Remind had millions of teachers, students, and parents connected through its network. After witnessing firsthand the positive impact communication had on students through the platform, we made efforts to bring that relationship closer and on-demand. It was our biggest bet since the company was founded—connecting students with teachers through Remind Tutoring.

Research suggested that the primary hurdle students face in succeeding in class isn't a lack of subject matter expertise, but a lack of executive function skills and accountability. Students often struggle with planning, time management, and consistent practice—essential components of academic success.

Remind Tutoring was conceived to address this gap. By connecting students with vetted teachers within the existing Remind network, we aimed to provide not only subject-matter support but also the crucial element of regular accountability, fostering a habit of dedicated learning and practice outside the classroom.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FIzMAdVjRpeUV1lDaOnSP%2F9ac346aa-d24a-4e3d-ae70-03eb0d57c78c.png?alt=media&token=596346e4-0ef1-4452-8699-17a1f6ad72df","id":"9ac346aa-d24a-4e3d-ae70-03eb0d57c78c","width":2880,"height":1800,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"The introduction to Remind Tutoring lived where most students would see—in the feed.","border":false}]}
```

Building this new service was a multifaceted challenge. We assembled a team of teacher advisors and an operations lead, and carefully rolled out the service to a select group of schools and grades prioritizing math.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FIzMAdVjRpeUV1lDaOnSP%2F51f9b804-95ed-406d-a896-309e5790b9db.png?alt=media&token=3f916340-1e18-4e35-aaf8-ff2d7b6250ba","id":"51f9b804-95ed-406d-a896-309e5790b9db","width":3328,"height":1800,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"Finding the right price point while minimizing time-to-tutor was the challenge to get right.","border":false}]}
```

On the product side, our focus was on creating a streamlined user experience to minimize our leading metric: time-to-tutor. We dissected real-world tutoring sessions, identifying the core elements that could be effectively translated into a remote environment.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FIzMAdVjRpeUV1lDaOnSP%2Fe75120aa-478f-4ea1-892c-f92414fd215a.png?alt=media&token=1b30c5da-420c-4e17-a752-de3e7b1b6c14","id":"e75120aa-478f-4ea1-892c-f92414fd215a","width":2880,"height":1800,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"Math was the most in-demand subject for tutoring. It's also the most taught, straightforward to evaluate, and well-known subjects to begin with. We used Zoom and Scribble, a collaborative whiteboarding tool, to facilitate the sessions.","border":false}]}
```

As we developed the MVP, we invited tutors and students to participate in simulated remote tutoring sessions, gathering rapid feedback to refine the experience. With positive validation, we initiated a slow rollout to a small test group, advertising within the app and hiring our first tutors.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FIzMAdVjRpeUV1lDaOnSP%2F00a72347-a7a1-4eb2-898b-1f55648c881d.png?alt=media&token=7a73a4bd-5cd9-43a6-b184-2e0242ccd368","id":"00a72347-a7a1-4eb2-898b-1f55648c881d","width":2528,"height":1230,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"Examining the end-to-end experience helped us capture and design for every part of the process.","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fremind-tutoring%2Fe73abe00-2c07-403a-8174-a070bf8513c8.mov?alt=media&token=26028d25-1345-4742-89cb-d8f42798b8fe","id":"e73abe00-2c07-403a-8174-a070bf8513c8","width":296,"height":640,"filename":"feeny-mvp-sm.mov","type":"video/quicktime","caption":"A brief interaction of how a student would experience Remind tutoring.","border":false}]}
```

