improving the way UPSC students practice for their exams by receiving instant feedback on any topic.
MY ROLE:
Among a team of 14, I collaborated closely with Product manager, Founder, Developers and Senior Designer to brainstorm ideas, concept delivery, high fidelity prototype and making sure the feature truly met student’s & business needs.
RESULT:
A feature in the web app called “Townhall” designed to help UPSC students prepare for their exam by building confidence, improving clarity in their answers and providing instant, actionable feedback.
How it started
✨
How it started
When I joined, the product hadn’t even been started...
FirstBench.ai is an EdTech startup helping UPSC aspirants with personalized learning, I worked on an exciting feature called Townhall.
This feature allows students to select topics they want to focus on and speak about them to answer AI-generated questions, helping UPSE students prepare for their exams.
☹️
Problem area
Why was this TOWNHALL feature required?
Riya, a UPSC aspirant, spends hours studying topics like World Air Pollution. Despite taking notes and watching videos, she wonders, “Have I truly understood this?” Like many, she needs a way to apply her learning and test her knowledge.
Riya spends hours in learning about World air pollution by taking notes and watching videos.
UPSE
She thinks
“Have I truly understood this topic ?”
Here’s where the challenge begins
Vast Syllabus:
Every topic feels like an ocean; identifying most important points becomes overwhelming.
Clarity in Answers
Despite knowing the topic, their answers lack depth and precision, often sounding too generic.
Practice Over Passive Learning
Simply consuming information doesn’t prepare them for the real-world application required in the UPSC exam.
Bad Sentence Formation
They struggle to frame well-structured, impactful sentences.
Studying for UPSE exams isn't just about consuming information—it’s about applying knowledge effectively.
Solution
🤩
Solution
To solve this we came up with a feature named “Townhall”.
This feature allows students to select topics they want to focus on and speak about them by answering questions and helping them prepare for their exams .
Solution
In a hurry? skip to the final experience
👩🏼
User Research
But first before designing lets understand UPSC Students.
To truly understand the daily struggles of UPSC aspirants, I spoke with seven students and immersed myself in countless vlogs and preparation videos on YouTube.
📖
Secondary Research
How does UPSE exam work?
🤟🏻
Brief
User stories
As a team, we identified key pain points such as lack of clarity in answers, difficulty in managing time, and fear of speaking in front of an interviewer. Based on these insights, we came up with the following user stories to guide the development of an effective interview preparation tool.
Brief
🧠
Brainstorming
Building the townhall feature
We had brainstorming sessions where I collaborated with a diverse team of 14 members, including product managers, developers, and the founder. These sessions were crucial for generating ideas and aligning our goals with the business objectives.
😶🌫️
Iterations
Before settling on a solution,the team pitched a variety of innovative ideas.
We started brainstorming, the team explored several creative approaches:
🤞🏻
Ray of hope
So what next? what’s the next best we could do?
After many discussions, iterations, and internal reviews, we settled on a simpler, more personalized approach that was possible for the AI & Backend team to make it and also aligned with the business goal
📑
Information Architecture
We ultimately made a decision based on several factors.
We developed a simplified, customised information architecture that contains a detailed analysis, with a clear improvement plan for enhanced usability and efficiency.
🖌
Design System
Design System Integration
Hari, our Senior Designer, provided a design system and instructed me to apply it across all designs and interactions I created.
Some Components that I made using the given Design System
Solution
00:00
Done
What is the Townhall feature, and how can it help me?
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question selection
Drop down
.
Edit done button
Timer
Mic
Loading
🤩
Solution
And finally introducing the “Townhall” feature
After multiple iterations, Townhall became a simple yet powerful tool that helped UPSC aspirants practice with confidence, improve their articulation, and prepare effectively for their interviews.
Step 1: Select Preferences:
Choose your subject, topic, and sub-topic to focus on a specific area.
Step 2: Answer Questions
Attempt 5 questions by speaking about the topic.
Step 3: Instant Feedback
Receive immediate feedback on clarity of topic, structure, and improvement areas.
See Final Solution
🖌
Visual Language
"Enhancing User Experience with Visual Cues".
We used colors and icons to provide visual cues for the user.
☹️
Problems
Tackling Challenges
After creating the first draft, we shared it with the team, who conducted user testing and identified several issues. Although I wasn't part of the testing process, I received the insights and made the necessary adjustments accordingly.
