Subhash Kurella

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Subhash Kurella

Subhash Kurella

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UX case study · AI productivity

StudySmarter

StudySmarter

StudySmarter

StudySmart AI is designed for students and professionals preparing for exams, presentations, certifications, or important learning milestones. As deadlines approach, users often experience planning fatigue, uncertainty about where to begin, and difficulty managing revision while balancing multiple responsibilities. StudySmart AI simplifies this process through personalized study plans, AI-powered explanations, adaptive schedules, and intelligent learning support helping users study with greater confidence and consistency.

StudySmart AI is designed for students and professionals preparing for exams, presentations, certifications, or important learning milestones. As deadlines approach, users often experience planning fatigue, uncertainty about where to begin, and difficulty managing revision while balancing multiple responsibilities. StudySmart AI simplifies this process through personalized study plans, AI-powered explanations, adaptive schedules, and intelligent learning support helping users study with greater confidence and consistency.

Role

UI/UX & Product Designer

Timeline

May 2026 – Present

Mobile-first AI planner

  • RESEARCH → FLOW → WIREFRAMES → AI ASSISTANT → DESIGN SYSTEM → OUTCOME →

  • RESEARCH → FLOW → WIREFRAMES → AI ASSISTANT → DESIGN SYSTEM → OUTCOME →

  • RESEARCH → FLOW → WIREFRAMES → AI ASSISTANT → DESIGN SYSTEM → OUTCOME →

  • RESEARCH → FLOW → WIREFRAMES → AI ASSISTANT → DESIGN SYSTEM → OUTCOME →

  • RESEARCH → FLOW → WIREFRAMES → AI ASSISTANT → DESIGN SYSTEM → OUTCOME →

  • RESEARCH → FLOW → WIREFRAMES → AI ASSISTANT → DESIGN SYSTEM → OUTCOME →

Project snapshot

Problem

Students manage assignments, exams, reminders, and focus sessions across too many disconnected tools.

Goal

Design an AI assistant that automates planning while keeping students confident and in control.

Process

Research insights, competitors, personas, user flow, wireframes, UI, and design principles.

Outcome

A mobile-first product concept with planning, AI chat, focus mode, and analytics in one workflow.

Research insights

The opportunity was not more AI it was less cognitive load.

The opportunity was not more AI it was less cognitive load.

Students needed reminders, shorter adaptive sessions, unified workflows, and a calmer way to handle exam pressure.

Students needed reminders, shorter adaptive sessions, unified workflows, and a calmer way to handle exam pressure.

Students forget deadlines

Design response: proactive reminders inside the planning flow.

Long sessions reduce focus

Design response: shorter adaptive focus sessions with scheduled breaks.

Manual planning feels stressful

Design response: AI-generated schedules that remain editable.

Students use many apps

Design response: a unified workflow for tasks, focus, AI help, and progress.

Competitor gap

Notion AI is flexible but not study-specific. Quizlet is strong for flashcards but limited for planning. Motion schedules well, but lacks personalized learning support.

Opportunity

Combine AI planning, study support, and progress analytics in one calmer product experience.

→ Wants faster, more organized study methods

→ Prefers mobile-first learning support

→ Needs flexible schedules and progress feedback

→ Uses flashcards, quizzes, reminders, and dashboards

“I want studying to feel organized and less stressful.”

SWOT Analyses

SWOT Analyses

SWOT Analyses

User Personas

User Personas

The insights I gathered during my research helped me develop 2 personas:

The insights I gathered during my research helped me develop 2 personas:

Users can upload their study materials immediately after onboarding, allowing AI to organize, summarize, and personalize learning without requiring them to navigate through multiple screens.

Users can upload their study materials immediately after onboarding, allowing AI to organize, summarize, and personalize learning without requiring them to navigate through multiple screens.

Personalized onboarding captures the user's study goals and subjects, enabling AI to deliver tailored study plans, recommendations, and learning support from the very beginning.

Personalized onboarding captures the user's study goals and subjects, enabling AI to deliver tailored study plans, recommendations, and learning support from the very beginning.

A single loop from planning to focus to progress.

A single loop from planning to focus to progress.

The flow guides students from login and course setup into study goals, dashboards, AI support, scheduled sessions, and progress tracking.

The flow guides students from login and course setup into study goals, dashboards, AI support, scheduled sessions, and progress tracking.

The flow removes decision fatigue.

The flow removes decision fatigue.

Instead of asking students to manually connect tools, StudySmarter organizes the journey around one repeatable loop: add courses, set goals, follow the dashboard, focus, ask AI, and track progress.

01 Set courses and learning goals

02 Use dashboard recommendations

03 Focus, ask AI, and track progress

Dashboard

A centralized view of tasks, reminders, daily plans, and quick access.

AI Assistant

Answers questions, summarizes notes, and suggests study plans.

Planner

Daily, weekly, and monthly schedules with reminders and task priorities.

Focus Mode

Distraction-free Pomodoro sessions with customizable intervals.

Analytics

Study hours, tasks, learning progress, charts, and achievement tracking.

Start today's study session immediately with a personalized daily plan, while Focus Score and Study Streaks keep them motivated to build consistent learning habits.

Start today's study session immediately with a personalized daily plan, while Focus Score and Study Streaks keep them motivated to build consistent learning habits.

The AI assistant acts as a personalized study companion, helping users understand course content, plan study schedules, and answer academic questions. Smart prompt suggestions reduce friction and encourage meaningful AI interactions.

Design system

Calm visuals for a high pressure student workflow.

Calm visuals for a high pressure student workflow.

Color logic

Primary action and focus states

High contrast titles and labels

Typography

Bold headings create momentum, while compact body text keeps long UX explanations easy to scan.

Principles

Clean interface, consistent blue accents, mobile-first hierarchy, and accessible reading contrast.

The scheduling page automatically generates a personalized study plan based on deadlines and learning goals. Users can easily manage or adjust their schedule, reducing planning effort and improving consistency.

The scheduling page automatically generates a personalized study plan based on deadlines and learning goals. Users can easily manage or adjust their schedule, reducing planning effort and improving consistency.

The scheduling page automatically generates a personalized study plan based on deadlines and learning goals. Users can easily manage or adjust their schedule, reducing planning effort and improving consistency.

Designed to promote self reflection and continuous improvement, the analytics dashboard provides users with clear insights into their study habits, progress across subjects, and overall learning consistency. By making progress visible, the experience encourages accountability and helps users stay motivated toward their academic goals.

Designed to promote self reflection and continuous improvement, the analytics dashboard provides users with clear insights into their study habits, progress across subjects, and overall learning consistency. By making progress visible, the experience encourages accountability and helps users stay motivated toward their academic goals.

Why the design works

AI supports the learner it does not replace their decisions.

AI supports the learner it does not replace their decisions.

The final UX direction focuses on transparency, editability, progressive disclosure, and keeping advanced AI features available only when students need them.

AI design principles

Suggestions are clear, reviewable, editable, and integrated without overwhelming the learning experience.

Challenge → response

The challenge was balancing intelligent automation with user control. The response was to make recommendations editable and keep the interface simple through visual hierarchy and progressive disclosure.

Outcome

Through this project, I explored how thoughtful UX design and AI can work together to reduce cognitive load, simplify complex study workflows, and create a more personalized learning experience. It reflects my approach to designing products that are not only visually appealing but also grounded in real user needs, usability, and meaningful problem solving.