Personal project
Atlee is an all-in-one management platform for performing arts institutions, consolidating event scheduling, fee management, resource organization, and communication into a single interface. Now a B2B product serving dance institutes across India.
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role
Product Designer
Deliverable
Product strategy, market research, user flows, beta validation
timeline
Sep 2024
Challenge
Most performing arts institutes in India rely on a fragmented mix of WhatsApp for communication, Google Pay for payments, and paper records for everything else. This leads to missed deadlines, disorganized resources, and inconsistent fee tracking- especially painful for small institutes managing 50–300 students.
Key problems:
Missed deadlines and disorganized resources
Inconsistent fee tracking across students
No single place to manage scheduling, payments, and communication
Research & Sales
Built a pitch deck to reach out directly to teachers in the dance and music industry. Spoke to around 50 teachers to understand their pain points and the thinking behind product ideation. This hands-on research informed every design and feature decision.
Market Study
The Indian performing arts education sector shows limited automation adoption. Most institutes rely on basic digital tools — UPI payments for fee collection, WhatsApp for communication — while attendance tracking, scheduling, and resource organization remain largely manual.
Market opportunity identified:
Growing frustration with juggling multiple platforms (WhatsApp, Google Pay, paper records)
Increasing student base demanding better organization
Need for professional documentation and tracking
Rising competition requiring better operational efficiency
Atlee’s Position
First-mover advantage in offering an integrated solution specifically for performing arts schools
Bridges the gap between basic digital tools and comprehensive management needs
Designed with cultural sensitivity and understanding of traditional business practices
Scalable solution that can grow with the business
Product & Design
Concluded on MVP features and made design decisions for both Teacher (business/institute) and Student sides of the product.
MVP scope
Schedule & event management
Resources page for class notes, materials, and documents
Monthly fee collection and payment tracking
Simple registration — students download the beta on Android and iOS
Key Design Decision
Added a constraint: no monthly access to features until fee is paid. This was a deliberate choice to build a habit loop — students stay aware of their classes and access resources on time, while teachers get consistent, timely payments without chasing.
Impact & Outcomes
Operational Efficiency
Students now aware of regular classes without last-minute check-ins; resources accessible anytime
Payment Consistency
Fee payment habit loop created through feature-gating, reducing teacher follow-up time
Platform Adoption
1 institute using platform for 1 consecutive year; 2 institutes in active testing
Scalable System
Built reusable design and business framework adaptable to music schools and other performing arts
Key Learnings
Talking to users before building saves time and builds the right product
Small design constraints can drive meaningful behavioral change
Bridging design and sales gives a clearer understanding of real market needs
Future Scope
My MSc thesis at Hochschule Rhein-Waal validated the next evolution of Atlee through a high-fidelity prototype tested with 10 participants. The system achieved a 4.3/5 usability score, with 90% reporting improved learning efficiency and 80% finding chunked choreography effective for skill retention.
Four validated features ready for integration:
Real-time feedback centre with time-stamped annotations replacing fragmented WhatsApp corrections
Chunked learning modules breaking choreography into 4–8 count segments to reduce cognitive load
AI pose estimation using MediaPipe to automate posture feedback and reduce teacher workload
Progress tracking system with visual Learning → Practising → Polished stages and practice streak badges