AI assistive tool for educators
My Role
UX Design, User research, Design Synthesis, Prototyping
Team
Timeline
5 Weeks
Tools
Figma
Context
KAI.AI is an AI-assistive tool that helps educators generate lesson plans and classroom materials via a chatbot. I led the design of the Calendar & Scheduling Ecosystem, moving the product from an initial concept to a refined, conversational planning interface.
Sneak Peak
Problem
A Disconnected Experience
The first version of the system treated reminders and calendar events as the same thing. Whenever teachers asked KAI to “remind” them of something, it became an event placed onto the calendar. This created several issues.
Confusing reminders with calendar events.
A reminder to “Create Worksheet” appeared visually identical to a real calendar event such as an “Exam,” making it difficult for educators to quickly understand what required preparation versus what was scheduled to happen at a specific time.
Completing a reminder required multiple steps
Teachers had to open the calendar → find the reminder → manually mark it done. This felt like “busywork” and made the assistant feel less helpful.
The calendar existed separately from the chat.
Teachers had to bounce between views to add or modify events, rendering the AI's assistance less helpful
Research
I managed to reconnect with educators that the team had previously interviewed for the initial design. This follow-up conversation helped confirm the issues I identified in the earlier reminders-based system:
“A reminder is just something small I want to remember. It shouldn’t live on the calendar like a scheduled time block”
“If the AI helps me create materials, why can’t it help with scheduling?”
“I would want to be able to manually edit my calendar too and would rather use AI as an assistive tool.”
Redesign Approach
Transform a reminders-centric system into a calendar-first, AI-supported planning experience
I shifted the product from a reminders-centric system to a calendar-first planning experience by removing reminders entirely and establishing the calendar as the single source of truth. I then integrated AI chat directly into the calendar, allowing educators to create and edit events conversationally while retaining full manual control. This approach reduced complexity and better aligned the experience with how educators naturally plan their schedules.
Design Solutions
Removed the reminders system entirely
Removed the reminders system to reduce confusion. This made the calendar easier to scan and removed the extra workflow of marking reminder events as completed.
Added an AI chat panel directly to the calendar screen
To support conversational planning, I integrated the chat alongside the calendar instead of treating it as a separate feature.
User Control
To support users’ need for control, the system allows educators to manually create and edit calendar events at any time. The AI chat also complements this by enabling users to initiate changes through natural language prompts, giving them flexibility to plan either visually or conversationally.
Enabled AI-generated actions inside the chat
When KAI suggests or creates something, teachers can tap “Add to calendar” directly from the chat bubble. This creates a two-way interaction between the calendar and the AI.
Overall UI Updates
The original interface was functional but visually dense, making it hard for educators to understand their schedule at a glance. In the redesign, I focused on creating a calmer, more structured UI. With a more refined layout, improved typography, and consistent components, the calendar felt organized and predictable. These updates made the system more visually balanced and better aligned with the simplicity teachers expect from a planning tool.
KAI.AI Calendar Showcase
Reflection
Lessons Learned from Revisiting an Assumption
Redesigning KAI.AI’s calendar system taught me the importance of aligning product behavior with users’ mental models rather than inherited design assumptions. By revisiting the project and reconnecting with an educator, I realized that the original design’s decision to treat reminders as calendar events conflicted with how teachers actually plan their schedules. This mismatch created unnecessary friction and complexity. Questioning that early assumption led me to simplify the experience by removing reminders and refocusing the system around a clear, calendar-first model. The redesign better reflects real educator workflows and reinforced for me that meaningful UX improvements often come from removing features—not adding them.
What's Next?
Although KAI.AI has rebranded into Reality.AI and the company has moved on to different projects, the future of this project could be explored more through expanding AI actions. Actions such as AI calendar suggestions and generating weekly summaries would deepen the value of the AI beyond simple commands.
Thank you for reading!
