AI-Powered Tools: How Students use AI to Prepare for Exams
Project Overview
In this AI Diary Study initiative, it was not just interesting research but work that influenced product roadmaps and competitive strategy across 3 product teams. This project demonstrated how I used longitudinal research to surface unmet needs, influence cross-functional strategy, and uncovered opportunities for competitive differentiation in fast-moving spaces like AI.
My Role
Led UX Research Strategy, designed and executed a longitudinal diary study, aligned cross-functional pods (AI Chat, Course Experience, Documents) and facilitated workshops to drive strategic opportunities for AI-powered study products.
Team
3 pods across UX, Product, Engineering, and Marketing.
THE CHALLENGE
Understanding the Problem through a human-centered lens
As AI study tools rapidly proliferated, Course Hero needed to understand:
How do students’ study habits and use of AI tools evolve as exams approach?
What unmet needs exist across different exam formats?
How might we design differentiated AI tools that support motivation, confidence and mastery?
Why it mattered: Exam prep is the #1 student use case across surveys, yet existing tools (Quizlet, ChatGPT) failed to address gaps like fact-checking, adaptive feedback and social motivation. Without deeper insights, we risked being outpaced by competitors.
RESEARCH GOALS
How we identified our biggest knowledge gaps
I led the team to clearly identify strategic areas we need to further understand to build a solution real students need and want. Risk vs. Data Strength
I led leadership from the 3 product teams to come together to map out our biggest assumptions before starting research.
This ensured we strategically identify the most impactful customer behaviours we need to uncover for this longitudinal study.
Research Questions:
Understand student workflows, motivations, and emotions when preparing for exams
Identify gaps in existing AI tools (accuracy, adaptability, usability)
Translate insights into strategic product opportunities for AI-driven exam prep.
APPROACH & METHODS
Multi-phase
I engaged the team throughout the human-centered research process and they acted as champions of the projects within their teams.
Longitudinal Diary Study: 14 college students, tracked across 3 weeks of live exam prep. Students submitted video diary vlogs capturing in-context study sessions.
Cross-Functional Watch Parties: Facilitated 4 workshops with AI team pods (design, engineering, marketing, research) to co-analyze diaries and capture “aha” moments.
Synthesis Frameworks: Created Customer Journeys, Customer Value Canvases, and Opportunities Workshop.
Comparative Lens: Built on past survey research (4,000–8,000 student data points) to validate against diary study findings.
Why this method? Unlike surveys or lab tests, diary studies surfaced real-time, emotional, and contextual behaviors impossible to replicate elsewhere.
EXECUTION & LEADERSHIP
High Value Human-Centered Solutions
During this project, I focused on leading people and aligning teams in shared set of knowledge and opportunities.
I hosted weekly watch parties with cross-functional partners. This was an effective way to visualize what matters most to our customers (jobs, gains, pains).
The outputs of the workshop resulted in helping our team design better AI-powered study solutions grounded on real user expectations.
In April, I did a roadshow to share more broadly across the organization teams on how students prefer to use AI Tools & resources to study.
Based on the student diary studies, the Marketing Team documented what made them think, challenges their assumptions, or changed their perspective on our students. The cross-pollination of insights led to new marketing initiatives.
Cross-pod alignment: Facilitated 4 watch party workshops across 3 pods (Chat + AI, Course Experience, Docs), creating a shared lens on student exam prep behaviors.
Mentorship: Guided designers and researchers to be workshop co-facilitators, increasing participant engagement, and honing in on longitudinal synthesis techniques.
Strategic facilitation: Turned raw diary vlogs into actionable insights by hosting collaborative synthesis sessions (Customer Value Canvas, unmet needs mapping).
Influence: Challenged existing assumptions (e.g., that students would use “chat with docs” for exam prep) and steered leadership toward evidence-based priorities.
Co-Design: Stretching the Team’s imagination with Student’s Ideal AI Test Prep Tool
KEY INSIGHTS
🍎 Current AI gaps create friction
Students distrusted AI flashcards for inaccuracy, feared plagiarism, and were frustrated with device interconnectivity during exam prep (iPad/laptop/mobile)
How might we integrate student semester journey needs better by addressing student motivation, habits & tool use?
✍️ Exam format dictates Study Tool choice
Students rely on Quizlet for multiple-choice prep, ChatGPT for open-ended essay support, and hybrid workflows for concept mastery
How might we design a study experience specifically tailored to preparing for different exam formats?
🎯 Importance of Concept Mastery
When students are juggling full 5 course loads, they spend their time wisely focusing on the weakest link. This is a repeat habit and study strategy.
How might we help students build confidence tackling their weakest subjects to gain concept mastery?
☺️ Motivation and memory is emotional
Students use AI study tools to create emotionally-salient memory tricks to make challenging topics stick
How might we make an AI study tool for exam prep the most fun part of studying for students?
IMPACT & OUTCOMES
The project delivered tangible results for product direction and organizational learning
Shaped product roadmap: Findings directly informed two Q2 design sprints (AI Chat Experience + Course Experience).
Defined opportunity areas: Identified 3 high-value areas—fact-checked flashcards, adaptive practice tests, and gamified/social study tools—that now guide product innovation.
Shifted organizational perspective: Marketing and product teams reframed their understanding of student motivations, moving beyond solving for short-term transactional jobs to long-term semester needs by focusing on confidence, fun, and mastery.
Institutionalized methods: Established a repeatable diary study framework used in 2 follow-up research studies now used for future AI and STEM-focused research at Course Hero.