Project: 0→1 Product
Role: Project Manager → Product Designer
Skills: Multi-User Systems, Product Design, Prototyping
Tools: Figma, Notion
Led 5 designers through 0→1 MVP for a multi-user SAT academy platform, then solved complex UX problems solo as a contractor. Taught me how to design systems, manage ambiguity, and prioritize.
The Challenge
SAT academies in Korea manage 50-200+ students across dozens of classes using Google Sheets and manual processes. Teachers spend 8-10 hours per week on administrative tasks (attendance tracking, parent billing, schedule coordination) that pull them away from teaching.
Fragmented information creates errors: scheduling conflicts, duplicate data entry, lost student progress. Möbius aimed to centralize everything - diagnostics, scheduling, and roster management - into one platform for students, teachers, and admins.
The complexity: Three user types with overlapping but distinct needs. One system that has to serve everyone.
My Role
Phase 1: Project Manager (leading 5 designers)
Led a semester-long design contract to build the MVP. I personally designed core pages (dashboard, student progress tracking, assignment management) while coordinating the full team across competitive research, wireframing, and design system creation.
Delivered: Functional prototype of all core features: home, scheduling calendar, student progress tracking, assignment management, testing interface.
Phase 2: Solo Product Designer
The client brought me back independently to redesign the MVP with better visual polish and clearer information architecture. I focused on solving two specific UX problems that emerged from user feedback.
Two Solutions
Mode Switching for Teachers
Problem: Teachers don't just teach - they also schedule, message, manage rosters, and track finances. Without clear separation, the original interface became cluttered and required a high cognitive load.
The solution: A toggle that switches between two interfaces:
Academic View: Lesson planning, student progress, diagnostics
Operations View: Schedules, logistics, finances, rosters
Each mode has its own navigation and color scheme. The switch is fast, satisfying, and keeps teachers focused on one task set at a time.
Impact: Distinct interfaces for distinct mental modes: reduced clutter, clearer workflows, less context-switching fatigue confusion.
Smart Roster Selection
The problem: Managing student schedules requires understanding relational data: which classes a student is in, when they meet, which students overlap. Traditionally, this requires toggling between multiple pages and manually cross-referencing.
The solution: A compact, interactive roster view that shows both students and their schedules in one place.
Each student row includes:
Enrolled classes (as clickable tags)
Weekly schedule (visual timeline)
Clicking a class tag filters to show when that student has that class. Selecting multiple tags reveals schedule overlaps across classes.
Impact: Eliminates manual cross-referencing, reduces cognitive load, enables quick comparisons without leaving the page.
What I learned
Complex systems need ongoing teams, not solo designers
The biggest challenge was the sheer scope of the project, not any single design problem. Möbius involved three user types, dozens of flows, and interconnected data. In Phase 1, having a team meant we could move fast. In Phase 2, working solo taught me the limits of what one designer can handle in a complex system.
If I were to start over: I'd get clarity early on which features serve which users. We built a lot before realizing teachers needed two distinct modes, which should have been a core system rather than a redesign.
Ambiguity as part of 0→1 work
Möbius didn't fully launch - priorities shifted after my contribution. That's how early-stage products can go, but the experience gave me valuable lessons: how to design under uncertainty, manage stakeholder expectations, and deliver value even when the full vision doesn't materialize.
I'm carrying forward the ability to scope well, prioritize, and solve specific problems meaningfully even if the bigger picture is still forming.