Knowmedge

Online learning platform for medical students.

Project

SaaS Web App, Mobile App,
Marketing Website, Branding

Role

Co-Founder, Strategy, UI/UX Design

Brief

Medical students have a plethora of responsibilities, and not enough time to study for the most important exam of their profession. What little time they have for studying must be spent optimally on methods which work for them. All of the existing learning tools simply replicate the test experience, which provides limited benefits.

Solution

As co-founders, we tackled this with the belief that the learning experience is and should be very different than the test-taking experience. Whereas our competitors saw their customers as test-takers, we saw them as students and our team sought to build a tool that was designed around the learning experience. It was made simple and fun to use, and usable on the go.

01

Learning Experience

Understanding that people have different preferences for their method of studying, we set ourselves apart from the competition by providing students with a variety of engagements to keep learning fresh and exciting.

Video & Twitter — A video-based curriculum took complex topics and distilled them into easy-to-understand fundamentals, while weekly medical quiz on Twitter and direct engagement with students answered and explained medical concepts.

Question Bank — The staple of exam practice is simply one of the many ways students can learn through Knowmedge.

02

On the Go

Flashcards, mnemonic features, and mobile apps allow students to study during their spare moments.

Flashcards & Mnemonics — While the question bank is available on mobile, we found that many medical students and professionals prefer to use mobile for quick learning, and question banks required too much time. The flashcards applied spaced learning concepts to efficiently reinforce the understanding of medical concept, while the mnemonics product helped students find easy ways to remember key concepts.

Mobile App — Between school and their medical jobs, a mobile app is a must-have, allowing medical students to study on the go.

03

Structured Learning

We believed in our product, and so did many medical program directors. We developed a platform for Residency Program Directors to take our content and apply it in their own residency programs. This allowed us to directly target institutions instead of individual customers.

Professor Portal — Through the Professor portal teachers can keep track of their students’s performance. They can hand out assignments to students, in group, or individually, and specific questions can be assigned to students to help strengthen their understanding of key concepts.

04

Branding & Marketing

We differentiated ourselves from every other online medical learning platform out there, and went with a playful doctor as our mascot, though we kept the logotype serious. This allowed us to project ourselves as a fun platform for serious medical students and professionals.

Mascot — Meet Stu, the hip (pun intended) doctor who saves lives and teaches students by the day, and hits the disco floor at night.

Logo — I explored using the usual educational motifs for a logomark, but ended up scrapping them all for the mascot Stu.

Marketing Website — Cleanliness was paramount, as were other staples such as clear CTAs, testimonials, and feature callouts.

05

Future Possibilities

Over time, we explored ideas of a brand refresh and adding a gamified version of the app. Gamification was all the buzz at the time, but ultimately this would require too much investment on our part, and everyone was burnt out at this point. It was a fun exploration though.

Hook 'em in — I wanted to hook potential customers by testing their knowledge right on the landing page. Medical students and professionals are some of the most competitive people, and the idea was that by the time they finished the handful of questions, they'll be too invested (and have had some fun!) to not sign up immediately for a free trial.

06

Reflections

Help co-found a startup from the ground up with a group of childhood friends? Why not. They knew next to nothing about the web or apps, and I knew nothing about the medical field, but the pull of working with old friends was strong, and so we embarked on the adventure together. The experience was exhilarating, painful, joyful, frustrating, and every other emotion one can imagine. If it can be felt, we experienced the feeling, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.