No forced leader
Let teams collaborate without appointing one person to manage everyone else.
(Group project · 2026)
Groupmate
An AI-powered university task planner that makes group work fairer—without making one student become the manager.
Product overview
From a group PIN to a fair, shared plan.
Students create a team, upload the assignment brief, review AI-generated tasks and track contribution without appointing one person as the manager.
(The premise)
No leader. No drama.
Just teamwork.
ChallengeUneven contribution, unclear ownership and missed deadlines
My roleResearch · product strategy · UX/UI design
OutcomeA shared workspace built around fairness and accountability
The problem
Group projects create invisible pressure.
Students are often placed with people they barely know, then expected to organise themselves immediately. Without clear ownership, tasks get duplicated, deadlines slip and the most responsible person quietly carries the team.
“Group assessments were the only bad memories I have of uni. I end up doing most of the work.”
ConfusionUnfairnessCommunication gapsFree ridersMissed deadlinesConflict
Design goals
Replace social tension with a system everyone can trust.
Fair by design
Make task distribution transparent, balanced and based on each member’s strengths.
Progress everyone can see
Show task ownership, completion and contribution without awkward confrontation.
The solution
From project brief to shared momentum.
Groupmate turns a messy assignment into a visible plan: the team creates a space, uploads the brief, reviews AI-suggested tasks and follows progress together.
- 01Host creates a group
A new shared space generates a unique team PIN.
- 02Members join
Classmates enter the PIN without a complicated sign-up.
- 03Tasks are assigned fairly
The team reviews work generated from the brief and distributes it together.
- 04Progress stays visible
Named tasks and completion records keep responsibility clear.
Core experience
Four features, one calmer workflow.
Multi-project management
Keep every assignment and presentation in one shared group space.
AI task generation
Turn a project brief into clear tasks, subtasks and realistic deadlines.
Personal task portal
Give each member a focused view of exactly what they own.
Swipe-to-complete
Make progress lightweight to update and instantly visible to the team.
What makes it different
No one has to be the “bad guy.”
Instead of one person assigning tasks, members share how confident they feel across six areas.
Research
Ideas
Planning
Writing
Analysis
Presenting
Groupmate can then match people to work that suits their confidence while keeping the overall contribution balanced and transparent.
Design progress
Four iterations that made the product more focused.
The interface changed whenever a feature added friction, hid responsibility or distracted from collaboration.
Exploring the feature set
Paper sketches tested group spaces, project cards, task lists and lightweight progress controls before the product scope was narrowed.
Finding the collaboration model
Mapping exercises compared personal projects, shared groups and project ownership, revealing where the original structure felt too broad.
Making ownership visible
The task list moved from a simple remaining-work view to named assignments, clearer status and individual completion records.
Letting the team form first
A long project setup was replaced by a quick group-name step and shareable PIN, matching how student teams actually begin.
Answering what needs attention
The dashboard gained active tasks, project status and clearer group shortcuts so the next action was visible without extra navigation.
Personal projects were removed.
Started withProjects and Groups lived in separate tabs so people could also manage solo assignments.
What I learnedPersonal task management diluted the value and made Groupmate feel like another general planner.
What changedI merged the structure and kept every feature focused on shared academic work.
The team now starts before the project.
Started withStudents had to enter complete project details before they could create a group.
What I learnedTeams are often formed before the assignment scope is discussed, so the flow felt premature.
What changedA group-name pop-up and auto-generated PIN make early collaboration faster and more natural.
A percentage was not enough.
Started withThe task screen showed work remaining and one overall progress percentage.
What I learnedStudents could not easily see who completed what, leaving responsibility unclear.
What changedIndividual check-offs, completed-task history and named ownership make progress transparent.
The dashboard learned to answer “what next?”
Started withBasic cards showed projects and groups with little status information or quick action.
What I learnedUsers still needed extra navigation to understand deadlines, workload and group activity.
What changedTask counts, due times, member totals and a create-group shortcut now surface decisions at a glance.
Reflection
Fairness should feel built in—not negotiated after things go wrong.
Groupmate shows how thoughtful interaction design can reshape everyday academic collaboration. By making contribution visible and responsibility shared, the experience turns group work from a source of tension into a clearer, more accountable system.
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