<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div><div><h2 id="8648">The journey of making a great solution for college students is unfinished</h2><div><a href="https://medium.com/@dino.lee?source=post_page-----adb9aec26157--------------------------------" rel="noopener follow"><div aria-hidden="false"><p><img alt="Dino Lee" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/da:true/resize:fill:88:88/0*aHFlncRBl43jckTE" width="44" height="44" loading="lazy" data-testid="authorPhoto"></p></div></a><a href="https://blog.mathpresso.com/?source=post_page-----adb9aec26157--------------------------------" rel="noopener  ugc nofollow"><div aria-hidden="false"><p><img alt="Team QANDA" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fill:48:48/1*Bxu3WyhvohRndw5lLI_3Ow.jpeg" width="24" height="24" loading="lazy" data-testid="publicationPhoto"></p></div></a></div></div><figure></figure><p id="a8ff">In the U.S. there are already a multitude of tools that help college students succeed in school. With the pandemic, the usage of such tools has become even more commonplace and widespread.</p><p id="8512">However, studying is never fun. Even with the help of such tools, students are having a hard time sitting down at their desks, trying to learn. That’s why some academic tools have an unfavorable reputation attached to them as being used for ‘cheating.’</p><p id="804f">This is when our team decided to plunge in to make a product that would be welcomed by students. One question that we focused on was this; <strong>What problem do students exactly have? </strong>I mean, we know that there are some intuitive pain points associated with studying, i.e. lots of materials to absorb, keeping awake and focused, not prioritizing going out to party over studying, etc. Yes, we knew these were some of the pains that everyone could identify with. But <strong>what exactly is ‘the core problem’ that students are faced with, that needs to be fulfilled?</strong></p><p id="4ec2">To find an answer to this, we have conducted extremely intense user research: Over a month, 40x remote in-depth interviews, multiple hi-fidelity prototypes, hours and hours of debriefing, discussion, and overnight sync meetings.</p><p id="2a7f">Then it became clear. There was a clear, definite need for a tool tailored to prep students for exams (midterm/final). Many students were having a hard time learning through piles of lecture slides and attaining a level of confidence in the absence of practice exams and solutions.</p><p id="6b22">But more than anything, <strong><em>what students needed the most was having these resources tailored to the classes that they are taking at the moment</em></strong>. Practice exams from UCLA won’t be as helpful for USC students. Students taking an accounting class from professor A won’t find course material from the course of B professor. There was this clear need for a <strong>‘hyper-localized study tool that is designed to help them to prepare for exams.’</strong></p><p id="224e">The core problem was still not yet identified. <strong>Why would students need that? </strong>What deficiency are they experiencing without such a tool at hand? What problem would this tool solve for students if it came into existence?</p><p id="f971">It took another intense internal discussion that our thoughts finally converged, and concluded on the following problem proposition: <strong>There is gross inefficiency and time-consumption in achieving their final goal, in this case, most likely to be getting a good grade in class.</strong></p><p id="16f5">With the needs statement and problem space identified, the team was ready to get on to making an MVP product. Coupled with the gigantic amount of academic problem set database in our Korea HQ, and the emergence of LLM technology, our team was very certain that we could come up with a pretty sleek yet highly competitive solution to this problem, better than most incumbent players in the ed-tech domain. Because the insights we obtained from the students were so sure and convincing, the product team was highly motivated and things moved forward with high productivity, which produced a working MVP product in about 2 months! That was the start of Prep.Pie, a gen AI study tool to maximize exam preparation efficiency.</p><figure></figure><p id="898f">The journey of making a great solution for college students is unfinished and still ongoing. We have not grown complacent about staying close to students’ voices and inputs. Our confidence also hasn’t subsided, but rather grown as affirmed by the reactions students that we meet are showing to us.</p><p id="25c8">We are optimistic and thrilled that the tool we are making will transform the way students study, and hoping to have that vision realized soon.</p></div><div><h2 id="66b8">Learn More About Us</h2><p id="b83b">We, Team QANDA, believe that quality education is a right for every student, not a privilege. We are dedicated to delivering personalized educational resources to students worldwide, making learning accessible, engaging, and impactful for all.</p><p id="9c43">Discover more about our journey on</p><ul><li id="66f3">Our <a href="https://mathpresso.com/en" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">website</a></li><li id="5f97">Forbes interview <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rubyleung/2021/07/30/this-softbank-backed-korean-edtech-startup-helps-solve-your-math-problems-with-ai/?sh=2c4c437a15e3" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">article</a></li><li id="9a70"><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QVwSmWHBv7iHgt2nsWC8A6nPs3xvBLKJ?usp=drive_link" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Company brief</a></li></ul><p id="cd54">📖<strong>Check out </strong><a href="https://preppie.ai/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Prep.Pie</strong></a>, the ultimate study tool to ace your exams!</p><p id="5324">#PrepPie #QANDA #GenAI</p></div></div>

