education, making these testimonials and stories even more impactful. We realized that our current referral program wasn’t leveraging this key insight, as it wasn’t equipping parents with tools to share their stories, and referred users were simply being directed to a generic landing page that missed this critical emotional connection.

Finding the right approach with storyboarding

After analyzing interview insights with my UX researcher, I realized the need to explore the different scenarios in which parents refer friends and share their experiences with our product. To bridge the communication gap with stakeholders—who didn’t fully grasp why our referral program needed to be distinct from others—I crafted detailed user stories. These stories illustrated the current referral journey and contrasted it with ideal scenarios that represented successful referrals. By using AI-generated storyboards, I brought these user stories to life, which not only deepened my understanding of the motivations behind referrals but also served as tangible tools to engage stakeholders. These storyboards helped build shared empathy across the team and acted as experience blueprints, guiding my design solutions before I even sketched any mocks or flows.

Profiles as shareable artifacts

When brainstorming our unique approach to referrals, I looked to digital social experiences that excel in user storytelling, rather than other referral programs. I noticed that viral sharing often stems from user profiles, which highlight personal stories through activity and engagement. On platforms like Instagram, Spotify, and LinkedIn, users effortlessly share slices of their lives through their interactions, preferences, and statistics. This insight led me to envision a similar approach for Outschool, where parents could easily and automatically share their family's experiences. By tapping into their own stories and testimonials, parents could naturally promote Outschool without needing to overthink the process.

Concepts & Iterations…

Class history & UGC paint a picture

For the first iteration of the parent profile, I focused on a creative approach that leveraged existing site content to build something new and shareable, without requiring extra effort from parents. My goal was to construct the profile using data and content already generated by parents through their interactions on Outschool. I began by identifying key elements like class history, submitted photos and videos, teacher lists, reviews, favorited classes, and engagement stats. By curating these existing pieces in a compelling way, I aimed to craft a narrative that would naturally tell the story of each family's Outschool journey, turning everyday activity into a shareable, engaging profile.

Navigating privacy challenges

One of the toughest challenges in developing the profile feature was addressing parent and child privacy concerns, which are critical in the education space and require stringent ethical and legal considerations. The goal was to balance user storytelling with the protection of sensitive data. To achieve this, I worked closely with my product manager and legal team, exploring different approaches, from the open profiles of platforms like Facebook to the privacy-focused designs of document-sharing tools. Recognizing that open settings wouldn't suffice, we opted for a default private profile link. This solution allowed families to securely share their stories while maintaining full control over their privacy, effectively balancing openness and security.

Experiment results

  • Outbound referral rate increased by ~25%

  • Sign-up rate increased by ~35%

  • Referred new buyer rate increased by ~11%

  • 8% of visitors on profile page shared referral