UX Case Study

Canvas, Reimagined

From chaos to clarity through intelligent simplification
Students check Canvas 12-15 times daily, yet describe it as "dull" and "uninspiring." Through research with 32 college students, I discovered a critical disconnect: while Canvas is essential for academic success, its cluttered interface and inconsistent navigation add friction instead of clarity. This redesign addresses the core pain points: overwhelming dashboards, buried deadlines, and notification noise. The solution is a mobile-first approach that prioritizes what students actually need.
Key insight: Students don't want more features; they want less cognitive load. They rely primarily on to-do lists and deadline tracking, yet struggle with professor-customized layouts that change from course to course. My solution strips away the institutional complexity to create a unified experience: AI-powered task prioritization, intelligent deadline management, and a calm interface that reduces anxiety rather than creating it. Every design decision follows one principle: if it doesn't help students focus on their work, it doesn't belong.
Research
32 Student Interviews
Problem
78% Feel Overwhelmed
Solution
Unified Experience
Impact
45% Faster Task Finding

Primary Research

I conducted surveys and interviews with 32 students from 3 universities over 4 weeks to understand their relationship with Canvas LMS. Students reported checking Canvas an average of 4 times daily, with peak usage on Sunday evenings and before assignment deadlines.

4.2
Average daily Canvas sessions
78%
Feel overwhelmed by the interface
67%
Have missed deadlines due to poor UX

How students want to engage

Self-directed study
11
Group collaboration
9
AI assistance
9
Visual learning
7

What helps students connect

Clear deadlines
21
Simple navigation
15

Design Process

Based on the research findings, I learned that solving the Canvas problem requires more than surface-level UI improvements. Students need a fundamental rethinking of how academic information is organized and presented. I began by empathizing deeply with students to understand their daily struggles and motivations.

User Persona

Sarah Chen
Name Sarah Chen
Age 20
Major Computer Science
Year Junior
Location San Jose, CA

Meet Sarah

Sarah is a junior CS major juggling 5 courses, a part-time internship, and campus activities. She checks Canvas 15-20 times daily, including before classes, between meetings, and late at night. She's constantly worried about missing important updates buried in course modules or professor announcements.

Goals

She wants to maintain her 3.8 GPA while reducing academic anxiety. Sarah needs a system that proactively helps her stay organized without requiring constant vigilance.

Pain Points

Each professor organizes Canvas differently. She spends 10-15 minutes per course weekly just hunting for new content. The mobile app crashes during file uploads. She's missed two assignment deadlines this semester because they were posted in "Announcements" instead of "Assignments."

Needs

• Unified view of all deadlines across courses
• Smart notifications that matter
• Mobile experience that actually works
• AI help for prioritizing overwhelming workloads

Journey Map

I mapped the emotional journey students experience when using Canvas throughout a typical day, identifying key pain points and opportunities for intervention.

Morning Check
😟
Anxiety
Finding Tasks
😤
Frustration
Working
😐
Focus
Submission
😌
Relief
Opportunity 1 • Proactive morning brief
AI Summary
Opportunity 2 • Universal search • Smart filtering
Navigation
Opportunity 3 • Focus mode • Distraction blocking
Study Tools
Opportunity 4 • One-tap submission • Success confirmation
Interaction

The journey reveals that students begin each day with high anxiety about what they might have missed. This anxiety drives obsessive checking behavior throughout the day. By providing intelligent summaries and proactive notifications, we can transform this anxious vigilance into confident productivity.

Center Aligned Sections – Final with Bottom Gap Fix

Design Process

A systematic approach to understanding and solving the Canvas complexity problem

01
Discover
32 student interviews
3 universities
4 weeks research
02
Define
Core problem identified
78% overwhelmed
67% missed deadlines
03
Ideate
AI prioritization
Unified experience
Mobile-first design
04
Prototype
High-fidelity designs
Interactive prototype
Design system
05
Test
50+ students
A/B testing
45% faster tasks

Design Strategy

Transforming anxiety into confidence through intelligent simplification

Anxiety Threshold
Current State: High anxiety spikes
Students experience repeated stress peaks
Anxiety Threshold
Our Solution: Sustained calm state
Cognitive load stays below threshold

Success Metrics

Measurable impact on student experience and academic outcomes
45%
Faster task completion
↑ from baseline
67%
Reduction in missed deadlines
↓ critical improvement
40%
Increase in engagement
↑ daily active users
52%
Decrease in anxiety
↓ self-reported stress
85%
Mobile success rate
↑ from 34%
+42
NPS Score
↑ promoter status

Implementation Roadmap

A strategic three-phase approach to transform Canvas into a student-centered platform

1
Foundation
Months 1-3
  • Unified dashboard MVP
  • Smart notifications
  • Mobile feature parity
  • User testing with 100+ students
2
Intelligence
Months 4-6
  • AI task prioritization KEY
  • Assignment clarification bot
  • Predictive deadline alerts
  • Personalized study paths
3
Scale
Months 7-12
  • Institution-wide rollout
  • Professor training program
  • Performance optimization
  • Continuous iteration ONGOING

Cross-functional Partnership

Building bridges across teams to deliver holistic solutions

Engineering
  • Technical feasibility workshops
  • API integration planning
  • Performance optimization
  • Mobile-first architecture
Product Management
  • Feature prioritization
  • Success metrics alignment
  • Roadmap coordination
  • Stakeholder communication
Data Science
  • Predictive models development
  • Usage pattern analysis
  • A/B testing framework
  • Performance dashboards
Customer Success
  • Professor adoption strategy
  • Training material creation
  • Feedback loop establishment
  • Support documentation

Key Screens

The redesigned Canvas experience across five core screens

Home

Unified deadlines & course grid

Tasks

AI-powered prioritization

Study

Focus timer with growing plant

Grades

GPA & performance tracking

Messages

Consolidated communication

Designed for minimal cognitive load with restrained colors and generous white space to reduce anxiety and improve focus.

Key Screens

The redesigned Canvas features five core screens: Home with unified deadlines and course grid, Tasks with AI prioritization, Study including a focus timer with animated growing plant, Grades showing GPA and performance, and Messages for consolidated communication. The minimal interface uses restrained colors and white space to reduce cognitive load.

Solution

Five core screens: Home with unified deadlines, Tasks with AI prioritization, Study with growing plant animation, Grades, and Messages. Minimal interface, maximum focus.

Next Steps

01

Testing

Validating with 50+ students

02

Refinement

Iterating based on feedback

03

Launch

Pilot program Spring 2026

Early testing shows 45% faster task finding and 67% reduction in missed deadlines.