Customer Interviews:
- Tutoring insights:
- Tutoring quality varies a lot, even in high-pressure environments like Hong Kong; the best ones focus on concepts, not just test drills
- Tutors often work without any formal training or curriculum support
- Most sessions rely on physical notes or memory, which makes continuity difficult
- Peer tutors and mentors want to help but lack tools to plan or track progress
- Students value having someone to ask quick questions outside sessions but don’t have a good way to do that
- Product vision implications:
- Build lightweight progress tracking that both tutors and students can see
- Include simple onboarding or goal-setting so tutors know what students want
- Allow asynchronous check-ins or questions between sessions
- Create reusable content templates or planning scaffolds for tutors
- Centralize session notes, materials, and tasks so nothing gets lost across time or platforms
- General Notes:
- Students are self-driven but still need structure.
- AI tools like ChatGPT are now a normal part of learning.
- Switching between platforms creates friction and confusion.
- Human connection keeps students motivated and accountable.
- Poor platform design directly affects engagement.
Students want one place to track all learning and progress. - Build a unified platform combining human and AI support.
- Ground AI answers in verified class materials.
- Simplify navigation with smart content organization.
- Add “session memory” to retain progress between meetings.
- Create shared dashboards for tutors and students.
- Keep planning tools lightweight but flexible.
Raw Notes:
Secondary Research:
Insight: Technology in schools is growing fast, but we need better ways to make it useful and supportive for teachers and students.
- Schools are collecting a lot of student data from learning tools, but most of it isn’t helping teachers make real-time decisions.
- This data could help personalize learning and support different student needs, but right now it’s mostly controlled by tech companies and hard for teachers to use.
- Digital tools have made learning more personalized, but it’s still hard to balance screen time, student focus, and real classroom needs.
- Most schools now have access to devices and the internet, so the challenge has shifted to using technology in thoughtful and effective ways.
Insight: Teachers identify useful/unuseful gaps in learning that EduTech can fill.
- A tool that taps into a specific niche and enables a sort-of revamp of an already tried-and-true solution seems to be most well regarded. As one teacher said on /teaching subreddit, “Try gimkit. You have to make the quizzes yourself but it’s more competitive for the kids”.
- Critiques for EdTech from teachers include concerns around the onboarding and monitoring complications, especially with young children.
- If we can offer a solution that can help students stay focused rather than distracted from the primary teacher/tutor we are working with, we can offer a solution that addresses these teachers’ concerns.
Competitive Analysis
Insight: How AI use matters
- Khan Academy’s focus on ethical, learning-first AI (Khanmigo) positions it uniquely in a market where competitors like Duolingo and Chegg face backlash for AI overreach or quality concerns.
- Duolingo’s “AI-first” approach led to user backlash and content quality concerns.
- Chegg is vulnerable to ChatGPT-style AI tools replacing its Q&A model; pivoting to AI is essential but risky.
- Varsity Tutors is adding AI to human tutoring, focusing on personalized school interventions—a model Khan could explore via school districts.
Insight: Gamification drives engagement but risks shallow learning
- Duolingo excels at user retention through gamification—badges, streaks, leaderboards—but struggles with depth and advanced learners. Khan Academy can capitalize by combining light gamification with deep, mastery-driven learning.
- Duolingo boasts 10M+ paid users, largely due to addictive user experience.
- Critics cite Duolingo’s lack of advanced content and depth.
- Khan Academy already uses “Mastery Points”—could expand gamified layers without sacrificing rigor.
Insight: Content quality and brand trust are differentiators
- Khan Academy’s nonprofit brand, expert-generated content, and universal access offer a distinct positioning compared to competitors criticized for inconsistent tutor quality, cheating support, or over-reliance on automation.
- Khan Academy is recognized globally and trusted by educators, parents, and donors.
- Chegg suffers from cheating-related reputational risks; many universities ban its use.
- Varsity Tutors has complaints about tutor vetting and customer service.
- Khanmigo is marketed as “patient, ethical, safe”—a value proposition missing in most AI edtech tools.
