Revolutionizing UPSC Preparation: SuperKalam Mobile App’s User-Centric Design Journey
Note: This project was completed within a span of 2 weeks as part of the Design Studio Simulator at 10kDesigners, an invite-only product design cohort.
Setting up the context
In the bustling city of Delhi, Rohan, a young and ambitious UPSC aspirant, spends his days juggling between his full-time job and intense preparation for the exam. The competition is fierce, and he knows that cracking the UPSC requires not just hard work but also smart strategies and personalized guidance. However, Rajiv faces a significant challenge: he cannot afford the exorbitant fees of traditional coaching institutes, nor can he dedicate fixed hours to attend classes due to his demanding job.
Rohan’s story is not unique. Traditional coaching centers, though effective, are often inaccessible to a vast majority due to their high costs and location-specific services. Moreover, the one-size-fits-all approach of these centers fails to address the unique strengths and weaknesses of individual students, leaving many feeling overwhelmed and underprepared.
This is where an AI-based personalized coaching app like SuperKalam becomes essential. It offers 24/7 access to tailored study plans, instant feedback, and progress report, catering to individual needs. The app’s affordability makes high-quality coaching accessible to all, leveling the playing field for aspirants like Rohan.
About SuperKalam?
SuperKalam is a revolutionary AI-backed education initiative for UPSC aspirants. It empowers students by giving them access to personalized mentorship in a discipline-inducing learning ecosystem.
But how does SuperKalam do that?
- SuperKalam prepares study plans and sets daily targets based on a student’s progress, keeping track of common mistakes, and time spent on specific concepts.
- It helps resolve doubts, aids in mastering concepts, and can evaluate a UPSC student’s handwritten answer in less than 60 seconds — a process that typically takes 1–2 weeks in the current education market.
- It conducts mock tests, identifies students’ strengths and weaknesses, and provides progress reports that foster self-awareness, unlocking their full potential.
Problem statement
Despite the abundance of apps available for UPSC preparation, many of them fall short in terms of personalization and effective mentorship, making it difficult for all aspirants to benefit from their resources. SuperKalam aims to bridge this gap by offering a cost-effective and widely accessible platform, ensuring that every UPSC aspirant has the opportunity to prepare effectively, regardless of their financial background or location.
Goal
The goal was to design a user-centric app that tackles the issues of affordability and accessibility by leveraging AI to provide personalized teaching. SuperKalam serves as your personal guide and mentor, enhancing your UPSC preparation experience.
Interested in more indepth understnading, let’s dive deep into the research and design process
Research
My research journey began with an in-depth exploration of the UPSC exam. The exam consist of 3 rounds and the aspirant has to clear all the 3 rounds in a one cyle to qualify. The entire process takes about a year
Target audience
While the app is designed for anyone preparing for the UPSC exams. We are predominantly focusing on 5 types of UPSC aspirants
- Working Professionals: Balancing a full-time job with exam preparation.
- Repeat Aspirants: Those who have attempted the exam before and are preparing again.
- Self-Study Enthusiasts: Prefer to study on their own without enrolling in coaching institutes.
- Economically or geographically Disadvantaged Aspirants: Unable to afford expensive coaching institutes or living in areas with limited access to coaching centers.
- First-Time Aspirants: New to UPSC preparation, often requiring guidance on where to start.
Understanding the target user
As a UPSC aspirant myself, I was already well-acquainted with the users’ pain points and struggles, particularly those who prefer self-study. But to obtain a more comprehensive understanding, I reached out to my network of fellow UPSC aspirants and conducted interviews with 1 aspirant of each type to get more comprehensive understanding of their pain points and needs.
User pain points
- Balancing Multiple Commitments: Managing UPSC prep alongside college, part-time jobs, or family responsibilities can create time constraints and hinder effective study.
- Lack of Guidance: Limited access to experienced mentors and reliable coaching makes it hard for aspirants to develop effective study strategies and receive personalized feedback.