Challenge 1
what if they user wants to edit the response?
Next question
do you want to re-record?
Allow editing after answering a question.
Solution 1
Challenge 2
what if the user wants to skip a question?
Solution 2
A confirmation popup before skipping.
Solution 2
☹️
Solution
And here comes the MVP Version.
The final solution is an MVP, focusing on core features to meet key user needs. It serves as a foundation for future improvements based on user feedback and further testing.
.
How will this feature help UPSE Students?
Turning passive reading into active practice.
Helping students identify knowledge gaps and focus their revision.
3. Instant feedback to help them refine their answers and gain clarity.
Concept Clarity
&
Convenient
Future Prospects
Discussion Forums and Debates: Evolving Townhall into a platform for live debates between two teams.
Enhanced Accessibility: Adding features for students with hearing or speaking disabilities, such as:
•Voice-to-text support.
•Customizable interaction modes.
•High-contrast, simplified interfaces.
Real-Time Captions: Leveraging AI to generate live captions of spoken responses for better comprehension.
🫡
Takeaways
Closing Thoughts
🤩
My learnings
The most Important Part- My Learnings from this Journey.
1
Understanding Business Goals and User Needs: Aligning technical feasibility with real student challenges is crucial.
2
Collaboration is Key: Treating developers as partners and fostering clear communication made remote work much more effective.
3
Scalable Design: Using an effective design system ensures consistency and eases future iterations.
4
Inspired by UPSE Students: The determination and resilience of UPSC students, seen through their vlogs and conversations, continue to motivate and inspire me every day.
How it started
Brief
P
Main
Work
About
Contact
Resume
GET IN TOUCH
prarthanajaindesign@gmail.com
9136574250
Made with a lot of cups of iced coffee & music.
☹️
🤩
Solution
1
Choose a Topic
Start your personalized session by selecting one subject, one topic, and one subtopic.
2
Answer the questions
Activate your mic and begin speaking to answer the five questions one by one.
3
Get Instant Feedback
Get detailed analysis and a clear strategy for improvement.
improving the way UPSC students practice for their exams by receiving instant feedback on any topic.
MY ROLE:
Among a team of 14, I collaborated closely with Product manager, Founder, Developers and Senior Designer to brainstorm ideas, concept delivery, high fidelity prototype and making sure the feature truly met student’s & business needs.
RESULT:
A feature in the web app called “Townhall” designed to help UPSC students prepare for their exam by building confidence, improving clarity in their answers and providing instant, actionable feedback.
✨
How it started
When I joined, the product hadn’t even been started...
FirstBench.ai is an EdTech startup helping UPSC aspirants with personalized learning, I worked on an exciting feature called Townhall.This feature allows students to select topics they want to focus on and speak about them to answer AI-generated questions, helping UPSE students prepare for their exams.
Why was this TOWNHALL feature required?
Problem area
Riya spends hours in learning about World air pollution by taking notes and watching videos.
She thinks
“Have I truly understood this topic?”
Riya, a UPSC aspirant, spends hours studying topics like World Air Pollution. Despite taking notes and watching videos, she wonders, “Have I truly understood this?” Like many, she needs a way to apply her learning and test her knowledge.
Here’s where the challenge begins
Vast Syllabus:
Every topic feels like an ocean; identifying most important points becomes overwhelming.
Clarity in Answers
Despite knowing the topic, their answers lack depth and precision, often sounding too generic.
Practice Over Passive Learning
Simply consuming information doesn’t prepare them for the real-world application required in the UPSC exam.
Bad Sentence Formation
They struggle to frame well-structured, impactful sentences.
Studying for UPSE exams isn't just about consuming information—it’s about
applying knowledge effectively.
To solve this we came up with a feature named “Townhall”.
This feature allows students to select topics they want to focus on and speak about them by answering questions and helping them prepare for their exams .
But first before designing lets understand UPSC Students.
To truly understand the daily struggles of UPSC aspirants, I spoke with seven students and immersed myself in countless vlogs and preparation videos on YouTube.
👩🏼
User Research
Study schedules are fixed and differ for everyone, often spanning 10-12 hours daily.
They prepare alone without feedback, causing repeated mistakes and no improvement.
Fear of the Mains and Interview stages is common due to the need for structured answers.
Preliminary Exam (Prelims)
two objective papers—General Studies and CSAT.
