Projects using Notion in IslamabadProjects using Notion in IslamabadEduCore, Education App Design
EduCore is an education app designed to give students a simpler and more organized way to learn, manage their courses, and keep track of their progress.
The Challenge
The existing learning experience had a lot of information competing for attention. Students had to move through different sections to find courses, lessons, progress, and other important resources.
The main challenge was to make the experience feel simple without removing the features students actually needed.
My Approach
I started by looking at the overall user journey and identifying where the experience could be simplified. I focused on understanding what students need most when they open the app and how quickly they can get to their learning content.
From there, I worked on the information structure, user flows, navigation, and overall interface.
The Solution
I redesigned the experience around the student's main goals.
The navigation was simplified so important sections were easier to access. Content was organized into clear sections, making courses and lessons easier to discover. I also created a cleaner visual system to make the interface easier to scan and understand.
The UI was designed to feel modern and engaging while still keeping the focus on learning.
Product Design
I worked across the complete product experience, including:
• User flows
• Information architecture
• Navigation
• Wireframes
• UI design
• Course and lesson experience
• Progress tracking
• Visual design system
• Responsive screen design
• Interactive prototypes
The Result
The final experience is cleaner, easier to navigate, and more focused on the student's actual needs.
Instead of making students figure out where to go next, the product guides them naturally through their learning journey.
For me, the goal was not just to make the app look better. It was to make the product easier to understand and more enjoyable to use. 📐 BRAND STRATEGY — CASE STUDY
⚙️ Koia Objects: Making the Photography Match the Positioning
Goal: Closing the gap between what Koia Objects makes and how it is seen — using photography as the proving ground for the brand's design logic. 📸✨
1. 🎯 The Brief
Koia Objects is a Swedish stainless steel tableware and serving brand, two years in, with a design sensibility that sits deliberately between two traditions:
🏛️ Bauhaus Rationalism (Mies van der Rohe): Form follows function & industrial precision.
🌿 Nordic Warmth (Alvar Aalto): Human-centric design that keeps precision warm rather than cold.
💰 The Positioning: Accessible Premium — not luxury, not budget, but a fair price for genuine material quality and craftsmanship.
⚡ The Challenge: This positioning has to be felt, not stated. It must be built into every decision the brand makes, starting with how the product is photographed.
2. 🔍 The Diagnosis
Most young premium tableware brands drift into one of two failure modes:
🚫 The Catalog Trap (Current State): Flat white backgrounds, even front-on lighting, centered objects. It looks like a cheap e-commerce listing and flattens the way light moves across brushed steel.
🚫 The Overcorrection (To Avoid): Dark moody backdrops, heavy gold rim-lighting, and fake luxury marble. It looks like an imitation of luxury watch ads and ignores both Bauhaus and Nordic roots.
💡 The Fix: Build a third direction grounded in Koia’s true design lineage rather than borrowed conventions.
3. ⚖️ The Design Logic
Translating "Bauhaus Rationalism + Nordic Warmth" into 5 concrete photographic principles:
🏷️ Principle🖼️, What It Means in a Photograph🛠️ Function, Visible Show the object doing its job (pouring, serving, being held). Function is the whole premise.✨ Material Honesty Real ,directional light on real steel. Let reflections show weight and precision without over-retouching.🪵 Restraint in Styling Few, purposeful props (raw wood, linen, stone). Nothing on set unless it earns its place.☀️ Warm Directional Light .Soft daylight or a single warm key light instead of flat, cold studio flashes.🏡 Grounded Negative Space, Generous breathing room on a real surface (table, hand, counter) — never a void.
4. 🎬 The Direction, Made Concrete
📋 Shot List
🖼️ Hero Shot: The object alone on a real surface (oiled wood, honed stone) with soft single-direction daylight.
💧 In-Use Shot: The object mid-function (pouring water, serving food, lifted by a hand).
🔍 Material Macro: A tight crop on an edge, weld line, or brushed surface to prove craftsmanship.
🍽️ Grounded Flat Lay: The product with 2–3 purposeful props (linen, raw ceramic, cut citrus) and generous breathing room.
5. 🔄 Before / After — Case Study
🏺 Object: Stainless Steel Serving Pitcher
❌ BEFORE (Catalog Default): Shot dead-on against a white seamless background with flat lighting. The steel looks flat, generic, and cheap.
✅ AFTER (Koia Direction): Shot at a slight angle on an oiled walnut counter, lit by soft side daylight. Highlights catch the spout, shadows add depth, and water is captured mid-pour into a glass.
🌟 Why It Works: Highlights prove the metalwork quality, the pour proves function, and the warm wood adds Nordic cozy vibes without clutter!
6. 📈 Why This Matters Commercially
🏷️ Shifts Value Perception: Replaces price comparison with craftsmanship appreciation ("This is clearly better made").
📦 Scalable Framework: The 5 principles extend directly to packaging, website UI, and social content as the brand scales.
Prepared as an example project — Koia Objects Brand Strategy Engagement. 🚀 Developed a client-commissioned research report analyzing Kazakhstan's domestic political reforms, with a focus on governance, institutional change, and the country's evolving political environment. The project required rigorous secondary research, source verification, and the synthesis of complex political developments into a clear, evidence-based report. Working collaboratively with the client, I incorporated multiple rounds of revisions to refine the analysis and ensure the final deliverable aligned with their objectives. The completed report demonstrates my expertise in policy research, political analysis, and producing professional reports for clients seeking actionable, well-supported insights. 
