(Phase 1) Observations to Opportunity

Before the idea of building a University Learning Management System (LMS) even crossed our minds, my co-founder and I kept circling around one recurring question: Why does a tool designed to make education easier end up being a daily frustration for everyone using it?

Because every educator, student, or administrator we've spoken to had the same story: they were unhappy with their LMS.

We didn’t want to jump straight into the technicalities or start brainstorming fancy features. Our approach was pretty simple:

• We scanned through over 1,000 negative reviews of existing LMS platforms. We wanted to understand the recurring frustrations and what pain points seemed to be universally ignored.

• We dug into the broader EdTech landscape, looking at automation, personalization, and accessibility. Where were the opportunities? What was everyone missing?

• We audited the platforms out there. Yes, they had strengths, but the weaknesses were glaring - features buried under clunky designs, workflows that takes super long to complete and a user experience that were disappointing

It became clear pretty quickly: this wasn’t just a technical problem, but an experience problem. Most LMS platforms weren’t built for the people who actually use them every day. They were built for compliance and administration.

..and that gap became our direction of everything we set out to build

The Thought Process Behind the Vision

At this stage, we weren’t building a product yet, we were testing a hypothesis. The idea was straightforward: an LMS that’s user-friendly, adaptable, and easy to understand wasn’t just a nice upgrade - it was something universities desperately needed.

But a hypothesis is just an idea until you validate it. So, we started reaching out. We talked to directors of educational institutes, had long conversations with lecturers, and checked in with university tech teams. These were open, honest discussions where people shared their frustrations and hopes about their current systems.

What we learned went beyond just wanting better tools or more features. The real issue was that the connection between technology and education felt broken. The LMS was supposed to be a bridge - a way to connect students, educators, and administrators seamlessly. But that bridge was outdated and unreliable

This realization changed everything for us. We weren’t just trying to fix scattered problems or improve a few workflows. We were working on something bigger: rebuilding that bridge so it could actually support the people depending on it every single day.

From Vision to Action

The idea for our startup developed only following these talks, observations, and validations. This was about letting the challenge define the solution, not about leaping into product design. My co-founder and I began with a shared knowledge of the goal: to empower lecturers and students by removing the obstacles generated by badly constructed systems, not with code or features.

We were laser-focused on solving a problem we thoroughly knew by the time we entered the ideation stage, not merely brainstorming.

(Phase 2) Solve Problems, Don’t Build Features

At the beginning of the product development journey, we found ourselves caught in the features 'heaven'. Every brainstorming session seemed to add more items to the wishlist: gamified learning paths, AI tutors, advanced analytics dashboards. It was exciting, but we were building without clarity, turning our product into a collection of tools rather than a focused solution.

Understanding this, we stopped and asked one important question: What issues are we solving? That question transformed everything. It let us reconsider our strategy. We changed our emphasis from what we might create to what we should create to meet the needs of our consumers.

We went back to research. We shadowed lecturers seeing how they graded work, handled course materials, and got ready for new semester. To find frustrations regarding tracking deadlines and navigating course material, our UX researcher conducted student questionnaires. At this point, we concentrated more on behaviors than on features.

Based on this research, we found three recurring issues with which quick fixes were needed:

• Overwhelming Interfaces: Lecturers and students frequently expressed frustration with the cluttered and unintuitive dashboards of current LMS systems. Key tasks, such as finding assignments or tracking progress, were buried under layers of menus, leading to wasted time and decreased productivity.

• Procrastination and Time Management Issues: Many students reported struggling to keep track of deadlines and organize their coursework effectively. The lack of clear prioritization or reminders in existing systems contributed to last-minute cramming and missed submissions.

• Lack of Structure for Academic Habits: Students often felt unsupported when it came to building effective study routines. Current platforms failed to provide guidance or tools to encourage consistency, leaving students to navigate their academic responsibilities on their own.

Every function we created had to solve at least one of them; otherwise, it fell short.

This level of focus brought a sense of clarity to the entire team. Developers understood exactly why they were building them. Our designer weren’t chasing flashy visuals; she prioritized function and ease of use. Every decision felt intentional, every update had a purpose.

(Phase 3) Prototype Early, Iterate Often

Our first prototype wasn't really a proud moment, and it hardly worked. Still, it was among the wiser choices we took. The reason is It was built to test presumptions and learn, not to wow.

We knew our prototype wasn’t perfect, and definitely not ready for a spotlight moment. But instead of chasing perfection, we focused on something far more valuable: honest feedback.

So, we shared it with a small group of lecturers and students. Not as a polished product, but as a starting point for a conversation.

This process wasn’t glamorous. In fact, sometimes it felt like we were undoing our own work. But every cycle taught us something new. Not just about our product, but about the assumptions we had made and the people we were building it for.

One insight stood out. During a testing session, a lecturer made it clear: “I don’t care if the dashboard looks beautiful. I care if it saves me time.”. Speed and efficiency became a non-negotiable part of our design philosophy from that day forward - functionality first, polish second.

Prototyping isn’t about impressing anyone with a sleek interface or a perfectly functioning system. It’s about building something raw, testing it with real people, and then shaping it step by step - into a product that doesn’t just check boxes but actually solves problems. Each iteration was a step closer to something real.

(Phase 4) Leading the Product Dev Team *my personal fav

Before anything, I understood the success of the whatever product we build would depend on the team - not only their abilities but also their common dedication to a single, uniting goal. The value of leadership is impossible to overestimate in a startup environment, where resources are few, uncertainty is constant, and stakes are high.

