Exciting Product Update: New Dynamic Onboarding Experience for the Knack Platform!

We're thrilled to introduce a brand-new, dynamic onboarding experience for students! This update, now live on both web and mobile, is designed to better understand our students and guide them through our platform in a more personalized way. Here’s a quick rundown of the enhancements:

• Dynamic Experience: Onboarding flow adjusts based on students' objectives.
• Flexible Navigation: Students can skip the onboarding at any time.
• Future Insights: New data is being captured on student preferences & objectives.

This will not only provide valuable insights into why students come to Knack but also help them take meaningful actions that can positively impact their academic journey.

New Student Onboarding: A Deeper Dive
When students sign up for Knack and select “I need a tutor,” they’re now asked three pivotal questions designed to tailor their experience based on their specific needs and attitudes towards tutoring:

1. What kind of student are you?
2. What is your top priority for using Knack?
3. How do you feel about tutoring, in general?

Depending on their answers, students will see different screens, offering a customized path that’s most relevant to their academic goals and feelings about tutoring.

Students can skip these questions at any point, leading them directly to the "Find tutors" view. We also added a new "How does it work?" link in the "Find tutors" view, directing users to the final screen of the onboarding process, ensuring they can still benefit from our guidance even if they opt-out initially.

Why This Update Matters

Increasing Positive Actions

Our primary goal with this update is to increase the number of students who take a positive action—like scheduling a tutoring session—within the first 24 hours of signing up. Our data shows that early engagement is crucial: if a student doesn’t take a positive action soon after signing up, they’re unlikely to do so later. This new flow is designed to remove barriers and provide clear, tailored guidance to help students make the most of Knack from the get-go.

Understanding Our Students Better

By asking students these targeted questions, we’re gathering invaluable data on their motivations, study habits, and attitudes towards tutoring. This information will help us improve their user experience and eventually allow us to share deeper insights with our partners. Understanding why students come to Knack and what they hope to achieve enables us to better meet their needs and support their academic success.

Nitty Gritty: Details About How the Feature Works
Don't worry, you don't need to read this nitty-gritty unless you're curious how it all works!

1. Student selects "I need a tutor" when signing up
   • Previously, a user could close this modal / view, but they will now be forced to make a selection
     
     
2. Student is redirected to a new route / view (on web, the route is /student-onboarding)
   
   
3. Student will be asked "What type of student are you?" (student type question)
   • The options are:
     • "I like to feel prepared and do things ahead of time" (proactive student)
     • "I do well in school but sometimes wait until the last minute" (passive student)
     • "I usually start studying after I receive a bad grade or when I feel pressure" (reactive student)
   • Selecting an option will take the user to the next screen
   • User can also skip the flow, and will be taken to the "Find tutors" view
     
     
4. Student will be asked "What is your top priority for using Knack?"
   • The options are:
     • "Feel prepared for my classes"
     • "Add structure to my study routine"
     • "Seek help with urgent academic challenges"
     • "Improve my grades"
   • Selecting an option will take the user to the next screen
   • User can also skip the flow and will be taken to the "Find tutors" view
     
     
5. Student will be shown a "value prop" screen explaining that Knack is free and we offer multiple ways of getting help
   • Student can press "Next"
   • User can also skip the flow and will be taken to the "Find tutors" view
     
     
6. Student will be asked "How do you feel about tutoring, in general?"
   • The options are:
     • "I believe it's helpful and I'm ready to find a tutor!" (ready)
     • "I know it's helpful but I don't urgently need a tutor" (not urgent)
     • "I'm hesitant to start tutoring" (hesitant)
   • Selecting an option will take the user to the next screen
   • User can also skip the flow and will be taken to the "Find tutors" view
     
     
7. Student is maybe shown a screen to encourage them towards tutoring
   • If the student selected the "ready" option for the previous question, they do not see this screen
   • If the student selected the "not urgent" option for the previous question, they see copy that encourages them to take 2 minutes now, their future self will thank them
   • If the student selected the "hesitant" option for the previous question, they see copy that validates their feelings and attempts to normalize tutoring
   • In both cases, we show how many students from their university have requested a tutor. As long as that number is greater than 15, we show the number. If it's less than 15, we do not show this number (because then it wouldn't help normalize it!)
   • The user can click a button that says "Let's get started" to go to the next step
   • User can also skip the flow and will be taken to the "Find tutors" view
     
     
8. Student is shown the final screen where we recommend one of two next steps based on their response to the first question, their student type.
   • If a user selected that they were a proactive student, we recommend they set up recurring sessions with a tutor
   • If a user selected that they were a passive or reactive student, we recommend they request a tutor
   • The user has two CTA options. If they select "Request a tutor", we show them the RFT flow. If they select "Or, explore other options", we take them to the "Find tutors" view

What's Next?

Tracking and Analysis

We’re closely monitoring how students interact with this new onboarding process. We’ll track responses, the completion rate of the onboarding flow, and the impact on positive actions taken within the first 24 hours.

Partner Insights

Our next step is to plan how to share this rich data with our partners via the Knack Dashboard. This feature will be part of a future release, aiming to provide partners with deeper insights into student behavior and needs.

Onward and Upward
With this new onboarding experience, we aim to make each student’s journey with Knack more personalized, supportive, and successful. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to enhance the Knack experience for both students and partners!