매스프레소 팀블로그 - Medium

The journey of making a great solution for college students is unfinished
In the U.S. there are already a multitude of tools that help college students succeed in school. With the pandemic, the usage of such tools has become even more commonplace and widespread.
However, studying is never fun. Even with the help of such tools, students are having a hard time sitting down at their desks, trying to learn. That’s why some academic tools have an unfavorable reputation attached to them as being used for ‘cheating.’
This is when our team decided to plunge in to make a product that would be welcomed by students. One question that we focused on was this; What problem do students exactly have? I mean, we know that there are some intuitive pain points associated with studying, i.e. lots of materials to absorb, keeping awake and focused, not prioritizing going out to party over studying, etc. Yes, we knew these were some of the pains that everyone could identify with. But what exactly is ‘the core problem’ that students are faced with, that needs to be fulfilled?
To find an answer to this, we have conducted extremely intense user research: Over a month, 40x remote in-depth interviews, multiple hi-fidelity prototypes, hours and hours of debriefing, discussion, and overnight sync meetings.
Then it became clear. There was a clear, definite need for a tool tailored to prep students for exams (midterm/final). Many students were having a hard time learning through piles of lecture slides and attaining a level of confidence in the absence of practice exams and solutions.
But more than anything, what students needed the most was having these resources tailored to the classes that they are taking at the moment. Practice exams from UCLA won’t be as helpful for USC students. Students taking an accounting class from professor A won’t find course material from the course of B professor. There was this clear need for a ‘hyper-localized study tool that is designed to help them to prepare for exams.’
The core problem was still not yet identified. Why would students need that? What deficiency are they experiencing without such a tool at hand? What problem would this tool solve for students if it came into existence?
It took another intense internal discussion that our thoughts finally converged, and concluded on the following problem proposition: There is gross inefficiency and time-consumption in achieving their final goal, in this case, most likely to be getting a good grade in class.
With the needs statement and problem space identified, the team was ready to get on to making an MVP product. Coupled with the gigantic amount of academic problem set database in our Korea HQ, and the emergence of LLM technology, our team was very certain that we could come up with a pretty sleek yet highly competitive solution to this problem, better than most incumbent players in the ed-tech domain. Because the insights we obtained from the students were so sure and convincing, the product team was highly motivated and things moved forward with high productivity, which produced a working MVP product in about 2 months! That was the start of Prep.Pie, a gen AI study tool to maximize exam preparation efficiency.
The journey of making a great solution for college students is unfinished and still ongoing. We have not grown complacent about staying close to students’ voices and inputs. Our confidence also hasn’t subsided, but rather grown as affirmed by the reactions students that we meet are showing to us.
We are optimistic and thrilled that the tool we are making will transform the way students study, and hoping to have that vision realized soon.
Learn More About Us
We, Team QANDA, believe that quality education is a right for every student, not a privilege. We are dedicated to delivering personalized educational resources to students worldwide, making learning accessible, engaging, and impactful for all.
Discover more about our journey on
Our website
Forbes interview article
Company brief
📖Check out Prep.Pie, the ultimate study tool to ace your exams!
#PrepPie #QANDA #GenAI
Prep.Pie Story: Creating a tool that empowers students to succeed was originally published in Team QANDA on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Prep.Pie Story: Creating a tool that empowers students to succeed

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