Yapari: AI-Powered Learning

AI Learning Concept Design Gamified UX

Spark of Curiosity

The journey began with an AI-powered script linking Notion and Anki for Japanese study. Beyond a simple bridge, it generated example sentences, organised materials, and turned scattered notes into a streamlined learning tool. The experiment revealed AI’s ability to accelerate learning and remove repetitive tasks. Inspired by Anki’s community-led content and Duolingo’s streak-driven culture, which hooked friends who once hated studying, the idea emerged: could AI create a gamified, adaptable platform where anyone could learn anything?

The Opportunity to Learn Anything

Research highlighted gaps in the edtech landscape. Duolingo excelled at gamification but was locked to predefined subjects. YouTube offered breadth without structured paths, and Anki enabled efficient learning but lacked accessibility for casual users. Supporting data showed over 70% of learners wanted gamified, short-session approaches for a wider range of topics, from SQL to Stoicism. Yapari aimed to combine adaptive AI, gamification, and community validation into one cohesive experience.

Project

Yapari (Self-initiated)

Timeline

Jun 2025 – Current

Role

Lead Designer & AI Explorer

Focus

Personalised learning experiences, AI integration and vision development

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Students globally already using AI tools regularly in their studies

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Learners wishing gamified short-session approaches could apply to wider topics

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Global AI in education market (USD) in 2025, up 46% from 2024

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Projected AI in education market (USD) by 2034

Shaping the Vision

The vision centred on three core requirements. First, Duolingo-style gamification to make learning habit-forming and engaging. Second, AI-powered course generation, giving users the ability to learn anything with content created on demand. Third, community-driven feedback to guide course quality, with popular courses receiving expert endorsement and real-time user input to adjust difficulty, specificity, and pacing. These principles guided early prototypes, ensuring the platform was adaptable, motivating, and trustworthy.

Ideas in Motion

Flows were developed using Figma Make, generating screens and iterating on outputs in near-real time. Five navigation pillars, Home, Learn, Explore, Community, Profile, balanced personalised learning with discovery and peer connection. AI-generated course outlines allowed learners to adjust difficulty, specificity, and duration, while streaks, XP, and daily quests kept engagement high. Leveraging AI tools across ideation and UI testing accelerated progress and informed real-time refinements.

Define

Outline requirements

Conduct gap analysis

Gather research insights

Ideate

Prompt refinement

Generate AI prototypes

Guided iteration

Refine

Build design foundations

Develop component library

Polish visual language

Test

AI user testing

Validate core flows

Iterate interactions

Systematic Refinement

With core flows established, the foundations of a design system brought cohesion. Influenced by Material Design 3 principles, a neutral and flexible aesthetic suitable for any subject began to take shape. Components such as cards, progress indicators, badges, and chips created a consistent grammar of interaction and were linked back to Figma Make to tighten the prototype. The visual language and modular components ensured the platform could scale as new topics, features, and experiments were added.

Testing & Next Steps

Lightweight tests were conducted using the AI user testing platform, Velocity. While future testing with more robust prototypes and human participants will be necessary, these sessions validated the core flows and identified opportunities to refine page structure, navigation, and interactions. The next steps involve embedding GPT into a functional prototype, evaluating course accuracy, and potentially assembling a small team to advance the concept toward a working app. Although still early-stage, Yapari already demonstrates how AI can unlock new possibilities for learning.

What I Learnt

Yapari reinforced the value of pairing ambitious ideas with structured validation. I learned to use AI as a creative partner, balance gamification with clarity, and embed trust into AI-generated content. It also highlighted how personal projects can push skill growth, inspire new thinking, and shape a vision capable of scaling into a real product.

AI Exploration

Ideation accelerated

Product Strategy

Vision solidified

Creative Ideation

Solutions surfaced

Learning Architecture

Foundation built

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