AI-POWERED LEarning App
MathNex
ROLE
UX Designer
EXPERTISE
UX/UI Design
YEAR
2024
Personalized Learning for Lasting Impact
Challenges
Problem overview
of 15-year-old Brazilian students lack basic math proficiency, struggling with fundamental operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
of students in Brazil don't meet the minimum math proficiency level required to participate fully in society, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
of Brazilian students demonstrate low creativity levels, a skill closely tied to problem-solving in math as reported by the OECD
Brazil occupies the 65th position in the PISA ranking out of 81 nations according to the PISA Report of 2022
Process Overview
Research & Planning
Conducted desk research, developed personas, and used tools like the CSD Matrix, Lean Canvas, and SWOT Analysis to understand user needs and challenges. Explored competitor offerings and defined hypotheses through user stories and competitive analysis.
Design & Prototyping
Developed the MVP through prototyping, guided by agile User Stories. The MVP included key features like IRT-based personalized exercises, gamification (points and rewards), and immediate feedback to address identified needs.
Implementation
Tested the MVP with usability evaluations and analyzed metrics, such as performance improvement and user retention. Collected data to validate the MVP’s effectiveness and identify areas for refinement.
Testing & Optimization
Used feedback and metrics to enhance the MVP, improving personalization, gamification strategies, and user engagement features, while aligning with project goals and agile methodology.
User Persona
To better understand the problematics within the learning of math among brazilian students, I developed a user persona to represent our primary audience and guide strategic decisions across design and business.
Creating João’s persona was essential to designing a product that speaks directly to students’ real needs. It informed the user-centered interface, structured our Lean Canvas, and shaped the app’s features using user stories.
Each user story translated João’s needs—and those of his parents and teachers—into clear development goals.
Research and Discovery to Understand Educational Challenges
This phase focused on understanding the core issues faced by students, teachers, and parents in math education. Using desk research, we analyzed data from studies like PISA 2022 and identified key pain points, such as students' difficulty mastering basic math operations, lack of motivation, and the absence of financial literacy in traditional curricula. We also conducted competitor analysis to map gaps in existing digital math teaching solutions and defined the app’s unique value proposition through tools like SWOT analysis and the CSD matrix.
Designing a Solution to Students Real Needs
An MVP was crafted with three key features: IRT-based personalization to tailor learning to each student's needs, gamification elements to boost engagement through rewards and challenges, and financial literacy integration to teach real-world skills. Agile User Stories ensured these features aligned with the needs of students, parents, and educators, forming a solid foundation for testing.
Testing Assumptions and Refining the Experience
The prototyping process was crucial in transforming User Stories into functional and intuitive interfaces. We developed wireframes and interactive prototypes to test the user experience and validate key design elements, such as progress dashboards, gamified challenges, and an adaptive feedback system. With each iteration, we refined the design based on user needs, ensuring a seamless and pedagogically effective learning experience. Additionally, usability tests were conducted using the think-aloud methodology to gather real-time user feedback and further optimize the interface.
I conducted a competitor analysis to understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing math education platforms, focusing on how they engage students, personalize learning experiences, and align with educational goals. This helped identify opportunities for differentiation and innovation within the MathNex product.
🧠 Khan Academy
A free educational platform offering thousands of video lessons and exercises across subjects, widely used in schools worldwide.
✅ Pros:
• Completely free and ad-free.
• Large content library aligned with international standards.
❌ Cons:
• No adaptive personalization (doesn’t use IRT).
• Less engaging for younger children; relies heavily on video content.
Solution
The final solution reimagines math education by adapting to each student's unique learning journey, ensuring they receive support where it’s needed most. It introduces engaging mechanics that make the learning process enjoyable and rewarding, fostering motivation to explore and improve. Additionally, it bridges academic content with practical skills, teaching students concepts they can apply in real-world scenarios to better prepare them for the future.
IRT-Based Personalization
Unlike most competitors, which offer a one-size-fits-all approach, MathNex leverages Item Response Theory (IRT) to dynamically adjust the difficulty of exercises based on each student's performance, ensuring they focus on their individual areas of struggle
Gamification for Engagement
Existing platforms often lack effective gamification strategies, leading to low student motivation. MathNex incorporates reward systems, challenges, and progress tracking to sustain engagement, making learning more interactive and enjoyable
Financial Literacy Integration
Traditional math apps focus solely on academic content, neglecting real-world applications. MathNex bridges this gap by embedding financial literacy exercises, helping students develop essential life skills while learning math
User flow
The app’s UI is intuitive and engaging, featuring dynamic visuals, progress trackers, and gamified rewards to motivate students. Its clean design ensures accessibility, while adaptive content personalizes the learning experience, making math both approachable and enjoyable.
Interactive exercises
The app features interactive exercises designed to make learning math more engaging and effective. These activities adapt to each student’s progress, providing real-time feedback and challenges that encourage active participation.
Future AR applications
For future versions of the app, we aim to integrate Augmented Reality to demonstrate how mathematical concepts (e.g., fractions) translate into real-life applications.
Next Steps
Next steps include refining the solution, testing it in real-world scenarios, and forming partnerships to scale its impact.
Pilot Testing
Conduct usability tests with a small group of students and teachers to validate the app's features and refine the user experience.
Partnership Building
Establish collaborations with schools and educational institutions to expand the app's reach and gather diverse feedback for improvement.
Launch and Feedback Cycle
Release the MVP to a broader audience, collect data on engagement and performance, and iterate on features based on real-world usage insights.
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