2021
First Interaction Design for italki
The “contact form” was originally introduced as a safeguard, requiring students to answer structured questions before reaching out to a new teacher. This helped filter out casual spam and gave teachers more context.
But over time, the format became a barrier for genuine interaction. Students who just wanted to ask a simple question had to fill out repetitive fields, often duplicating information they’d already shared with other teachers. What started as a protective measure ended up creating unnecessary friction, making what should be a natural first exchange feel procedural.
This redesign aimed to strike a better balance: keep teachers protected while making it easier for students to introduce themselves, share learning goals, or simply ask a quick question.
Deliverables:
Redesign of the first interaction experience from both the student and teacher perspective
High-fidelity designs for desktop, mobile web, and app entry points
Updated UI components (form inputs, modals, confirmation screens) aligned with the design system
Post-implementation design review, identifying mismatches and issues after developer handoff
Roles:
Assessed pain points in the existing flow by reviewing usage data and identifying friction patterns
Reframed the form interaction into a lighter, more conversational experience
Worked with PMs to balance teacher preparation needs, student communication efficiency, and platform safeguards against spam.
Collaborated with developers to catch implementation errors and propose fixes
The contact form was the only way for students to reach a teacher they hadn’t interacted with before. Teachers set up the form when creating their profile, selecting at least 3 questions from a set of pre-defined multiple-choice options, and they could also add a custom question of their own.
For students, the experience was repetitive: answers weren’t saved, so they had to fill out the same questions every time they contacted a new teacher. For teachers, the form offered little flexibility and sometimes felt impersonal, as they relied on preset questions or had to manually create custom ones.
According to our data, only 28.5% of students filled out the contact form when reaching out to a teacher. Of those who did, 57.6% went on to book their first lesson, showing that completing the form was strongly linked to engagement.
The questions teachers most often selected were about the reason for taking lessons, the student’s current language level, and the areas they wanted to focus on. Because students had to answer these same questions every time they contacted a new teacher, the process became repetitive and cumbersome.
This insight motivated the redesign to simplify the questions to the essential learning preferences, remember student responses for future interactions, and reduce friction to encourage more students to engage with teachers.
To address these pain points, we redesigned the contact flow to make it simpler, more intuitive, and less repetitive for students while still providing teachers with the necessary context. On the student side, the contact form became a streamlined interaction, offering a free-form message field for students to introduce themselves or ask questions, alongside an option to send their learning preferences. Only the most essential and universal questions are included. If a student has previously filled out their learning preferences, the answers are remembered and can be edited, reducing friction and repetition.
On the teacher side, the old contact form was replaced by a “First Lesson Message” section in their profile setup. Teachers can craft an optional message, and if they choose not to, a default placeholder can still provide enough guidance for students. This ensures students see context or direction when initiating contact, without navigating multiple fields or redundant questions. The design balances flexibility for teachers with simplicity for students, making first-time interactions more intentional and streamlined.
