1
Social verification first
UCHi.RU
How we strengthened platform security without losing teachers' trust
- Role
- Product Designer
- Scope
- Users
- Teachers
- Platform
- Years
- 2023
Problem
Students and outsiders could register as teachers
UCHi.RU faced a growing number of fake accounts.
Challenge
Block fake accounts without slowing down real teachers
Reduce fake accounts without turning verification into a barrier. Teachers needed a clear, calm process; schools needed confidence that the platform was protected.
Research
Colleague first, documents as a fallback
Interviews with teachers showed that asking a colleague matched how schools already work.
2
Document verification as a fallback through support
3
Lower anxiety with illustrations and calm microcopy
4
Automatically verify active teachers
Solution
A hybrid approach: colleague first, documents as backup
The teacher chose between two cards.
Scenario 1
Confirmation through a colleague
The teacher picked a verified colleague from the school list.
A verified colleague confirmed the person worked at the school.
After entering the code, the teacher was verified.
A verifying teacher could reject a request from an unknown colleague.
Scenario 2
Confirmation through support
If the social route failed, the teacher uploaded a workplace certificate.
Edge cases
Rejection, wrong codes, and route changes
Each failure had its own screen and a clear next step.
Results
What changed
The project reduced fake teacher accounts on the platform by 35%.
In 3 months, 13,700 teachers completed verification themselves.
Key Insight