Main Exam
(Mains)
written exam with nine descriptive papers,
Personality Test (Interview)
assessing communication, knowledge, decision making,
🤟🏻
Brief
User stories
As a team, we identified key pain points such as lack of clarity in answers, difficulty in managing time, and fear of speaking in front of an interviewer.
📖
Secondary Research
How does UPSE exam work?
1
As a UPSC aspirant, I want to practice answering questions verbally so that I can improve my articulation.
2
As a UPSC aspirant, I want a customisable experience where I can choose my topics of focus.
3
As a UPSC aspirant, I want insightful feedback on my answers so that I can learn what to improve.
😶🌫️
Iterations
Before settling on a solution, the team pitched a variety of ideas.
We started brainstorming, the team explored several creative approaches:
🖌
Design System
Design System Integration.
Hari, our Senior Designer, provided a design system and instructed me to apply it across all designs and interactions I created.
📑
Information Architecture
We ultimately made a decision based on several factors.
We developed a simplified, customised information architecture that contains a detailed analysis, with a clear improvement plan for enhanced usability and efficiency.
Tackling Challenges
After creating the first draft, we shared it with the team, who conducted user testing and identified several issues. Although I wasn't part of the testing process, I received the insights and made the necessary adjustments accordingly.
Problems
☹️
And here comes the MVP Version.
The final solution is an MVP, focusing on core features to meet key user needs. It serves as a foundation for future improvements based on user feedback and further testing.
"Enhancing User Experience with Visual Cues".
We used colours and icons to provide visual cues.
Some Components that I made using the given Design System
Air quality index 2024
Pitch your thoughts on new Air quality index report 2024 and how we can improve this in the near future
un attempted question
Air quality index 2024
Pitch your thoughts on new Air quality index report 2024 and how we can improve this in the near future
attempted question
Air quality index 2024
Pitch your thoughts on new Air quality index report 2024 and how we can improve this in the near future
skipped question
Challenge 1
what if they user wants to edit the response?
👋
Takeaways
Closing Thoughts.
🤩
My learnings
My Learnings from this Journey.
1
Understanding Business Goals and User Needs: Aligning technical feasibility with real student challenges is crucial.
2
Collaboration is Key: Treating developers as partners and fostering clear communication made remote work much more effective.
3
Scalable Design: Using an effective design system ensures consistency and eases future iterations.
4
Inspired by UPSE Students: The determination and resilience of UPSC students, seen through their vlogs and conversations, continue to motivate and inspire me every day.
How will this feature help UPSE Students?
Turning passive reading into active practice.
Helping students identify knowledge gaps and focus their revision.
Instant feedback to help them refine their answers and gain clarity.
Concept Clarity
&
Convenient
Future Prospects
Discussion Forums and Debates: Evolving Townhall into a platform for live debates between two teams.
Enhanced Accessibility: Adding features for students with hearing or speaking disabilities, such as:
•Voice-to-text support.
•Customizable interaction modes.
•High-contrast, simplified interfaces.
Real-Time Captions: Leveraging AI to generate live captions of spoken responses for better comprehension.
Allow editing after answering a question.
Solution 1
Challenge 2
what if the user wants to skip a question?
Solution 2
A confirmation popup before skipping.
☹️
Solution
🧠
Brainstorming
Building the townhall feature.
We had brainstorming sessions where I collaborated with a diverse team of 14 members, including product managers, developers, and the founder. These sessions were crucial for generating ideas and aligning our goals with the business objectives.
🖌
Visual Language
but all were later discarded because..
Technical complexity
Implementation challenges from the AI & Backend Team
Scalability
Difficulty in getting so many students in the platform at once at this stage?
Misalignment with user goals
Users want to practicing just specific topics independently at their own time.
🤞🏻
Ray of hope
So what next? what’s the next best we could do?
After many discussions, iterations, and internal reviews, we settled on a simpler, more personalized approach that was possible for the AI & Backend team to make it and also aligned with the business goal
Back
🤩
Solution
And finally introducing the “Townhall” feature.
After multiple iterations, Townhall became a simple yet powerful tool that helped UPSC aspirants practice with confidence, improve their articulation, and prepare effectively for their interviews.
Step 1: Select Preferences:
Choose your subject, topic, and sub-topic to focus on a specific area.
Step 2: Answer Questions
Attempt 5 questions by speaking about the topic.
Step 3: Instant Feedback
Receive immediate feedback on clarity of topic, structure, and improvement areas.
Overview
Back