Building a personal research library for Canvas LMS—accessible forever

PROBLEM

You remember the reading. You just can't find it.

Canvas LMS, launched in 2011 by Instructure, has become the world's leading learning management system.
With Blackboard, it dominates the LMS market in the US—serving 30 million educators across 6,000 organizations.

However, students face a critical gap despite its widespread adoption. They can't access past materials after courses end—trapping years of knowledge in closed course silos—just when they need it most.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW

One search, any course. Your academic history should be yours to keep.

Files is a permanent, searchable library of all your Canvas materials—organized by context, accessible forever.

Smart Search

Find materials by content, tags, or context

Context Preservation

Course info, dates, and summaries stay attached

Permanent Access

Your library remains accessible to you after graduation

RESEARCH

Uncovering why students can remember academic materials but can't always locate them

We remember meaning and context, not file names and course paths

Instead of asking students to remember exact locations, trigger their memory through context, tags, and content.

Tracing where the search falls apart

The two structural problems preventing retrieval of materials

Impossible navigation

Finding materials requires remembering exact course locations instead of content—students can't search across courses or use natural memory cues like "that paper about emotional construction"

Temporary access

Finding materials requires remembering exact course locations instead of content—students can't search across courses or use natural memory cues like "that paper about emotional construction"

KEY RESEARCH INSIGHT

Students don't need a bunch of folders—they
deserve a system that aligns with how they think

Students don't need a bunch of folders—they deserve a system that aligns with how they think

USER TESTING

Testing and adapting the solution based on what students actually need…

Users see searching and filtering as one task—they just want to find

Finding

Users don't distinguish between search and filters when asked to locate materials, viewing them as parts of the same task.

Impact

This revealed the need for unified search that understands courses, tags, semesters, and content in one input.

Students also create valuable work that gets lost in submissions

Finding

Users wanted to retrieve their own submitted artifacts (assignments, group projects, decks) just as much as course readings.

Impact

Expanded the feature to include "Student Files" to preserve the work students create, not just what they consume.

FINAL DESIGNS

From nested folders to instant access—seamless retrieval of everything you've learned

AI-Powered Summaries

Visualizing the feature beyond mobile

Smart Search & Discovery

REFLECTION

Design for the user, not for the feature

The most humbling insight was re-discovering users saw searching and filtering as the same thing. I carefully separated these functions, but users just wanted to describe what they needed and find it. This taught me to design for user mental models, not just pure logic.

There's power in domain knowledge

Having been a Canvas user for years gave me deep empathy for the problem, but I learned to validate my assumptions through research and testing. The Lansdale paper on information psychology helped me understand why I struggled to find old materials, not just that I struggled.

FEATURE ADD — 2025