Learning Support App Concept
A product exploration focused on designing clearer, more motivating learning experiences for students with learning disabilities.
In progress. The visual below is a structural placeholder while the work is in development.
- 01 Respect first
- 02 Small wins, surfaced clearly
- 03 Few choices, well-presented
- 04 Accessible by default
- 05 EAs & LSTs are part of the product
This work is still in progress. This page documents product thinking, research direction, and early UX explorations rather than a finished or launched product.
Overview
A product exploration informed by my time working as an educational assistant. The students I supported didn’t need more tools. They needed tools that respected their time, attention, and dignity. Most software either over-gamified the experience or treated the learner as a generic adult.
This is a concept, not a launched product, and is presented that way throughout.
My role
Product strategy and UX exploration: problem framing, user models, and early design directions.
Why this exists
Students with learning disabilities are often handed tools that:
- Optimize for compliance rather than understanding
- Punish small mistakes with friction
- Look like adult productivity software
- Or look like a children’s game, regardless of the learner’s age
There’s room for something quieter that still keeps the learner motivated.
Users
The primary user is a student with a learning disability, most often a teenager, who works with an educational assistant or learning support teacher. Secondary users are the EA or LST themselves, and parents who want to see meaningful progress without surveilling.
Design principles (working)
- Respect first. The product should look age-appropriate, not childish.
- Small wins, surfaced clearly. Progress is visible, but never weaponized.
- Few choices, well-presented. Cognitive load is the enemy.
- Accessible by default. Type, contrast, motion, and structure aren’t features. They’re the floor.
- EAs and LSTs are part of the product. Their workflow matters as much as the student’s.
Approach
- Mapping the actual support workflow as it exists in classrooms today.
- Building a small set of interaction patterns appropriate for learners who fatigue quickly.
- Resisting gamification reflexes. Points and streaks can do more harm than good in this context.
Status
Concept stage. Honest design exploration, not a launched product. The page exists in the portfolio because the thinking is part of what I want to be hired for.
What I’d want to test first
- Whether a quiet, age-respectful UI keeps teenage learners engaged longer than a gamified one
- Whether shared visibility between student and EA reduces friction at the start of a session
- Whether the product can run usefully without ever sending student work off-device