Zutobi · B2B SaaS · Product Design
Zutobi Instructor —
A Platform for Driving Schools
Designing an MVP for US driving schools from zero — replacing spreadsheets with a focused scheduling and student management tool.
Role
Product Designer
Team
PM, Designer, Developers
Status
Shipped
The problem
Driving schools were running on spreadsheets
US driving schools had no dedicated software. Instructors managed schedules in Google Sheets, tracked student progress in notebooks, and chased payments manually. The goal was to build an MVP that replaced this chaos with a focused, easy-to-use platform.
Research
Talking to real instructors
We conducted user interviews with driving school owners and instructors to understand their daily workflows, pain points, and priorities. Three key insights shaped the MVP scope.
01
Scheduling was the biggest pain point
Instructors spent hours every week manually updating schedules and resolving conflicts between students and time slots.
02
Payment tracking caused conflicts
Schools had no clear view of who had paid, who hadn't, and which packages were running out — leading to awkward conversations.
03
Simplicity was non-negotiable
Instructors weren't tech-savvy. Any tool that required training would be abandoned. The UI had to be immediately intuitive.
Solution
Built around the instructor's daily workflow
The platform was scoped to five core modules — each solving a specific workflow problem identified in research.
Drag & drop calendar for lessons. Instructors can plan their week, assign students, and see their full schedule at a glance.
I decided to make drag-and-drop the primary interaction because instructors were rescheduling 5–10 times per week.
Outcome
From competition entry to real schools
The MVP was built and shipped. Zutobi Instructor went from a competition entry concept to a product used by real driving schools in the US.
The core scheduling and student management flows reduced the time instructors spent on admin work — letting them focus on teaching rather than managing spreadsheets.
Key learnings
What I took away
01
MVP scope is a design decision
Deciding what NOT to build was harder than designing the features themselves. Every cut required justification based on research — not assumptions.
02
B2B UX requires different instincts
Driving school owners cared about efficiency and reliability above everything else. Delight and polish mattered less than clarity and speed.
03
Designing from zero is liberating and terrifying
No existing patterns to follow meant total creative freedom — but also total responsibility for getting the information architecture right from the start.