RetainIt: AI-Powered Learning
Retainit
AI-Powered Gamification App for Online Learning
Much of the world uses the internet to consume content. However, how much of that is truly retained?
CORE USER PROBLEM
People use the internet daily to consume news articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, blogs, and many other forms of “casual learning.” However, when this adds up to 100+ sites in a single session, how much of it is truly retained?
At Retainit, we use spaced repetition, a learning technique where information is reviewed at gradually increasing intervals (e.g. quizzes), to help our users retain whatever they read online. Using Generative AI, we can create quizzes and games of any piece of content on the internet within seconds. Our platform allows the user to save these quizzes, review them on a regular basis, and track their progress through a gamified experience.
MY ROLE
As the first design hire, I led our brand identity and web app prototype. This included all product research, stakeholder communication, design, and prototyping. I also set up weekly meetings with developers to iterate rapidly while considering diverse perspectives in my work.
RESEARCH & TESTING
Our first trials were conducted with students at Marginal Revolution University, an online learning platform for economics. We also ran a small beta of 100 users that gave us feedback.
BRAND IDENTITY
Our target users were students and young professionals looking to learn outside of a traditional classroom setting. Therefore, we wanted our brand to be:
Fun: Learning with Retainit shouldn’t feel like doing homework, like Coursera and other learning platforms.
Entertaining: People like learning through entertainment. Retainit should feel like you’re playing a game or queueing up a YouTube video.
Seamless: Retainit should exist in the background as a silent study buddy. The extension shouldn’t interrupt your reading flow, but assist it. Taking quizzes should feel as routine as binge-watching the next video.
Based on these principles, we decided to go with a mix of Retro and Ocean palettes.
DESIGN PROCESS
Home page with daily review, course view, and gamified profile progress.
Empty state if user doesn’t have any quizzes generated. Prompt encourages them to download extension.
List of all quizzes they’ve generated from online content, with search filters, bookmarks, and date last reviewed.
Exploration of profile view designs that appear when the user hovers over the extension. Final designs were updated for simplicity and hierarchy of information.
View when user is taking a quiz.
Flow for leveling up after gaining EXP from doing well on quizzes. Buttons on the bottom on the quiz lineup on the right encourage user to continue quizzing. Double XP offered as incentive for users on a roll.
Testing out different copy and designs for the quiz results page. By adding social proof (“You did better than XYZ”) and badges, user is encouraged by their progress.
Badges allow users to display progress proudly on their profile icons, as well as offer content creators (e.g. YouTubers, podcasters, news publications) the ability to offer branded badges for their top learners on the platform.
PRODUCTION
Retainit is launching their product with Marginal Revolution University’s 300K+ subscribers and other YouTube creators of educational videos in 2024. By building in public, Retainit can quickly iterate based on user feedback.
Let’s work together.
If you have a project in mind, or would like to chat, shoot me an email at laura.y.gao@gmail.com.