The first AI feature parents actually loved
The first AI feature parents actually loved
The first AI feature parents actually loved
Varsity Tutors (Nerdy Inc.) · Product Designer · Nov 2024 - 2025
AI product design
Retention
User research
Consumer mobile & web
User research
Consumer mobile & web
Consumer mobile & web
The session ended. Parents had no easy way to know how it went.
The session ended. Parents had no easy way to know how it went.
Varsity Tutors is one of the largest live online tutoring platforms in the US, offering 3,000+ subjects, 40,000+ expert tutors, and over 10 million hours of one-on-one instruction delivered to students and families across the country.
Most of our students are K-12 learners. That means the real customer — the person paying, evaluating, and deciding whether to renew — is the parent. And after every session ended, parents were largely dependent on whatever notes the tutor had chosen to write, which varied wildly, and often said very little. There was no consistent way to know what had been covered, how their child had performed, or what to focus on next.
Varsity Tutors is one of the largest live online tutoring platforms in the US, offering 3,000+ subjects, 40,000+ expert tutors, and over 10 million hours of one-on-one instruction delivered to students and families across the country.
Most of our students are K-12 learners. That means the real customer — the person paying, evaluating, and deciding whether to renew — is the parent. And after every session ended, parents were largely dependent on whatever notes the tutor had chosen to write, which varied wildly, and often said very little. There was no consistent way to know what had been covered, how their child had performed, or what to focus on next.
Session recaps page before the redesign
Session recaps page before the redesign
Before designing anything, we talked to families
Before designing anything, we talked to families
Before proposing a solution, I led a round of research interviews with parents and students to understand what the post-session experience actually looked like in real life.
What we found: most students went straight to homework the tutor had assigned during the call. A few would occasionally rewatch part of the recording. Almost no one was returning to the platform between sessions, despite having access to activities, videos, and learning materials sitting there, unused. The session was the product and everything around it had faded into background noise.
Before proposing a solution, I led a round of research interviews with parents and students to understand what the post-session experience actually looked like in real life.
What we found: most students went straight to homework the tutor had assigned during the call. A few would occasionally rewatch part of the recording. Almost no one was returning to the platform between sessions, despite having access to activities, videos, and learning materials sitting there, unused. The session was the product and everything around it had faded into background noise.
A calculated bet on AI
A calculated bet on AI
We had a hypothesis: what if we used AI to automatically generate a meaningful recap of every session — a one-line summary, the key topics covered, and personalized feedback on what the student did well and what needed attention — pulled directly from the session transcript?
It was a leap of faith, since we knew from ongoing research that between 30 - 45% of parents (2024 data) felt uncomfortable with AI being involved in their child's education, so we were deliberate about both how we designed it and how we rolled it out. Every parent had a clear opt-out, and a "Powered by AI" label with a plain-language hover explanation made the model's behavior transparent from day one. We also started with just 10% of our base — small enough to learn fast and course-correct before committing fully. Surprisingly few users opted out, and by 2025, discomfort with AI had dropped significantly.
We had a hypothesis: what if we used AI to automatically generate a meaningful recap of every session — a one-line summary, the key topics covered, and personalized feedback on what the student did well and what needed attention — pulled directly from the session transcript?
It was a leap of faith, since we knew from ongoing research that between 30 - 45% of parents (2024 data) felt uncomfortable with AI being involved in their child's education, so we were deliberate about both how we designed it and how we rolled it out. Every parent had a clear opt-out, and a "Powered by AI" label with a plain-language hover explanation made the model's behavior transparent from day one. We also started with just 10% of our base — small enough to learn fast and course-correct before committing fully. Surprisingly few users opted out, and by 2025, discomfort with AI had dropped significantly.
The results came fast and kept getting stronger
The results came fast and kept getting stronger
The session summary launched to our full base in January 2025. Within weeks, the signal was clear.
The session summary launched to our full base in January 2025. Within weeks, the signal was clear.
97%
97%
Satisfaction across 1,100+ responses.
