Case Study — Ed-Tech

ODL App

An AR-powered academic platform that lets dental students simulate drilling, preparation, and restoration on different tooth types — practicing anytime, without waiting for lab access or paying for materials.

RoleUI/UX Designer

Timeline2018

Team3 collaborators — product & engineering

ToolsAdobe XD, Illustrator, Photoshop, Slack, Jira

Universities have approved it

MENA countries have adopted it

-0%

Reduction in practicing material costs

+0%

Increase in student grades

Overview

Practice shouldn't require a crowded lab

The ODL app is an academic learning platform for dental students to practice and revise lab procedures. Using augmented reality, it lets students simulate drilling, preparation, and restoration techniques on different tooth types — anytime, without the cost of physical materials.

Discover

Understand the people and the problem before designing anything.

Define

Turn raw findings into a persona and a testable hypothesis.

Ideate

Explore directions with HMWs and mobile-first flows.

Design

Build the flows, system, and AR interactions.

Validate

Test with real students, measure, and iterate.

Problems we solved

Overcrowded labs

Large numbers of students during practical sessions limited individual hands-on practice and teacher feedback.

High material costs

Repeated practice on physical teeth models and tools was expensive and unsustainable for many students.

Limited accessibility

Students struggled to practice outside the lab, with no reliable way to revise or simulate procedures anytime, anywhere.

Static resources

Traditional resources were static and text-heavy, failing to motivate students or replicate real-life technique.

Goals

Goal 1

Accessible anytime

Enable students to practice and revise lab procedures anytime, anywhere through AR simulations.

Goal 2

Reduce costs

Minimize reliance on expensive physical materials with a sustainable digital alternative.

Goal 3

Improve learning quality

Interactive, step-by-step guides that replicate real-life procedures and tool usage.

Goal 4

Motivate students

Engaging, immersive experiences that make dental education interactive and confidence-building.

Discover

A broad survey to size the problem, backed by in-depth interviews to understand what students actually did when the lab wasn't available.

Survey

50+ dentistry students

76% response rate — study behaviors, device usage, and lab-prep pain points.

Interviews

6 in-depth interviews

Students across different academic years, on lab manuals, resource access, and practical training.

72%

Accessibility gap

Study on mobile during breaks or commuting, yet nearly half rely on YouTube or peer-shared slides — no centralized, credible platform exists.

65%

Demand for visual learning

Preferred visual explanations — AR, video, diagrams — over text-heavy manuals; 58% wanted step-by-step guides with tool names.

81%

Need for motivation

Preferred short, focused 15–30 minute sessions. Students felt anxious before crowded labs, more confident with structured tools.

I spend too much time flipping through my lab manual to find the right technique, it's overwhelming.Marina, 20 — 2nd-year Dentistry Student

The materials are expensive, so I can't afford to practice as much as I'd like.Samah, 21 — 2nd-year Dentistry Student

Interview and survey highlights — Interview & survey highlights

Define

Marina, a second-year student juggling crowded labs and expensive materials, became the anchor persona for every design decision that followed.

Marina, 20

2nd-Year Dentistry Student

Needs

Visual, step-by-step guidance she can revisit anytime
Practice outside overcrowded lab sessions
Confidence before evaluations

Frustrations

Manuals are text-heavy and hard to navigate under time pressure
Expensive materials limit how often she can practice
Barely gets a turn to practice hands-on in crowded labs

"I learn better with visuals — step-by-step guides and clear tool instructions help me feel prepared." — Omar, 20, 2nd-year Dentistry Student

Problem Statement

Dental students lack an engaging, cost-effective, and accessible way to practice operative dentistry lab procedures — overcrowded labs, expensive materials, and static resources leave them underprepared and demotivated.

Hypothesis

If students have access to AR-based simulations and interactive, step-by-step guides, they will gain deeper understanding, retain techniques more effectively, and feel less dependent on crowded labs.

Ideate

Mobile-first from the start — HMWs framed the AR experience as something a student could reach for in a corridor between classes, not just at a desk.

HMWProvide AR simulations that replicate real lab procedures, anytime, anywhere?
HMWReduce dependency on expensive materials while keeping practice realistic?
HMWDesign step-by-step visual guides that simplify complex procedures?
HMWMake the experience motivating enough that students feel confident before lab sessions?
HMWCreate a centralized, mobile-first platform integrating tutorials, simulations, and progress tracking?

Value proposition

Students — AR simulations anytime, anywhere Students — cost-effective alternative to materials Students — build confidence & track progress Instructors — a centralized, structured tool Instructors — monitor readiness & performance Institutions — scalable, affordable training Institutions — a technology-driven reputation

Design

Low- to high-fidelity prototypes in Figma integrating AR elements for tooth drilling and preparation, plus a design system built for educational clarity.

01 · Human-Centered Discovery

72% wanted AR outside the lab

Surveys and interviews with 50+ students and professors surfaced overcrowded labs, high material costs, and lack of independent practice; 65% were concerned about consumable costs.

02 · Insight-to-Concept

Accessible anytime, anywhere

Synthesized findings into personas and journey maps, then designed AR-based interactive flows that replicate drilling and preparation in a controlled, repeatable way.

03 · Prototype & Validate

+30% confidence, −25% errors

Tested low- and high-fidelity AR prototypes with 20 students across 3 usability rounds, improving clarity, navigation, and feedback after each cycle.

04 · Engagement

+40% practiced outside class

Gamified scoring, progress dashboards, and motivational features sustained engagement and improved learning outcomes.

Challenge

Not all student devices supported AR.

How we solved it

Designed a hybrid model with both AR and 3D simulation modes, so non-AR devices could still access interactive practice.

What we learned

Device-agnostic, flexible solutions ensure broader adoption and inclusivity in academic environments.

Challenge

Medical terminology varied between universities.

How we solved it

Built a terminology mapping system with customizable labels and a glossary, adaptable to different curricula.

What we learned

Standardization matters, but local flexibility is what earns trust and adoption in academic settings.

Validate

Usability testing across three iteration cycles, plus A/B tests on the elements that mattered most to first-time confidence: the start screen, tool menu, and feedback style.

Start screen completion (single CTA)

+26%

Tool-menu selection errors

−28%

Reported motivation (numeric feedback)

+22%

Reported confidence

+30%

Error rate on virtual tasks

−25%

AR load time on mid-range devices

6.2s→2.8s

Cycle 1

Adjusted navigation labels to clarify experiments vs. tools.

Cycle 2

Refined UI with larger icons, consistent tool color-coding, simplified overlays.

Cycle 3

Performance optimization — AR load time cut from 6.2s to 2.8s pre-launch.

Reflection

What this project reinforced

Building flexible, device-agnostic solutions — rather than assuming everyone has the latest hardware — is what makes academic technology actually adopted, not just piloted. And standardizing content while leaving room for local flexibility is what earns trust across institutions with different curricula.