- Financial Constraints: High costs of coaching, study materials, and living expenses can restrict access to quality resources and support for aspirants from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
User’s needs and expectations
- Effective Study Strategies: time management techniques, and exam preparation tips to optimize their learning process.
- Expert Guidance and Mentorship
- Practice and mock tests to assess their progress, identify strengths and weaknesses
- Daily news analysis and Current Affairs Updates
- Emotional support and motivation for long, challenging, and stressful journey.
User persona
Based on the research Iwas able to create two personas
Secondary research
After identifying the users’ pain points, goals, and aspirations, I explored the SuperKalam landing page to learn about its unique features and gain a deeper understanding of the founder’s vision and objectives. This exploration revealed how well these elements align with the users’ needs and goals. Through this evaluation, I found that SuperKalam has effectively identified the gaps in the UPSC online coaching market, resulting in an exceptional product with innovative features such as 60-second answer evaluations, personalized daily targets, and progress reports.
Then I naturally moved on to the ux audit of their web application which highlighted a few key gaps
- While they offer a lot of unique and key features, the discoverability of these features is quite hard on the web application version.
- The answer evaluation flow could be improved as it is not very seamless and has some breakpoints.
- There is a break in the flow for users who are not interested in buying any of the courses but still want to make use of the app to supplement their upsc preparation.
- The information architecture could be optimized to ensure a logical flow and hierarchy of content.
Analyzing the competition
The next step was to evaluate the existing apps in the market. Conducting a thorough competitive analysis of both direct and indirect competitors helped identify gaps in SuperKalam, while also providing guidelines and design ideas for similar features. This analysis was instrumental in refining and enhancing the app’s design and functionality.
Ideation
After collating all the information I gathered from user research and secondary research, I was able to narrow down some of the features I wanted to include in the app.
- Subscription- based access to SuperKalam AI: Introduce a subscription model for users who prefer not to purchase any courses but still want to continue using the app after the free trial expires. This approach aims to expand the app’s user base by offering an affordable option to supplement their UPSC preparation.
- Improving the discoverability of its unique features: Optimizing the information architecture to ensure a logical flow and hierarchy of content, making it easier for users to locate relevant study materials and tools.
- Streamlining the Answer writing flow: Providing clear instructions, addressing the break in the flow can enhance user engagement and retention.
- Personalization and Customization: Allowing users to set personal target, access to detailed progress report and providing downloadable videos, bookmark study material for offline viewing can significantly improve the user experience.
Design Process
Information Architecture
This is where a lot of the thinking about the product is done. As a product designer, I needed to make sure that the whole flow and information was laid out to the user in the best way for better usability.
Wireframes
My design process involves a lot of preliminary sketching before digitizing the experience. I constantly reassess what the user groups may look for & how an interface must provide timely prompts.
Moodboard
I created this moodboard to spark design inspiration. It combines fonts, colors, layouts, and photos to form a cohesive vision.
Visual Guidelines
Screen breakdown
1. Onboarding & Activation Flow
The login/signup process is designed for simplicity and ease of use, regardless of whether a user is joining for the first time or returning.
- Easy Onboarding: The app’s onboarding screens use simple illustrations and to-the-point text to explain its features, making it easy for users to understand.
- Login/Signup: Simple Phone login since it uses the number to send notification on WhatsApp about classes, test and updates. Gmail login if user doesn’t want to share the number for updates.
- Additional deatails: Questions that can help Superkalam AI to design the study plan according to users needs and current level of preparation.
2. Home screen
Designing the Homescreen was the most challenging task due to its critical role as the user’s first interaction point with the app. It needed to capture user attention, convey the core features, and guide users to the primary CTA.
Initially, the Homescreen was designed based on competitive analysis of similar apps, aiming to showcase all the app’s features. However, feedback from mentors and Abhinav and Jayneil emphasized the importance of focusing exclusively on the SuperKalam AI feature on the Homescreen, with additional features moved to the Explore section. This necessitated a complete redesign of the homescreen, but it also provided valuable insights and made the development of the Explore section more straightforward.