Satisfaction across 1,100+ responses.
+670 bps
+670 bps
Improvement in 2-in-14 rate. *
Improvement in 2-in-14 rate. *
+879 bps
+879 bps
In 2-in-14 by February.
In 2-in-14 by February.
* 2-in-14 is our leading retention indicator, measuring whether a learner books 2 or more sessions within 14 days. This matters because our north star is 37-day survival rate: the threshold for monthly subscription renewal. A student having two sessions in their first two weeks is a strong predictor of staying.
* 2-in-14 is our leading retention indicator, measuring whether a learner books 2 or more sessions within 14 days. This matters because our north star is 37-day survival rate: the threshold for monthly subscription renewal. A student having two sessions in their first two weeks is a strong predictor of staying.
The foundation of an entire AI investment roadmap
The foundation of an entire AI investment roadmap
The recap's success unlocked sustained investment in the post-session experience. Over the following months, we designed and launched a series of connected features:
Progress — a carousel of skill cards showing where the student was growing, practicing, or encountering something new. Every card compared the latest session against all previous ones, giving a view of progress over time rather than a snapshot of a single call.
Session Analysis — an engagement score for the student with guidance on how to improve it, plus a time breakdown of the session. Like Progress, always framed against previous sessions so parents could see trends, not just isolated data points.
AI-generated practice problems — tailored to the topics covered in the last session or the areas the model detected the student struggling with most. As these gained traction, they gradually replaced the platform's older practice formats that were seeing little engagement, eliminating the need to manually produce practice content.
Discoverability improvements — a recap surface on the platform homepage and redesigned post-session emails, both driving parents back to the detailed page; because the best recap in the world is worthless if no one sees it.
The recap's success unlocked sustained investment in the post-session experience. Over the following months, we designed and launched a series of connected features:
Progress — a carousel of skill cards showing where the student was growing, practicing, or encountering something new. Every card compared the latest session against all previous ones, giving a view of progress over time rather than a snapshot of a single call.
Session Analysis — an engagement score for the student with guidance on how to improve it, plus a time breakdown of the session. Like Progress, always framed against previous sessions so parents could see trends, not just isolated data points.
AI-generated practice problems — tailored to the topics covered in the last session or the areas the model detected the student struggling with most. As these gained traction, they gradually replaced the platform's older practice formats that were seeing little engagement, eliminating the need to manually produce practice content.
Discoverability improvements — a recap surface on the platform homepage and redesigned post-session emails, both driving parents back to the detailed page; because the best recap in the world is worthless if no one sees it.
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Noticed by the White House
Noticed by the White House
We were the first educational platform to launch an AI-powered session recap of this kind. That pioneer position didn't go unnoticed: in June 2025, Varsity Tutors signed the White House "Investing in AI Education" pledge — alongside Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft and NVIDIA, with AI Session Insights explicitly named as part of the company's commitment to the initiative.
We were the first educational platform to launch an AI-powered session recap of this kind. That pioneer position didn't go unnoticed: in June 2025, Varsity Tutors signed the White House "Investing in AI Education" pledge — alongside Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft and NVIDIA, with AI Session Insights explicitly named as part of the company's commitment to the initiative.
Parents finally knew how the session went — without watching the whole thing
Parents finally knew how the session went — without watching the whole thing
The metrics told a clear story, but the outcome I keep coming back to is simpler: parents no longer had to carve out 45 minutes to watch a session recording just to know if it went okay. With little to no effort, they could open the recap and immediately understand what their child had covered, where they were growing, and where they needed support. For busy parents juggling work, kids and everything else, that clarity made a real difference — and it showed in every number we tracked.
The metrics told a clear story, but the outcome I keep coming back to is simpler: parents no longer had to carve out 45 minutes to watch a session recording just to know if it went okay. With little to no effort, they could open the recap and immediately understand what their child had covered, where they were growing, and where they needed support. For busy parents juggling work, kids and everything else, that clarity made a real difference — and it showed in every number we tracked.