Scaling an EdTech startup from 0 to 30,000+ users

Product Design

Design System

Role

Head of Design

Team

UX Designer, 1 Project Manager, 12 Developers

Tools

Industry

EdTech

SaaS

B2B2C

Overview

TransferBuddy is the #1 transfer app for community college students, using smart matching algorithms to connect them with the best-fit universities. By ensuring seamless credit transfers, it saves students time, money, and stress while helping universities find high-quality applicants. With personalized guidance and real-time support, TransferBuddy makes transferring faster, smarter, and stress-free.

8 Features Shipped

In just a short amount of time, I was the main designer who oversaw the development and execution of all of TransferBuddy's driving features

From $0 to Profitable

I was part of the team that brought the product to it's first sales deals. I created all sales materials, prototypes, and screens.

Cohesive Design System

I created a flexible design process and system that was tailored to the company, ensuring efficient design and developer handoff

The Problem

Transferring colleges can be a confusing and stressful process. Students face many different kinds of adversity, such as:

Fragmented information across multiple platforms

There is not one reliable "source of truth" for students trying to transfer

Unclear transfer requirements

This often leads to students spending more in university and more money on repeat classes that they did not need to take

Lack of personalized guidance

Community college transfer guides have a lot on their plates and aren't able to give the required attention for every student

Limited support in aligning transfer decisions with long-term career goals

It'd be best to have student's transfer goals align with their career goals

My Role & What I Did

As the first UX hire, I was tasked with taking TransferBuddy from concept (0) to a fully functional product (1). To efficiently manage the complexity of building a new app from scratch, I adopted a feature-based design approach, focusing on designing, testing, and launching the app feature by feature.

My mission was to design an engaging, user-friendly app that simplifies the transfer journey and supports students every step of the way.

Developed a Design System for Consistency, Efficiency, and Cohesiveness

30%

Faster development cycles

Due to design efficiency, and leading to quicker feature ships

95%

Increase in UI consistency

Consistency in typography, colors, and components across all screens

70%

Component reusability rate

Reuse of core components like buttons, forms, and notifications

Feature-Based Releases

We worked on a Feature-Based Release schedule where the most important features were prioritized and then spec'd out, and from there were executed by design

Student-Facing

Student Dashboard

The Student Hub gave users an area where they could store and reference all of their activity on the app. They could also see their progress, important dates / deadlines, application status, and target universities.

University-Facing

University Channel Builder

Branding is an important part to any university. To accommodate University's needs, we implemented a customizable "Channel" builder where the University can add their colors, logos, and specific sections.

Student-Facing

University-Facing

Events

Universities could host in-person and virtual events for students. This aided in student-to-university engagement.

University-Facing

Student-Facing

Onboarding

The Challenge: Complex Information Requirements

The onboarding process for "The Transfer App" needed to satisfy multiple stakeholders, including universities and the internal sales team. Universities required students to provide extensive information upfront to meet compliance and enrollment standards. Simultaneously, the sales team sought to collect additional data points for promotional purposes, creating a risk of overwhelming users with lengthy forms.

University requirements

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Academic information
Compliance requirements
Demographic data

Sales requirements

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Personal data (home address, phone number)
User's goals

Student requirements

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Simplified onboarding experience
Quick and easy forms
Compassionate onboarding

Design Strategy: Simplifying the Onboarding Process

Some ways that I helped to simplify the onboarding process

Prioritization of Information

Worked with stakeholders to identify which data fields were essential and which could be optional or deferred until later in the user journey.

Suggested a phased data collection approach where non-critical information was requested only after the initial onboarding.

Progressive Disclosure

Implemented a multi-step onboarding process that only displayed a few fields at a time, reducing cognitive load and making the process feel more approachable.

How We Visualized Success in Onboarding

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It's always exciting seeing how well the design performs once it has been published. Here are some metrics by which we measured that success:

30% Uplift in Student Registrations

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Result: The onboarding completion rate increased from 50% to 80% after implementing the streamlined, multi-step onboarding process.

Impact: A 30% uplift in student registrations, contributing directly to higher enrollment numbers for partner universities.

25% Reduction in Dropoff Rates

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Result: The introduction of progressive disclosure and dynamic form fields reduced the drop-off rate on the onboarding page by 25%.

Impact: More students completed the onboarding process, leading to a larger pool of verified student profiles for both universities and marketing teams.

60% Increase in High-Quality Applications

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Result: Improved form validation and smart defaults led to a 40% reduction in incomplete or inaccurate form submissions

Impact: Universities received higher-quality data, reducing administrative work and ensuring smoother integration with their systems.

90% User Satisfaction Rate

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Result: Surveys conducted post-onboarding showed a 90% satisfaction rate with the ease of the registration process.

Impact: High satisfaction scores contributed to a positive brand experience and increased word-of-mouth recommendations.

Decrease in Average Time to Complete

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Result: The optional "Profile Enhancement" step led to 60% of users voluntarily providing additional information for marketing purposes.

Impact: The marketing team received valuable insights without compromising the core user experience, allowing for better-targeted campaigns.

Higher Opt-In Rates for Marketing Data

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Result: The optional "Profile Enhancement" step led to 60% of users voluntarily providing additional information for marketing purposes.

Impact: The marketing team received valuable insights without compromising the core user experience, allowing for better-targeted campaigns.

Better Stakeholder Management

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Result: Regular workshops and collaborative sessions with stakeholders resulted in a 50% reduction in design iteration time.

Impact: Faster design cycles allowed the team to meet tight deadlines and align more closely with business objectives.

Student-Facing

Explore Universities

I helped to create the first version of the “Explore" experience, where students can search for universities to find out more information such as group chats, programs, finances, majors, and upcoming events.

Student-Facing

Student Application

The current standard to apply for universities right now is either directly through the university or through the universally known CommonApp, but both experiences are clunky and time-consuming. This application is quick and easy to submit.

30%

Increase in transfer student applications

*as reported by Penn State University

60%

Less time spent on application

than CommonApp

University-Facing

Student-Facing

Versatile Messaging

Community is an important aspect of the transfer journey, so it was important for students to have a reliable resource to cultivate their own communities. Through groupchats, students can create and join those that they most relate to and ask questions, get/give advice, and make friends.

You're in good company

Trusted by companies all over the world

You're in good company

Trusted by companies all over the world

You're in good company

Trusted by companies all over the world

Want to work on something like this together?

I'd love to see if we're a match made in design heaven ✨

Schedule a call

Want to work on something like this together?

I'd love to see if we're a match made in design heaven ✨

Schedule a call

Want to work on something like this together?

I'd love to see if we're a match made in design heaven ✨

Schedule a call