Key Features
Set Target: At the top of the home screen, users can easily access the “Set Target” feature. This crucial tool is prominently placed for quick discoverability and is also accessible from the profile section.
Core Feature Cards: The three core features of SuperKalam AI are highlighted on the home screen to immediately capture users’ attention and encourage engagement. Separate cards for these features ensure their visibility amid the app’s multiple offerings.
SuperKalam Text Window: Drawing inspiration from successful AI apps like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI, this section is designed to be interactive and user-friendly. Helpful question prompts on the chat screen to demonstrate how simple and engaging it is to use, encouraging experimentation. A microphone feature to enhance accessibility.
3. Explore section
The Explore section serves as the central hub for app’s core features, addressing the web app’s previous issue of poor feature discoverability. This section is carefully organized to highlight and prioritize different features.
Key features
Free Course Card: Positioned first in the Explore section, this card is designed to engage even casual users with freely available course content.
Today on Kalam Card: This card provides daily updates on news analysis, quizzes, and answer writing questions for practice, ensuring users have easy access to daily practice tasks.
Class Card: This feature displays the classes scheduled for the day, clearly highlighting the topic, mentor, and duration for user convenience.
Batches Card: Showcasing paid batches that users can join, this card offers a more structured preparation option alongside SuperKalam AI.
Explore More: The final segment breaks down features into smaller sections for user convenience, like allowing users to easily access entire playlists of classes or test series.
4. Answer writing section/ flow
Since this is the MVP feature that distinguishes the app from its competitors, it was crucial to strategically place touchpoints to capture users’ attention and ensure immediate discoverability.
Primary Touchpoint: The first touchpoint is a card placed at the top of the home screen, making the feature accessible with a single tap.
Secondary Touchpoint: An icon on the message (ask me any question) tab provides an alternative method of discovery.
An important change that I made is to streamlined answer writing flow. In the web application, users had to leave the app to convert their answer sheets into documents for upload, disrupting the flow. To address this, I integrated a feature allowing users to directly upload images of their answers. SuperKalam AI then converts the image into a document, which users can edit before final submission for evaluation. This change eliminates the break in flow and enhances user convenience.
5. Profile section
This section was designed for easy access to information on enrolled batches, bookmarked resources, and downloads all in one place.
Additionally, the primary purpose is to give users access to their performance metrics. Users can view detailed progress reports, check their streaks, and see their position on the leaderboard here.
Key features
Progress Report: A comprehensive progress report keeps users updated on their current preparation level, helping them plan new study targets. The report is segmented into weekly and overall views, allowing users to maintain a clear perspective on their progress and align their plans with the bigger picture.
Leaderboard: A leaderboard to fosters a competitive and motivational environment by ranking users based on their performance, encouraging continuous improvement and engagement.
Streaks: A streak feature to motivate users and build consistent learning habit by rewarding them for maintaining consecutive days of study. Streaks get updated automatically as everyday study targets are succesfully completed.
6. Premium subscription
This section was crucial to design as it addresses a core issue of the original web app, thereby enhancing user flow and engagement of the app.
To ensure I didn’t miss any critical elements in the subscription flow, I turned to competitive analysis. I examined various apps with subscription models, asking three key questions for each:
- How is the CTA integrated within the screen?
- What information is provided before the CTA?
- What changes upon subscribing? (For example, do users get access to more content? This question provided context for their strategy.)
From this analysis, I understood the importance of presenting key selling points before the CTA to help users make informed decisions. However, in my initial design, I misunderstood this concept and included all features at once. My mentors pointed out that this approach could overwhelm users and cause them to miss the main selling points.
Taking their feedback, I iterated on the design. I decided to highlight four key features before the CTA, ensuring the information was clear and engaging. Additionally, I included both yearly and monthly subscription options to meet different user needs and preferences.
That’s a wrap!
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project. It was both challenging and enjoyable. A huge shoutout to fantastic folks at 10kdesigners or invaluable feedback and constant support.
I am open to Product Designer roles and freelance projects. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn for any further discussion.
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