I conducted usability walkthroughs with classmates, equally from STEM and humanities majors, using mid-fidelity wireframes.
TESTING
USER RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS
Aim: I wanted to understand how students currently study for exams, what challenges they face with group studying, and what motivates or demotivates them when working with others.
DESIGN GOALS
I set out to design a solution that would:
PERSONAL FRAMEWORK
As a full-time university student, I’ve found that studying for tests is often an incredibly stressful and isolating experience. Beyond the sheer volume and difficulty of the material, spending hours alone in dorm rooms or hidden away in library cubicles can feel draining and demotivating.
In conversations with friends and classmates across campus, I realised this feeling was nearly universal. Despite being surrounded by brilliant peers, academic competitiveness and logistical barriers often kept people apart.
This project was driven by a simple goal: to design a tool that makes collaborative studying easier and more motivating, especially given the academic competitiveness at Stanford.
THE PROBLEM
-I would want to add mini onboarding walkthroughs to familiarise first-time users with each feature
-Integrate accessibility considerations in final designs to broaden its usability and reach among students
Further…
-Rapid user testing, even with low-fidelity prototypes, provided valuable early insights that shaped core feature decisions before high-fidelity design. I would love to conduct further usability testing with interactive prototypes to refine flows
-I learned the importance of designing for comfort and psychological safety, such as making reflection sharing private by default and allowing opt-outs in peer matching
Working on this project made me realise how much design is about people and their real experiences. As I talked to other students and sketched out ideas, I felt both excited and challenged. There were moments when I felt stuck trying to balance so many needs at once, but seeing how even simple features could make someone feel more supported kept me going. I also learned so much from the tools I used during this project, from mapping flows and sticky notes on FigJam, and building mid and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. This process reminded me why I love design, for the listening, empathy and innovation it requires that make things feel easier and a lot more connected
REFLECTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS
UI Kit
Stay focused and motivated by studying alongside others
Easily find and join study groups without the hassle of planning or coordination
These are high-fidelity designs refined based on user research and testing insights: Sync Circle focuses on usability and alignment with student needs!
FINAL DESINGS
After feedback, added a feature to discover public circles so people could find other students/groups studying the same subjects and concepts, possibly people taking the same classes as them.
Reflect on their individual learning while feeling part of a supportive community
Users can:
See their buddy’s audio preference upfront (e.g. Audio On/Off/Either)
Make informed decisions before starting a session for greater comfort
Opt for a “Rematch” if preferences don’t align, reducing friction
Users can:
Choose whether to keep their reflection private or share it with their circle
Clearly see the default privacy setting before posting
Feel more in control of their personal content and comfort
Understand sharing behavior through supportive info text
Privacy and Comfort
Key Insights
Including the above features, and others based on user needs, I created the initial information architecture to outline the flow of this application
I created low-fidelity prototypes to visualize ideas and explore multiple design intentions. These helped me communicate onboarding and key features.
I began by revisiting my user research insights and design goals to frame ideas around how to make group studying easier, more efficient, more structured, and motivating
BRAINSTORMING AND PROTOTYPING
After clustering insights, I asked the following How Might We questions to identify design opportunities from user problems:
How might we make coordinating group study sessions effortless?
How might we integrate social accountability into individual study sessions?
Feature Prioritisation
I prioritised features that addressed the biggest user pain points of coordination, productivity, and motivation
Key Themes
Efficient time management during exam season
Means to achieve it:
Seamless scheduling and coordination of study sessions
Structured study plans and agendas to avoid wasted time
Focus tools like timers and goal setting to maximise productivity per session
Productivity and information retention
Means to achieve it:
Minimising distractions with structured sessions and accountability
Reflection and review features to consolidate learning after study sessions
Group study rooms with co-presence features
Buddy systems or peer matching for accountability
Claire-ity Seeking
Sophomore, Human Biology
Claire is a pre-med student who genuinely enjoys learning but often feels overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material before exams. She usually studies alone in her dorm room late at night. However, she wishes she could study with friends more often.
Goals:
To understand and retain complex material efficiently for exams
To stay accountable and motivated through collaborative study
Pain Points:
Struggles to break down dense topics alone
Finds group studying sessions unproductive without a clear plan or focus, making her hesitant to join them
studying alone is not motivating enough and leads to her being easily distracted
SAMPLE USER PERSONA
Virtual Study Rooms
Why: Directly addresses coordination and isolation. Provides an easy way for students to join topic-based study sessions without complex scheduling
Random Pairing/Grouping
Why: Adds a fun, low-friction way to increase accountability and reduce procrastination by matching students for focus sessions
Post-Study Learning Sharing
Why: Enhances motivation and learning retention. Sharing daily wins or reflections keeps students engaged and encourages knowledge exchange
Public & Private Circles
Why: Tackles accountability by enabling structured peer groups. Private circles support close friends, while public circles expand access for students with similar goals
Coordination is the biggest barrier
Students want to study with others but finding the right people in my class and aligning schedules, and deciding topics often feels too time-consuming during stressful periods
Watching others study is motivating
Even without active discussion, knowing someone else is studying at the same time increases motivation and reduces procrastination
Co-learning helps information retention
Explaining concepts to peers and hearing their explanations deepen learning, especially for problem-solving-based majors
Everyone studies at a different pace
Some students feel intimidated to join groups, fearing they aren’t prepared enough or that they’ll slow others down
Make it easy for students to find and join study sessions without logistical hassle
Provide features that help groups stay focused and share knowledge
Create a sense of community and co-presence even when studying remotely
Design a system that intuitively integrates with busy academic and work schedules
SyncCircle Study Application
project
skills
tools
timeline
individual
4 months
UX Research
Info Architecture
Prototyping
UI Design
Figma
Procreate
Adobe Illustrator
Notion
Google Forms
Where’s the tool that allows efficient studying and social accountability?
Studying with others has always made learning more efficient. Explaining concepts to friends, asking quick questions, or just knowing someone else is working alongside me helps me understand and remember material better. It also keeps me accountable as I’m far less likely to procrastinate when I know others are working too.
But despite wanting to study in groups, it’s often hard to coordinate with classmates. Logistical barriers and busy schedules make group studying feel like an extra task rather than an easy option. Sometimes, even when we manage to meet, there’s no structure to keep us focused. Conversations drift off-topic, or the session ends up feeling unproductive.
Informal research: Interviews
Formal research: Survey Findings
Among freshman and sophomores, the most common insights were:
This survey was conducted using a google form, with 30 participants selected from freshman and sophomores at Stanford
With ethical ideas that would:
-Ensure accessibility and inclusivity
-Encourage positive motivation rather than competitio
I conducted 16 short interviews with students across different majors, class years, and study styles to understand their study habits and experiences with group studying