AI-powered tools that let teachers teach.

The product

Bridging the education gap with AI

As an AI-driven educational platform, Paraillel streamlines classroom management, automates tedious tasks and personalizes learning, so teachers can focus on teaching and students stay engaged.

Paraillel’s goal: accessible, scalable and intelligent educational tools that support both educators and students, whatever their school’s resources.

I designed three core tools, the Dashboard, Calendar and Assignments, plus the Design System, with a focus on classroom efficiency and student engagement. Accessibility and personalized learning came first, so I followed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 to create an inclusive experience for educators and students with diverse abilities.

The problem

A strained education system

What we heard

• Lack of resources – in underserved districts.
• Time-consuming admin tasks.
• Limited engagement – and personalized learning for students.
• Fragmented, inaccessible technology.

The solution

A bridge to better education

Give teachers in underserved districts intuitive, AI-driven classroom tools that streamline admin, personalize learning and make the classroom accessible to every student.

As Lead Product Designer and researcher, I designed AI-powered classroom tools that addressed critical pain points, empowering educators, engaging students and improving education for underserved communities in Detroit.

Project overview

Design process

I followed a structured, research-driven process that kept users at the center while aligning with business goals.

Empathize

Understanding the users

To build tools that served teachers and students, I started with the challenges they faced: interviews with educators and surveys with students to find pain points, plus close work with administrators and AI specialists to keep the design aligned with Paraillel’s mission.

User interviews

Exploratory, qualitative research with teachers and students about their day-to-day needs and frustrations with existing tools.

Study type

Generative (exploratory)

Location

Detroit · Remote

Participants

15 teachers & students

Length

30 minutes each

Key insights

• Simple to navigate. Teachers needed tools that were easy to use but handled complex classroom tasks: student tracking, task management and engagement.
• Personalized learning. Students needed an experience that adjusts to their pace and performance.
• Accessibility gaps. Educators and students both struggled with interfaces lacking proper color contrast, readable fonts and keyboard navigation.

Empathy maps

Built from the interviews, to understand each user’s behavior, attitude, goals and challenges.

Define

Clarifying the problems

Research pointed to two personas that guided our design decisions:

• Educator persona – teachers with varying tech skills who need an intuitive way to manage classroom tasks, track performance and engage students with personalized content.
• Student persona – students who need interactive, personalized learning tools that adapt to their progress and give feedback.

Journey map

How teachers and students move through Paraillel, from awareness to long-term use, with the touchpoints, emotions, pain points and opportunities at each stage.

Ideate

Developing solutions

Brainstorming sessions turned the pain points into concepts:

• Customizable dashboards – for managing student data, tasks and classroom activities in one place.
• Interactive calendar – for organizing assignments, deadlines and events, with color-coded categories and reminders.
• Personalized learning tools – that use AI to recommend resources and assignments based on each student’s performance and preferences.

Information architecture

I structured Paraillel into a clear sitemap and mapped the user flows, so teachers and students could quickly reach the AI-powered dashboard, the calendar and the learning tools.

Applying UX laws

Design

From sketch to prototype

I sketched solutions on paper first, then built high-fidelity, interactive prototypes in Figma that met WCAG 2.2, so the platform would work for students with disabilities.

Paper wireframes

Hand-drawn sketches of the key features:

• A dynamic dashboard – for tracking students and simplifying lesson planning.
• An interactive calendar – to help students stay organized and teachers plan.
• Accessible UI elements – with clear navigation and inclusive design.

The sketches sparked conversations: teachers and students shared insights that shaped each feature before it went digital. Testing fast and iterating early kept real needs in mind from the start.

Low-fidelity wireframes

Quick wireframes of the dashboard and calendar mapped the core features and allowed rapid iteration before high fidelity.

Design

Usability testing

We ran a usability study to see whether the Dashboard, Calendar and design system were easy for teachers and students to use: how well they completed tasks and how they engaged with the AI features.

Method

Unmoderated usability study

Location

Remote

Participants

12

Length

30 minutes each

Key findings

Design

High-fidelity design

I turned the sketches into high-fidelity prototypes, refining every detail for a seamless, inclusive experience. They let educators and students experience Paraillel before it launched.

Tap an image to see it full size.

Design

Design system

The Paraillel design system brought consistency, scalability and accessibility to every AI-powered classroom tool. Standard components that follow WCAG 2.2 made the experience inclusive, sped up development and kept the platform visually cohesive.

Reflect

Takeaways

Designing for underserved school districts reinforced the importance of accessibility, scalability and user-centered solutions.

AI-powered tools streamlined admin for educators and personalized learning for students, making education more efficient and engaging. The project showed the value of continuous research, iterative design and stakeholder collaboration in building meaningful products.

Reflect

Results & next steps

The project supported Paraillel’s business goals by reducing teacher admin workload by 30%, boosting student engagement and increasing daily use across classrooms.

Next, continued feedback from teachers and students will shape the dashboard as classroom needs evolve:

• Usability testing & iteration – with educators and students.
• Better AI personalization – from real classroom data.
• LMS integration – with existing school systems.
• Refined teacher & student dashboards – for more intuitive insights.
• Scaling accessibility – for diverse learning needs.

My work laid the foundation for a scalable, user-centered product that empowers educators and improves learning in underserved communities.