How Drillby is Built Right the First Time

Building Drillby Right the First Time

Drillby is built for tutors, not techies.

That’s why design decisions are made with the individual tutor in mind. Even for tutors who like a bit of fancy tech, there are still a lot of places–some of them not very obvious–where a well-considered platform can make the user experience frictionless. 

That’s why David is designing Drillby with an Apple-style philosophy. 

Apple, of course, provides an ecosystem where everything works around their own devices. The experience of the user is highly controlled on purpose. The motivating idea here is that the user can better do what she is using the computer to do–e.g. graphic design, video editing, music production, etc.--if extraneous decision-making is taken off her plate. 

In other words, when the user can’t wander too far off the path, she is more likely to spend her time effectively doing the task she initially came to do.

Drillby functions similarly. Everything works around the core Drillby product: a tutoring-specific video platform. Keeping everything simple and relating back to this core project is important, but it’s easy to let the engineering scope creep–ironically, this is particularly true for interfaces that seem simple on the surface.

The motivating factor of course is that the user is better equipped to do the things that she needs to do because the extraneous decision-making has been dealt with. In other words, she can’t wander far off the path. 

That means she can get on with doing better things–like tutoring. 

What UX Problems Are Holding Back Your Tutoring Experience?

Sometimes, it’s unclear that we even have problems with User Experience (UX). Too often, these problems are baked in or just “the way things are done.” It’s a bit like a fish suddenly realizing that he’s spent his entire life surrounded by water.

That doesn’t have to be the case; it simply is the case.

While there are many UX concerns that can often be simplified with a bit of outside-the-box thought, let’s focus on three here: Password Management, Identity Management, and Technical Debt. 

Password Management

Nobody actually likes dealing with passwords. With Drillby, you don’t need to. 

Passwords aren’t necessary. We just think they are.

Password scope has crept to an unbelievable point. Security flaws are no longer an issue of simply forgetting passwords or using the same password in multiple places.

At this point, we need password managers to deal with different passwords for different websites. Further to this, we need two or more authenticator programs and possibly an SMS or three to make sure we’re still not a bot. After that there’s probably a CAPTCHA as well unless we’re really lucky time time.

When the business of proving your authenticity as yourself requires hiring a full-time assistant just to manage your login procedure to book a pilates class at the local gym, something in the password chain has gone wrong. And that thing is not security.

There’s no reason that authentication needs to be so difficult. 

Drillby is designed differently. You simply log in to Drilby by typing your email address, then click a link in your email to continue. Your email, of course, already has a password. There’s no reason that you need a second one to get into Drillby. 

After this, you’ll only need to put in the basic information to get you started interacting with the platform. Further features such as ID verification will only be necessary when you start interacting with students.

Additionally, the no-password design is not only easier for the Drillby user’s experience, it saves numerous technical headaches on Drillby’s backend.

Storing, encrypting, and providing password recovery all hog precious resources that could be better used for improving  precious recourse saves precious bandwidth that could be better used for improving the platform. 

The Drillby way is to keep things as simple as possible. Question assumptions. Passwords? Don’t need them. 

User Identification

Potential users don’t necessarily care about privacy. It’s not sexy. It’s not something that sells. But it matters.

Drillby is built with privacy as one of its core tenets. 

The system works this way: the user creates a unique handle as she would on Twitter or Instagram. The handle provides a natural link to the user’s profile as well. The student can be invited by email or by handle for students already on the Drillby platform. 

Students can add their account or create an account from a QR code or custom link provided by the Drillby tutor.

In the future, for interactions where everyone is on the Drillby platform, there is no need for students and tutors to know each other’s email addresses. Privacy levels are customizable for the individual. 

This provides an unprecedented level of security for tutors: when a student finds a tutor via Drillby, the tutor won’t be directly contacted via email unless she chooses to be.

As technology advances, data privacy becomes a greater concern: new technology means new risks, and that’s not just from malicious actors. Many startups already compromise client security simply to rush new features to the market. 

This trend has only increased in the age of vibe coding. Expect a lot of privacy concerns to become apparent in the near future. Not at Drilby.

Even at the risk of overengineering, David insists on mimimizing the risk of data leakage for tutors’ information. User privacy remains one of the core tenets of the Drillby project. 

Technical Debt

Drillby is being built from the ground up to last for as long as possible. 

Right now it’s a platform where tutors and students can connect. Eventually, plans are in place for it to provide a B2B platform for schools and private education firms. 

Understanding the long-term goals, David is creating a system whereby there will be minimal technical debt. That is, every decision for the minimum viable iteration of Drillby needs to reflect where Drillby will be in five to ten years. 

Originally, the Drillby platform might have been released in a somewhat lower quality iteration to gauge its market viability. However, since so many users have signed up for Early Access, the core idea of Drillby has been validated. That makes it worthwhile to take the time and iterate.

Now it’s time to make sure that Drilby is done correctly and sustainably. It’s time to put the effort in to go minimal. To work at a slower pace. Add features one-by-one. Get feedback as Early Access users experience these new additions. Changes can be made almost live. 

The system will grow with its own users making recommendations and helping to shape and prune the platform as it reaches its minimum viable level–aiming for a functional video system in the last quarter of this year.

Drillby Puts Tutors First

It’s not just about making it easier to provide video courses or to find clients. Sometimes it’s the design decisions that aren’t obvious that have the most impact.

Drillby puts the experience, ease, and privacy of the tutor front and center–even if these features aren’t necessarily surface-level. They’re the sort of thing you want sorted from the beginning, because if you have to worry about them it’s already too late.

Whether it’s your password, your handle, or technical debt for future iterations of the platform, Drillby has your back. 

If you’re interested in having your say in the development of Drillby, join over 100 other tutors as an Early Access member. This provides full access to new Drillby features as they go live–watch for the full video system launching in the last quarter of this year!