Dasha Dollar Smirnova is passionate about teaching people how to speak confidently in public. She is both the founder and lead coach of Frog Talk, a UK-based startup.
She started Frog Talk in 2016 and started developing her own unique methodology and approach. This led her to start a Master of Science in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at King's College.
The intersection of Theater, Business and Neuroscience is what makes Frog Talk different; and this is what excited me about taking on this project.
Some of the services she offers includes:
Public Speaking Workshops, One-on-one coaching and Interview Preparation.
Find your unique voice
Now Viewing: A video trailer of Dasha Dollar-Smirnova's online public speaking course.
Problem
Dasha wants to increase contact form submissions on her website, but most importantly, she wants to convert those leads into paying customers.
She believes her website currently doesn't convey enough credibility and thus suffers from a lack of form submissions.
She successfully launched a Public Speaking course on Domestika.com, and wonders how she can onboard those students on her own website and incentivise them to become regular customers.
Hypothesis
By redesigning and displaying more information on the homepage, we would build greater Credibility and Trust.
By designing a seamless Contact Us flow, we would get more form submissions and less drop offs
By designing a Free Initial Consultation path, we would get more leads and website conversions
Proposed Solution
A revamped homepage with Social Proof, Endorsements, and Instructor Accolades
Contact Us CTAs that are prominent throughout the website experience
CTA for Free Initial Consultation is fixed on the homepage and the interactive calendar allows users to seamlessly book their call
Stakeholder Interview
We focused on the following key insights from the Stakeholder Interview:
20 minute free consultations led to higher conversions
While executive clients are more lucrative, youth segments bring joy and purpose to the founder’s life
The brand doesn’t take itself too seriously, an element of fun is integral to the messaging
Drama and Business tend to be on opposite ends of the Public Speaking spectrum, the brand is somewhere in between, with an edge of Neuroscience
User Interviews
Our next step was to gather data from potential users. We then crafted a user questionnaire to answer the following questions:
What information do you need to know before booking a new course/coaching program?
What would make you choose one coaching platform over another?
User Insights
Through our user interviews, we extracted the following major pain points:
Need to ensure coach is credible
Need social proof about the website
Need assurance that results can be delivered
Need transparency in regards to time commitment and pricing
Need more examples of impactful female speakers
Proposed Solution
Therefore, our proposed solution would have to offer:
Coach Credibility
Social Proof
Results
Time Commitment and Pricing
Relatable Examples
Value Proposition Canvas
We applied the Value Proposition Canvas Framework to generate feature and content ideas for our solution.
Content
Add Brand Video to Homepage
Add Services section
Add Short and Punchy Student Reviews
Add Partnership and Corporate Client Logos
Add FAQ section
Add Programs section for Events
Add Topics that Programs cover
Add How it Works section
Design
Quick user flow to book free consultation
Structured Navigation
Responsiveness
New Menu Sections
Interactive booking calendar
Clean formatting for About Us section
Fixed CTA button for booking consultation
Personas
We wanted to form a deeper understanding of our users' goals, needs, experiences, and behaviors. So, we created 3 personas for each of our user segments. They were based on user interviews and surveys, and we kept updating them throughout the project as we gathered more data. We used these personas whenever we wanted to step out of ourselves and reconsider our initial ideas.
Problem Statement & Hypothesis
Elizabeth, Lucinda and Alex are professionals looking for public speaking help who need a credible coach because they want to relate and learn from someone they can trust.
We believe that by highlighting the credible aspects of Dasha’s business, we will achieve more engagement. We will know this to be true when we see an increase in conversions and form submissions.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
High Fidelity Wireframes
Website Mockup
Prototype & Usability Testing
We tested our lead-generation form with a group of young professionals in creative and tech fields. They were prompted to book a free consultation with a coach and instantly knew where to look and how to complete the process until submission.
It was done in an average of 20 seconds, with no confusion or technical obstacles, except for a few comments about text size and not being able to click on certain design elements.
We prompted the individuals to further do a run-through of the website and talk us through their feelings and expectations. They were satisfied with the information sections presented and felt the company’s purpose was clearly communicated.
We will conduct further Usability tests to optimise the navigation and user flows of the website.
Recommendations & Next Steps
Design
Set up Analytics
Transparent Pricing
Payment on the website
Account Creation
Online Scheduling for Sessions
Multiple languages
Join as a Coach functionality
Referral System
Press Releases and Interviews
Designated page to describe Female initiatives
Brand & Marketing
Creation of Brand and Style Guide
Creation of Concept Video for Companies
Collaboration with Universities and Schools
Endorsements
Digital Marketing Campaigns to target Youth
Learnings
What we learned
The importance of asking the right questions (especially in user interviews)
“Good enough” is better than Perfectionism
Focus on the website experience, not Public Speaking as a discipline
What we could’ve done differently
To start with a low fidelity prototype then add in the UI and brand elements
Not to start designing without a style guide
To phase out new feature and content ideas