Design Innovation Strategies

In the Design Innovation Strategies course, I collaborated with an amazing team to create SecretAIry—an AI-powered plug-in for learning management systems like Canvas. This tool aims to reduce student stress by automating the organization of meeting notes, tasks, and schedules. With 70% of students willing to test the product, SecretAIry shows strong potential for improving educational efficiency.

Key Insights:

• We focused on simplifying student workflows by developing a user-friendly, AI-driven system to organize academic information.
• The concept was validated through surveys and interviews with educators and students, revealing a clear demand for more efficient academic tools.
• SecretAIry represents a business-to-business-to-consumer model, with universities as key customers, making it easier for students to focus on what really matters—learning.

Personal Learnings: This course supported my learnings about the importance of early hypothesis validation, ensuring that intuition and scientific thinking work hand-in-hand. By facing the challenges of applying Lean Start-Up principles, I’ve gained valuable experience in entrepreneurship and learned to balance Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability from the early stages of product development.

Moreover, the hands-on validation of hypotheses through real-world testing has improved my ability to translate imaginative ideas into feasible solutions. I’ve also deepened my understanding of start-up creation, resource optimization, and strategy development, which will be invaluable for future projects.