InFlash was born out of necessity. Flashcards regularly become lost or damaged with everyday use and being able to quickly read through them helps keep what you studied fresh in mind all day.

Taking advantage of the one tool students use everyday, InFlash will finally allow students to study for exams whether they’re waiting in line to get a coffee or walking to class. While other flashcard apps may exist on the app store, the experiences are poor in function and presentation.

Like all new smartphone apps, getting users to utilize the app after the initial download can be a challenge. By creating a simple and intuitive app, the on-boarding experience can be swiftly explained to new users.

In order to keep all flash cards tidy and easy to navigate, they are tied to a subject. Every subject contain(s) decks that organize the flash cards into even further grouping.

Every subject such as Anatomy can be broken down further into “decks”. Decks for a subject like anatomy could be “skeletal system”, “arteries”, and “nerves”; These decks help avoid clutter for power users of the app.

Individual flashcards can be tied to a deck or subject and tagged or starred for further organization.

InFlash focuses on quickly being able to study at a moment’s notice. To achieve this speed, employing swipe gestures allows students to get from subject to flash card in two seconds.

After interviewing students, it became apparent students rarely have both hands free. Designing a way for students to eat a burrito and walk to their next class is a necessary feature only discovered after talking with current students.

Designing for your app to be used with one hand was a challenge but also a great way to test the app during each iteration of the design.

Providing students with the ability to test themselves allows them to better prepare for tests and exams. Students can test themselves at the subject or deck level.

Providing students with the ability to test themselves allows them to better prepare for tests and exams – you know, the main purpose for flashcards in the first place.

Creating a one handed iOS app brings unique and exciting challenges.

I quickly learned that most students don’t have both hands available for finger acrobatics; often they are holding a Starbucks drink, a book or riding a bicycle. This brought a unique challenge in creating UI elements that would work while they were multitasking.

What I discovered was that Apple’s native table views and lists worked very well for one hand phone use. I modeled some of the UI elements based on their extensive testing. In the end InFlash is a very quick (and fun) alternative to traditional paper flash cards.