PM Discussion — Dec 2, 2025

QuranFlow PM Discussion - Student App Deep Dive

Date: December 2, 2025 Participants: Kamran (Auditor), Lejla (Product Manager) Context: Follow-up to initial usability audit, capturing PM perspective and undocumented features

Executive Summary

This discussion revealed critical context not captured in the initial audit. The primary problem facing QuranFlow is user disorientation - students struggle to understand where they are in the program, what they should be doing, and when things happen. This manifests across multiple features and is the core issue the redesign should solve.

Key Revelations

1. User Disorientation is the #1 Problem - Students email asking "when does semester start?" despite 5+ emails sent
2. Schedule Access is Broken - Hidden behind 5 clicks, currently using Google Calendar workaround
3. Recordings Section Exists (missed in audit) - Critical for students who miss live classes
4. Community Board Lacks Vision - Confusing purpose, confusing membership, broken functionality
5. No Direct TA Communication - Students have no in-app way to contact their TA
6. Accidental Submissions - Common issue, no undo/confirmation

Section 1: The Core Problem - User Disorientation

What We're Seeing

Students are confused about:

• When things happen - Semester start date, weekly schedule, live class times
• Where they are - Current week, current progress, what's completed
• What to do - Next steps, required vs optional activities
• How things work - App navigation, feature purposes

Evidence

"People would email you three weeks in saying, hey, when's the semester starting? And yes, I mean, we send out like, not one email, but like five emails saying semester starts on second of October, but people are still emailing saying when does this start?"

"If I'm just opening my app, I refuse to read the manual, I refuse to read the information I got in my email. If I'm just opening my app, how can I make this experience foolproof?"

Root Causes

1. People don't read - Email onboarding is ineffective
2. Information not in-context - Key details separated from where actions happen
3. No visual orientation - Current week/status not prominently displayed
4. Steep learning curve - Multiple running parts require education

PM Priority

"From my perspective, the problem we're solving with the new user interface and user experience is that disorientation because the program itself has multiple running parts. And if you don't catch up with all of those within a two week period, you may feel like you missed out."

Section 2: Schedule & Calendar (Critical Gap)

Current State

The weekly schedule is:

• Hidden behind 5 clicks: Home → Hamburger Menu → Resources → Scroll → Click Link → Wait for Load → Rotate Phone
• Previously PDF-based - Got outdated when changes were made, students kept old copies
• Currently Google Calendar - External workaround linked from Resources

Live Tab Problems

The Live tab exists but students don't use it:

1. Wall of text - No visual structure, all same font size
2. Unclear time logic - Shows next ~38 hours (arbitrary cutoff)
3. No calendar view - Just stacked text blocks
4. Timezone confusion - Sessions shown but unclear if converted to local time
5. Students couldn't find sessions - Even when they knew something was scheduled

"Rarely would students use this. We even had a couple of instances of people not being able to find a session that they knew was happening today."

What Students Need

• Calendar view - Visual weekly layout with time blocks
• Easy access - Not buried in resources
• Dynamic updates - When schedule changes, students see it (unlike static PDFs)
• Add to calendar - Export to personal calendar

Complexity

• Sessions must display in student's local timezone
• Same absolute time = different day for different students
• Current system shows day names which may be wrong for other timezones

Section 3: Recordings Section (Not in Original Audit)

Why It Matters

Students access recordings when they:

• Miss live classes due to schedule conflicts
• Want to catch up on QRCs (Quran Reading Circles)
• Need to hear specific TA explanations again

"We do actually have quite a bit of students who are referring back to recordings of the sessions that they feel like they need... even if they're not there live."

Current Problems

1. Filter-based navigation - Must select year, then month, then scroll
2. Memory-dependent - Have to remember when you were a student
3. Volume - Up to 20 sessions per week to sift through
4. Poor descriptions - Long text paragraphs for each recording
5. Playback glitches - Navigation doesn't update, have to exit and re-enter

What Students Actually Want

• Find their missed session quickly (usually the most recent one)
• Sometimes catch up on multiple missed weeks
• Filter by session type (QRC, Level Class, Office Hours)

Section 4: Feedback & Archives

What Exists (Not Clear in Original Audit)

• Feedback section in sidebar - Shows feedback from last 30 days
• Archives - Contains all historical feedback from previous levels
• Comment section - Under each submission, students can type questions to TA

Problems

1. Archive navigation is tedious - Filter by month, then by year
2. Memory-dependent - Must remember when you were at each level
3. Submissions and feedback in different places - Not intuitive
4. Comment section poorly designed - Text flows left, can't see what you typed

"Digging through feedback and archive feedback is difficult."

