Over the course of this project, we covered a lot ranging from market research, competitor analysis, user interviews, risk assessment, and a full pitch deck. But looking back, what most surprises me is how aligned we eventually were in our product direction and the evidence behind this decision.
I’m proud of how thorough our research ended up being and how much it evolved through our user interviews. We learned a lot about our different users and how limited university students’ options are when it comes to real conversational practice. That insight shaped a lot of our decisions later on and helped us move from something abstract to something that felt actually needed. It also made us realize that even though there are hundreds of language apps out there, very few genuinely focus on speaking confidence or interaction within an academic setting, which became one of the strongest angles for our final proposal.
Another thing I found really valuable was how our conversations with mentors helped us think differently about research ranging from not just what questions to ask, but how to approach interviews in the first place. Understanding whether to go top-down or bottom-up completely changed how we thought about user discovery and how we might market and position the product later on. It gave us a more realistic view of how different stakeholders think and how that impacts adoption.
Overall, what I took from the project was how much depth you can get from just listening carefully and asking the right questions. The final product felt like a reflection of that process which was built on insight rather than assumption, and shaped by curiosity about the people we were designing for.
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