Rethinking how students revise

In 2024, Students struggled when revising for exams due to inefficient tools on the Allen app. To address this disconnect, we introduced interactive Flashcards and Revision Notes, built on spaced repetition, active recall, and microlearning. As a lead designer, I led this project with cross-functional stakeholders to create these tools through deep research.

46%

Notes weekly retention

40%

Flashcard weekly retention

Decide your reading time

Whether you want a quick glance or detailed understanding, you decide.

5 min

15 min

25 min

Understanding the problem

Most NEET and JEE aspirants face frequent exam cycles, constantly learning new content but struggling with long-term retention. Without evidence-based revision, they often forget and fall behind.

What’s behind this pain?

RETENTION

NO OF DAYS

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist, identified the forgetting curve : a memory model that illustrates how information disappears from memory at an exponential rate without active retention strategies.

50%

is forgotten in 24 hours

90%

is forgotten in 1 week

How to beat the forgetting curve?

1

Intervals of 24 hours, 3 days, and 7 days have been scientifically proven to help students retain up to 85% more information

2

Even brief, low-effort recall boosts retention without full re-reading. Interactive, spaced, and active revision methods are most effective.

3

Microlearning in form of short, digestible content chunks focusing on most important information is very helpful for retention & recall.

CORE INSIGHT

There seems to be a fundamental gap between proven retention science and available educational tools. This became the primary problem this project tried to solve

Understanding the market

Before deciding what to build in order to bridge this gap, we studied what tools and techniques are available to students, in order to find the right opportunities.

CORE INSIGHT

Indian edtech platforms rely on static PDFs and lack research-driven revision methods, while global apps use advanced techniques like spaced repetition but fail to align with Indian syllabi and exam contexts.

This leaves a gap for smart tools that combine scientific retention strategies with local curriculum needs.

Understanding how students revise

Major pain points students face

Fragmented sources & no centralised source of truth

Feeling Overwhelmend by Voulme of content

Lack of Active-Recall or Interactive Tools or Formats

Poor planning and inconsistent revision habits

No Quick way to track and improve weak areas

There are 2 broad types of revision

On the fly revision

Irregular, Short, Not Stressful

Market gap

While flashcards align perfectly with this use case, existing products lack quality and Indian syllabus alignment. There is no proper flashcard tool that is credible, interactive and suited for Indian context.

Targeted revision

Detailed & Methodical

Market gap

Resources are fragmented across multiple platforms, difficult to locate, and suffer from quality and credibility concerns. No single source provides comprehensive capabilities & is built for Indian context.

CORE INSIGHT

Students rely on a mix of notes, flashcards, videos, and digital tools for revision, but face fragmented sources, lack of interactivity, and poor tracking of weak areas.

Their two main revision styles—on-the-fly and targeted—both suffer from gaps in quality, alignment, and integration, creating inefficiencies and stress.

Final problem statements

On the fly revision

Create a flashcard experience delivering high-retention revision through active recall and spaced repetition, with actionable insights for progress tracking

Targeted revision

Create an interactive notes experience enabling students to quickly understand, revise, and practice in a single, distraction-free environment to boost focus

The multi-part solution

Launched in Oct 24

Launched in Feb 25

Flashcards

On the fly revision with spaced repetetion & active recall with timely triggers.

Revision Notes

Targeted revision with interactive elements, chunked content & mircolearning

Solution #1

Flashcards

On the fly revision with spaced repetetion & active recall with timely triggers.

Driving retention through science

Remember about the forgetting curve and problem faced by Aditi? We solved for it using smart nudges to drive retention at the most relevent touchpoints.

RETENTION

NO. OF DAYS

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

1st Nudge

2nd Nudge

3rd Nudge

We designed an end-to-end trigger system using push notifications. This system provides clear, actionable guidance on what to study and when, maximizing recall at optimal touchpoints.

Our Flashcards

Play

Bold yet non-intrusive introduction, calling out the most important USPs

Simple interactions, teaching users by getting them to perform the same

Deck of 20 cards at a time, with short & crisp content focused on quick recall

Smart insights after each deck for that added encouragement and motivation

Multiple question format supported like video, diagram, true/false and more

Detailed insights at subtopic level after every session, so you know where to increase focus

Access all "Still Learning" flashcards again at a single place, anytime

Get smart triggers to beat the forgetting curve, by revising at the right time

Impact generated

40%

Average Weekly Retention

46k

Avg. Monthly Active Users

32

Avg. Cards reviewed daily

4.6

Average CSAT score

With 135k users in Sep 24- Mar 25, flashcards has been used more than all pdf content on the app combined together which is mostly workbooks and question banks, which stands at 127k for Apr 25 - Mar 25.

Solution #2

Revision Notes

Targeted revision with micro content enriched with multimedia and interactive features

Our core USPs

Crisp yet detailed

Provide complete coverage while maintaining efficient, scannable format

Static + Interactive

Balance traditional reading with engaging interactive components

Personalisation

Enable customisation that reflects individual learning preferences.

Our Revision notes

Play

Bold yet non-intrusive introduction, calling out the most important USPs

In-App links to expand and understand difficult terms

Diagrams in 2D & 3D to aid revision as well as understanding

Various types of content support like Formulas, Simulations & More

Common mistakes and example questions to ensure knowledge application is flawless

Practice with Flashcards or Solve questions after every subtopic

Quickly switch to other subtopics or your highlights

Highlights any content, dividing the bridge between physical and digital notes

View all your highlights at once, for that quick last minute revision

Impact generated

46%

Average Weekly Retention

36k

Average Monthly Active Users

4.5

Average CSAT score

58 min

Average Session duration

With ~60k users in 3 months of launch, Revision Notes has been used more than all video content on the app combined together for the whole year, which was ~43k. Revision Notes was used by over 70% of all students who consumed any content on the platform.

Were we successful?

The most meaningful measure of success emerged through direct student feedback. Messages from users confirmed that the product delivered genuine educational value: