A focused study tool I designed, built, and maintain end to end.
Primer began as a study aid for my own coursework. I kept opening it up as friends asked to use it. The product is deliberately narrow: type a term, get the primer, and close the tab with enough context to continue studying.
I own the whole loop, including interaction design, implementation, hosting, and maintenance. That makes Primer a useful place to test whether an idea remains clear once it reaches production.
A study tool competes with the assignment, lecture, or exam that sent someone there. It cannot demand a long setup flow or require users to organize a second knowledge system before getting help.
The output also has to feel structured enough to support learning without pretending to replace the source material. Primer should establish orientation, not manufacture certainty.
The entry point centers on the term a student needs to understand. Secondary controls remain out of the way until they are useful.
Primer is designed to be opened between other study tasks. The interface avoids dashboards, streaks, and collection mechanics that would turn a quick reference into another product to manage.
Typography, line length, and content order carry most of the experience. Motion is used for state changes and feedback rather than decoration around the answer.
Astro delivers the stable page structure and keeps the initial surface light. React owns the interactive study flow, while TypeScript keeps the boundary between user input and rendered result explicit.
I also maintain the hosting and production behavior. A focused interface does not excuse unclear failures, so the product needs usable empty, loading, and error states around the central request.
Primer is live and remains a tool I use myself. Its current form protects the original constraint: a student can arrive with one term and leave with a clearer starting point without maintaining a separate workspace.
The project reinforces a product rule I carry elsewhere: removing an unnecessary step is often more valuable than adding another feature.