I spearheaded to put together our group from the job posting to learning how to contribute their EPF as an employer. Every hire was deliberate, motivated by cultural fit and a conviction in our purpose rather than only technical ability.

Why a Product Manager Is Essential in a Startup

A startup team works best when everyone’s on the same page, and as the product manager, my role was to keep things clear and coordinated. Without that, even the most talented team can end up pulling in different directions.

• The first thing I focused on was alignment. During onboarding, I didn’t just hand over documents filled with technical specs or feature lists. Instead, I shared real examples/stories about lecturers staying late, frustrated with clunky systems during exam season, or students struggling to find their assignments because the interface was too confusing. These stories helped ground our work in the problems we were actually trying to solve.

• Next came prioritization. In a startup, ideas are endless, and it’s easy to get caught up chasing every exciting suggestion. To avoid this, we held weekly planning sessions. We’d review our goals, sort out what mattered most, and set aside anything that wasn’t solving a core issue.

• Lastly, I acted as a connector. Developers think in terms of functionality, designers in visuals, and researchers in insights. My job was to make sure those perspectives worked together. For example, when our UX researcher pointed out a pain point in the onboarding flow, I worked with our designer to simplify the layout and made sure our developers understood how to build it without missing the details that mattered.

At the end of the day, my role wasn’t about overseeing every task - it was about making sure everyone was focused, aligned, and building something meaningful together.

Keeping the Team Motivated in a High-Pressure Environment

Startups aren’t glamorous. There are late nights, tight deadlines, and moments of doubt. In this environment, motivation isn’t just about pep talks; what matters is pushing purpose within the team and creating momentum.

I focused on building a culture of ownership. Instead of assigning tasks, I empowered the team to take ownership of their work. “What’s the most impactful way we can solve this?” became a recurring question during our discussions.

Another key focus was celebrating small wins. It’s easy to get lost in the chaos of looming deadlines and endless to-do lists, but acknowledging progress, even in tiny increments, matters. Whether it was completing a design for a feature, resolving a long-standing bug, or receiving positive feedback from a user, we made time to recognize those moments.

(Phase 5) Product Launch & Commercialization

The moment of launching a product is exhilarating and terrifying. After months of research, design, development, and iteration, you’re finally putting something tangible into the hands of users. But a great product doesn’t sell itself. I realized early on that a successful launch required as much strategic planning as the product development itself.

For our University LMS, the goal wasn’t just to launch but to ensure adoption. Universities are complex ecosystems, and getting buy-in from students, educators, and administrators simultaneously was a challenge we couldn’t afford to overlook. To tackle this, we crafted a commercialization strategy rooted in understanding and addressing the priorities of each stakeholder group.

The Launch Plan

Instead of treating the launch as a single event, we approached it as a phased rollout. This allowed us to gather feedback, adjust our approach, and build momentum:

• Pilot Programs. We partnered with two mid-sized universities to run pilot programs for an entire semester.

• Early Adopters. We identified early adopters within each university; lecturers who were excited about the platform and willing to advocate for it among their peers. Their feedback shaped our messaging, and their endorsements created trust.

• Tailored Onboarding. Recognizing that every institution operates differently, we created a flexible onboarding process. For one university, we focused on training faculty first, while for another, we prioritized integrating existing tools and datasets.
  
  

A Move in Strategic Branding; SEM2023

Our launch approach included a conference event called "SEM2023: Shifting Education in Malaysia." The conference was meant to draw important players from Malaysian universities and start honest conversations on the direction the nation's educational system might take.

The event served as a platform to emphasize important problems and present our LMS as part of the solution, not a straight sales pitch. To address subjects ranging from outdated methods to the potential of technology in updating learning experiences, we brought in panelists including respected educators, education consultants and former politicians.

The conference exceeded our expectations. The event drew over 200 participants from government agencies, institutions, and businesses, including decision-makers we had battled to find via conventional means of marketing. Our pre-sales journey also were initiated by then.

Why Value Beats Features

When it came to commercialization, we focused on selling the outcomes of using the LMS rather than its features. For administrators, we emphasized time savings and efficiency - how the system could reduce manual work and streamline processes. For lecturers, it was all about ease of use and empowering them to focus on teaching. And for students, we highlighted accessibility and simplicity, making their academic lives smoother.

By combining the momentum from the conference with our phased rollout, we created a strategy that felt less like selling and more like building partnerships - as how a B2B company should be.

Overcoming Obstacles

Getting our product out there wasn’t all smooth sailing. One university hesitated to adopt our LMS because they’d recently switched to a different system just three years earlier. It’s understandable - no one wants to go through another round of training, onboarding, and system adjustments so soon. Instead of pushing them to overhaul their entire system, we took a different route: pilot implementation. We proposed a smaller-scale rollout, starting with just one department or faculty. This allowed them to test the LMS in a controlled environment, gather feedback, and see real results without the pressure of a campus-wide shift.

In another case, the university’s tech team raised concerns about data privacy. They wanted more clarity on how we handled sensitive information and whether our system met their security standards. We took their feedback seriously, refining our documentation and adding more transparency to our data policies.

These challenges weren’t unique, but they taught us an important lesson: listening carefully, addressing concerns directly, and being flexible in our approach went a long way in overcoming hesitation and building stronger partnerships.