Section 5: Community Board (Conversations)

What It Actually Is

Each TA has a message board for ALL their assigned students:

• TA posts announcements
• Students across multiple levels see the same messages
• Students can post with category tags (Question, Tech Issue, Resources, Cancel)

Why It's Confusing

1. Unclear membership - "Why is Muhammad here with the sisters?" (students see people from other levels/groups)
2. Unclear purpose - Is it support? Discussion? Announcements?
3. Overlaps with Support - Categories like "Tech Issue" suggest support function
4. No 1:1 capability - Can't message TA directly

Technical Issues

• Hyperlinks don't work - TAs can't share Zoom links or resources
• Typing interface broken - Text pushes left, can't see full message
• Posts don't appear - Must refresh to see posted content
• No notifications to TAs - When students post, TAs don't know

PM Assessment

"It lacks vision. There really is no clarity... I feel like it lacks vision for that part of the app."

Section 6: TA Communication Gap

Current State

No in-app way to contact your TA directly.

Students must:

1. Email coaches@quranflow.org (must know this address)
2. Use submission recordings (keep talking after recitation to ask questions)
3. Join live classes and ask there
4. Post to community board (but unclear and broken)

What's Needed

"I feel like getting one-on-one support from their TA... would be good."

Options discussed:

• Direct message to TA through app
• Forward support requests to coaches@ email
• Help button on home screen

Section 7: Submissions Issues

Accidental Submissions

"Students accidentally uploading their submissions all the time. They want to press play to hear what they said but accidentally press submit."

Impact:

• Student emails "accidentally submitted half my submission"
• TA must reject
• Student must re-record

Solution Needed:

• Double confirmation before submit
• OR ability to retract before TA reviews

Video Progress Tracking

Some lessons have 5-7 videos. No indication of which videos were watched.

"If they leave it for another day, they may forget where they left off... I would have to rewatch it all again because I couldn't figure out which video I actually watched."

Submissions vs Feedback Separation

Completed submissions move to a different section:

"I feel like a more natural progression if it was just placed here with all the other submissions and colored in certain way to indicate status."

Section 8: Other Issues Noted

Lessons Tab

• Shows all levels side by side (Level 4, Level 3, Level 2, Level 1)
• No visual separation between current enrollment and historical
• Confusing for students

Profile Photo Upload

Broken - Can only take selfie now, cannot select from gallery

• Used to work
• Reduced personalization/engagement

Resources Section

"Anything you want students to have, you just throw in resources... it needs to be nuanced."

• 15+ resources with no hierarchy
• Essential items mixed with supplementary
• No visual organization

Home Tab Logic

Shows upcoming sessions for next ~38 hours:

• Arbitrary cutoff
• Mix of submissions due and live classes
• Unclear organizing principle

Font Size

Some students (especially elderly) complained text was too small:

• There's an enlarge font option (not currently active)
• PM prefers smaller font with less text overall
• Need better information density, not larger fonts

Section 9: Year 2 Experience

Separate from Year 1:

• No submissions (that part of learning is complete)
• Has Appointments - booking 1:1 time with TAs
• Similar issues with booking system

Note: Separate credentials provided for testing Year 2 flow.

Section 10: TA-Side Issues (Future Discussion)

To be addressed separately:

• TAs don't get notifications for:
  • Comments under submissions
  • Community board posts
• All students shown (including inactive)
• App displays different interface for TAs

Section 11: Planned Near-Term Fixes

Before next semester:

1. Semester countdown timer - On home tab, when semester starts
2. Current week indicator - "Week 8" prominently displayed
3. Orientation videos - Program walkthrough + app walkthrough
4. Notification fixes - Getting push notifications working

Section 12: Design Philosophy Captured

User Expectations

"Not everybody is an exploration type... they just want a plug and play experience. What do I need to do? Just let me know, I'll do it. Don't make me think about the process."

PM Goal

"Make everything super clear. So even having a schedule that's hidden behind five clicks is an issue. Them not seeing when the semester starts is an issue. Them not being spoon-fed what they should be doing is an issue."

Reduce Friction

"We just really want to remove all possible friction from that. So that's like, that's something schedule being like my top three priorities."

Appendix A: Screens/Features Not in Original Audit

Appendix B: Documents Referenced

Lejla shared:

1. Current Flow Student Journey - Describes full user experience (separate doc)
2. Year 2 test credentials - Via WhatsApp
3. Improvements list - Pasted in chat

Appendix C: Comparison Apps Mentioned

• Mobbin - UI pattern library (paid, auditor has subscription)
• Recess - Kids homeschool community platform (to review for ideas)

Next Steps Discussed

1. Combine this discussion with original audit findings
2. Review the "Current Flow Student Journey" document
3. Test Year 2 experience with provided credentials
4. Break down all functionality into discrete user needs (Lego pieces)
5. Group and reorganize without existing structure constraints
6. Generate multiple restructuring options
7. Separate discussion for TA-side improvements