Unify: A Gamified Study Planner for University Students
Plan a schedule. Stay focused. Submit on time.
Project Overview
University students struggle with stress, procrastination, and disorganisation, which impacts their mental health and academic performance. Unify is a gamified project management app designed to help students break down tasks, track deadlines visually, and stay motivated through social engagement and rewards.
The Problem
Key Research Insights
1 in 4 students experiences high stress levels.
Role: UX/UI Design
Project Type: Interaction Design Studio
Tertiary students experience high levels of stress and burnout due to poor time management and lack of motivation. Traditional study planners are either too rigid or ineffective in keeping students engaged.
65% of tertiary students report poor mental health.
Students feel overwhelmed by big assignments and lack clear strategies to start.
How might we help university students stay on top of their workload while maintaining motivation and reducing stress?
The Solution
Unify is a mobile app designed to help university students stay organized and motivated by turning study management into an engaging experience.
It simplifies academic workload by breaking down assignments into manageable tasks, visualising progress through an interactive roadmap, and fostering accountability with social features. By earning rewards for completing tasks, students can customize a virtual study room, transforming productivity into a fun and rewarding process.
The Design Process
Our design process followed a human-centered approach, combining research, iteration, and testing to ensure Unify met students' needs effectively.
Empathise & Define
Research Methodology
User Interviews to understand study habits and pain points
Surveys to validate key struggles around procrastination & motivation
Findings
Students needed a simple, structured way to break down tasks.
Social interaction was a key motivator for staying engaged.
Competitive analysis of existing study apps
Competitive analysis of existing study apps
Ideate
Ideation and Concept Development
Through brainstorming, crazy 8’s, and moodboards we initially conceptualised a university "survival" app featuring AI counseling, mental health resources, and a study planner to support students' well-being and organisation. Peer feedback revealed that the app lacked a clear focus, with users preferring a single function over multiple tools and expressing concerns that it might encourage procrastination rather than productivity, leading us to refine the concept for better clarity and purpose.
Prototype
Low Fidelity Wireframes - Student Wellbeing App
Testing
To ensure Unify was intuitive and user-friendly, we conducted Expert Testing followed by User Testing. Five usability experts reviewed the Figma prototype using Nielsen’s Usability Heuristics, identifying issues with design consistency, navigation, and task management.
Based on their feedback, we refined the design before testing with 12 university students. Through pre-testing interviews, a think-aloud protocol, and System Usability Scale (SUS) surveys, we observed real-time usability challenges. Users struggled with inconsistent UI, unclear navigation, and complex task management, reinforcing expert findings. In contrast, students appreciated the gamified roadmap as a form of progress tracking, and felt the friend interactions enhanced engagement.
These insights informed our second iteration, which focused on improving information architecture, enhancing visual consistency, and streamlining task creation to create a more seamless experience.
Based on peer feedback, we refined the concept to focus solely on helping students break down assessments, track deadlines, and visualize progress, removing mindfulness tools and long-form content that could encourage procrastination. However, we retained social features, as users found them motivating and engaging.
Mid Fidelity Wireframes - Student Wellbeing App
Final Prototype
High Fidelity Wireframes - Unify
Homepage
Displays upcoming assessments & daily tasks for a quick overview.
A scroll indicator guides users, and compact assessment visibility reduces unnecessary scrolling.
The centered plus button streamlines task creation, while a dropdown filter allows easy sorting.
The checklist format simplifies progress tracking, and enhanced colors and illustrations create a more engaging experience.
Add Tasks
The task management flow was refined to improve usability and reduce confusion.
Users can now set reminders to stay on track, edit tasks directly on the checklist, and differentiate between adding assessments and adding tasks—an issue identified in user feedback.
A task-to-homepage prompt ensures important tasks remain visible, and a dedicated “Add to Home” icon prevents overwhelming users with too many options at once.
Study Room
To enhance gamification and usability, we expanded the study room space based on user feedback about limited room for customisation.
The edit bar was repositioned to the top-left for a cleaner layout, preventing interference with the study room.
A screen overflow adjustment allows users to navigate the space more freely, making customisation more intuitive and enjoyable.
Socials
The social features were refined to improve clarity and engagement.
A coloured selection bar was added to distinguish between feed sections, while the “Add Friend” button was made larger to improve visibility.
Users can now view friends’ subjects and bios, enhancing connection and motivation.
Additionally, a consistent plus icon placement across all screens ensures seamless access to task creation without navigating back.
