Speak Shades

1. Introduction

• Client Overview: Speak Shades is a live online learning platform for children, at speakshades.com. Teachers and students meet in scheduled live classes, and parents can follow what their child is learning.
• Project Objective: Build one complete platform that runs the whole education business: the public website, the live classroom, the student, parent and teacher panels, and the backend that manages leads, classes, teachers and fees.
• Project Status: This project is in progress. The plan is complete, the client has approved the design, and the backend is being built module by module. This case study covers the work so far and will be updated as the platform moves towards launch.

2. Challenge

A live learning business is not a brochure website. Every class connects a family, a teacher, a schedule and a payment, and a weak link in any one of them shows up in front of a child.

What the platform had to solve:

• Classes in one place. Families should join from the portal itself, without Zoom or Meet links being forwarded around.
• A visitor must become a booked trial. A parent on the website should be able to verify a mobile number and pick a free class slot in a few steps, with the source of that lead recorded.
• Parents need to see progress. Recordings, homework and teacher feedback have to be visible between classes.
• Only approved teachers should teach. Hiring, testing, demo classes and approval need a clear process, and no class should go to a teacher who is not approved for that course and level.
• Operations cannot run on spreadsheets. Double bookings, missed classes, reschedules, fees, refunds and teacher payouts all need one reliable system.

3. Strategic Solution

Planning before code

• Studied how established live-class platforms work, then mapped the product into three zones: the website, the learning zone and the admin.
• Wrote 21 detailed requirement documents for the launch scope, one for each section of the platform, with screens, user stories, rules and acceptance criteria.
• Broke those documents into a tracked build plan, so every task has a clear definition of done.

A website built to book free classes

• Designed a child-friendly website in the Speak Shades brand, with course pages, curriculum, reviews, a blog and a Teach With Us section.
• Kept the main action the same on every page: book a free class.

A four-step free trial funnel

• Four short steps: about your child, verify mobile, pick a time, booked.
• A slot engine shows only the times that are actually free, so two families cannot book the same slot.
• Every lead keeps its source, so the business can see which pages and campaigns bring real enquiries.

A panel for every family

• Parents see the next class, plan balance, homework, teacher notes, progress and recordings on one screen.
• A parent with more than one child can switch between them.
• Teachers get their own panel for the schedule, attendance, class notes, homework and earnings.

A live classroom inside the portal

• Planned on LiveKit, so classes open inside Speak Shades with camera, mic, screen share and chat.
• Recording starts by itself when the class starts, and attendance is saved automatically.
• If a connection drops, the classroom reconnects without losing the attendance record.

A backend that runs the business

• Leads and trials: a sales desk where every lead arrives with its source and booking.
• Teacher management: an application pipeline from screening and hiring test to demo class, decision and onboarding.
• Classes and scheduling: trials, regular classes and make-ups, with tools to handle late teachers, no-shows and leave.
• Fees and payouts: plans, invoices, refunds and teacher payouts calculated from completed classes.
• Quality: class ratings and recording audits, with alerts for low scores.
• Super Admin: staff roles, settings, message templates, the website CMS and an audit log, so everyday changes do not need a developer.

The backend is built with Node.js, TypeScript, Fastify and PostgreSQL, with automated tests running alongside the code.

4. Results So Far

The platform has not launched yet, so this case study has no traffic or enrolment numbers. Here is where the work stands today.

• Complete: the platform plan, 21 requirement documents, and a website and panel design approved by the client.
• Built and under review: accounts and mobile OTP login, roles, the free-trial funnel and slot engine, lead capture, notifications, Super Admin tools and the blog backend.
• Coming next: the website and panel front end, the live classroom, payments and teacher payouts.

5. Conclusion

An online education business depends on what happens after the click: the booking, the class, the homework, the report and the renewal. By planning every part first, getting the design approved, and building the backend one tested module at a time, we are giving Speak Shades one platform to run all of it.

6. Call-to-Action

Planning a platform for your institute or online classes? Tell us how your business runs and we will help you plan and build it. Contact us today.