\section{Introduction}

This report presents the development of \textit{Study Sprint}, a mobile productivity application designed to help students organise academic work and turn that structure into focused study sessions. The core idea behind the application is to reduce the gap between intending to study and actually starting. Instead of treating planning, timing and progress as separate concerns, Study Sprint connects subjects, assignments, tasks, timed focus sessions, breaks and visible progress into one lightweight workflow.

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The motivation for the project came from a common frustration with existing study and productivity applications. Many such applications are either too broad, too feature-heavy or too abstract for students who simply want to organise what they need to study and begin working with as little friction as possible. In many cases, users are forced through unnecessary setup, presented with too many unrelated features, or given timer tools that are disconnected from the work they are supposed to support. Study Sprint was developed as a response to that problem.

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The project therefore focused on a small but coherent feature set. The goal was not to create the most advanced productivity application, but to create one that is easy to understand, fast to use and reliable in practice. This meant prioritising a clear study hierarchy, low-friction navigation, task-linked study sessions, break handling and progress visibility over broader functionality that would have increased the complexity without adding equal value to the intended user.

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The conceptual background for the app was also influenced by the Pomodoro technique, where focused work intervals are separated by short breaks. This was relevant because the project aimed to support concentration, reduce study friction, and make it easier for users to turn vague study intentions into concrete work sessions. Recent review literature also suggests that structured Pomodoro-style intervals can improve focus, reduce fatigue, and support sustained task performance in demanding learning contexts \cite{pomodoro_scoping_review}.

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From a development perspective, the project followed an iterative approach. Early prototypes were used to explore structure, interaction and timer behaviour before the application was gradually refined through implementation, testing and revision. Several parts of the application, especially the timer flow and session handling, changed significantly over time as practical issues were discovered and resolved. This process helped move the product from a simple prototype toward a more complete and reliable study tool.
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\subsection{Product Vision}

The complete project vision is included in Appendix~\ref{appendix:projectvision}. The following section summarises the most important parts of that vision and shows how they shaped the direction of the product.

\subsection{Target customer}

The primary target group for Study Sprint is students in higher education who want a simple and structured way to organise study work, start focused work sessions and keep track of their progress \cite{projectvision}.

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A secondary target group includes other learners, such as upper secondary students, as well as users who rely on timed work sessions for productivity in non-academic contexts. Even so, the application is mainly designed around student needs, since that is the clearest and most relevant use case for the project.

\subsubsection{Customer needs}

Study Sprint is intended to address a small set of practical needs that repeatedly appear in student work:

\begin{itemize}
    \item better focus during study sessions through timed work periods and breaks,
    \item simple planning and organisation through subjects, assignments, and tasks,
    \item motivation through visible progress and recorded study activity,
    \item low friction, so users can understand the app quickly and begin studying without unnecessary setup.
\end{itemize}

These needs are closely related. A study timer becomes more useful when it is connected to real tasks, and planning becomes more meaningful when it leads directly into focused work.

\subsubsection{Critical Product Attributes}

The most important product attribute for Study Sprint is simplicity. The application should be intuitive enough that a user can understand the main study flow almost immediately. A user should be
able to move from creating structure to starting a study session without confusion or unnecessary decision-making.

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Reliability is also critical. Since the application depends heavily on timed study sessions and progress tracking, it must handle active sessions, completion, cancellation, breaks, and saved
progress in a dependable way. If the timer flow feels unstable or if recorded study activity becomes inconsistent, the application quickly loses its usefulness.

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A third important attribute is a clear and focused user interface. The design does not need to be visually complex, but it should feel complete, deliberate, and easy to navigate. Since the app is
intended to reduce procrastination rather than add friction, fast and understandable interaction is especially important.

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Finally, scope control is an important product attribute in itself. A smaller and more polished application is more valuable for this project than a broader solution with too many unfinished or
weakly integrated features. A successful version of Study Sprint therefore includes structured planning, task-linked study sessions, break handling, progress visibility, and persistence, while
avoiding feature expansion that would dilute the product's main purpose.

\subsubsection{Unique Seeling Points}

Study Sprint enters a crowded space of Pomodoro apps, study planners, habit trackers, and general productivity tools such as Forest, Focus To-Do, and Todoist. These applications often provide useful
functionality, but many of them are either too broad, too feature-heavy, or too focused on premium features and generalized productivity workflows \cite{projectvision}.

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Compared to these alternatives, Study Sprint aims to be more focused and more student-oriented. Rather than trying to include every possible productivity feature, it combines only the features most relevant to the intended workflow: subject structure, assignments, tasks, timed focus sessions, breaks, and visible progress.

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The main unique selling point of Study Sprint is therefore not feature quantity, but feature connection. The application links planning and studying more directly than a simple timer app, while
remaining much lighter and more focused than broader productivity platforms. This makes it easier for a student to decide what to study, begin working quickly, and see meaningful progress afterward.

\subsubsection{Target Time-frame and Budget}

The target time-frame for Study Sprint was the duration of the project period, ending in early May. Because this work was carried out alongside other courses, assignments, and exams, the project had
to be planned with a strong focus on the effort-to-value ratio rather than feature ambition.

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For that reason, the team aimed to establish a working prototype early and then use the remaining time on refinement, reliability, usability, and report work. A realistic development path was to
first define the product structure and screen flow, then implement the core planning hierarchy, timer functionality, session persistence, break flow, and progress tracking, before focusing on testing and polish \cite{projectvision}.

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The financial budget for the project was expected to be minimal. The application was developed using free or low-cost tools and frameworks, with time being the main practical constraint. This made it especially important to avoid unnecessary complexity and to concentrate on the parts of the application that contributed most directly to the intended study experience.