Supply quickly became the bottleneck. While applications flowed in, we had to build a robust system to hire, evaluate, and manage our tutors, ensuring we could meet the demands of on-demand tutoring.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FIzMAdVjRpeUV1lDaOnSP%2Fc71bbaf5-6b41-47f9-a784-aab48e761c5e.png?alt=media&token=10a9bc7f-c339-406a-b4f4-ddfbac496a89","id":"c71bbaf5-6b41-47f9-a784-aab48e761c5e","width":2640,"height":1664,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"Apart from the customer-facing product experience we built the backend operations service to manage tutor matching and scheduling.","border":false}]}
```

As the pilot expanded, we began to witness success stories. One student, initially failing her calculus course, used the service consistently and ended the school year with the top AP Calc exam score among her peers.

Remind Tutoring was more than just a new product or business venture. It was an effort to capture the essence of a genuine tutoring session, providing students with the structure and support needed to cultivate the executive function skills vital for lifelong learning.

Remind Tutoring

Untitled

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2F7798bd00-f205-4919-95d0-a325ac664c51.jpg?alt=media&token=3056a85d-f9ff-4790-b341-6e8a0947ee53","id":"7798bd00-f205-4919-95d0-a325ac664c51","width":2448,"height":1377,"filename":"IMG_0095-s.JPG","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

Hey there,

Today [Adam](https://twitter.com/adamputinski), [Cameron](https://twitter.com/cjreynoldsflatt), and [I](https://twitter.com/j_hnshin) are launching [Moment](http://moment.rocks/) on the [App Store](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moment-fun-way-to-share-stories/id929355264?mt=8). Like many people, we send text messages to each other as a way to chat, but the service was never designed to embody the fun and engaging conversations we have.

Moment is a fun way to have conversations with friends. A chat in Moment looks like this:

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2Fa079f3f1-82f3-4fa8-85a1-b7b73a0e3eda.gif?alt=media&token=bc5269e9-f6a1-4b9d-9ee8-bbd9483d07c5","id":"a079f3f1-82f3-4fa8-85a1-b7b73a0e3eda","width":275,"height":562,"filename":"medium-iphone1.gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

Conversations are more like this in person than how they’re typically manifested digitally as speech-bubble timelines. Two people, face-to-face, responding to each others’ stories with crafted stories of their own. Chats have their own sense of rhythm and pace that add value to the interaction. Emulating that was worth exploring.

> We wanted to enable people to create short stories, frame-by-frame, with the right content to make them engaging and fun to share just like the conversations you have with friends.

We’ve had a lot of fun these last few months building Moment. It’s a side project we’re proud of and we’re thrilled you can have it in your hands today. We chose to ship it with the features that most embody what Moment is about.

[Download it](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moment-fun-way-to-share-stories/id929355264?mt=8) and read on for more details about some of the features that define Moment.

Have fun.\
John

### **[Download Moment](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moment-fun-way-to-share-stories/id929355264?mt=8)**

[Download Press Kit](https://moment.rocks/resources/downloads/press-kit.zip)

---

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2F696072c8-f548-4391-a80b-3ff3bb3203b4.jpg?alt=media&token=b81a4c19-4dee-4e01-94fd-dcf03d9aabe5","id":"696072c8-f548-4391-a80b-3ff3bb3203b4","width":2000,"height":1500,"filename":"8a_bot_jumping.JPG","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

## **Creating Moment’s unique features**

### **Conversations in real life**

Messaging looks like this today:

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2Fb6cf0921-182d-44d1-827c-bd85153eeb19.png?alt=media&token=e8f7a7f7-cf5a-4bf0-b145-7a6f6b4b6db5","id":"b6cf0921-182d-44d1-827c-bd85153eeb19","width":2000,"height":591,"filename":"text-message-flow.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

When two friends are communicating there’s a rapid exchange of visual and verbal information over a period of time. A good story here. A funny joke there. These moments create a conversation thread. Some moments are related and some are off-topic, but the most important one is the one happening right now.

Translated digitally, that rapid exchange drove the decision to dedicate the whole screen to a split window view of the sender and the receiver. There’s no scrolling. You can see your moment (bottom) and your friend’s moment (top) with the most recent one highlighted and playing prompting the other person to respond. It’s like conversation ping-pong.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2F8fe8e1bd-1b58-42a9-af63-32042a2d4e80.png?alt=media&token=60779569-fea6-49f0-ba9a-2658044759c2","id":"8fe8e1bd-1b58-42a9-af63-32042a2d4e80","width":2000,"height":591,"filename":"moment-flow.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

And, if the moment you’re sharing is something you want to share with others, you can forward it on to other people you’re chatting with easily. More importantly, the interaction is lightweight and not precious. You should feel free to stop and start again, and the next moment you share is the most important one. And, it should be exciting.

### **Playing with time**

Moving pictures are exciting. They’re suspenseful and add a little drama with each subsequent frame; almost like hanging on to the next sentence of your friend’s story. GIFs are really good at this as edited shorts. They’re also great public consumption citizens since they don’t transmit audio and, more importantly, they’re edited for brevity to carry the crux of the message.

We wanted this kind of engagement in our moments. Like I mentioned earlier, visual and verbal information over time characterize conversations so images and text were the clear top choices to include in moments.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2F449f2620-44f8-4259-9cf3-903f7994a446.gif?alt=media&token=caeb997b-6cb3-4e89-954f-84773aeaf318","id":"449f2620-44f8-4259-9cf3-903f7994a446","width":275,"height":562,"filename":"medium-iphone3.gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

We took the opportunity to enhance a user’s moments with GIF-like behavior without the GIF format. This allowed us to make consuming moments easy and fun, but keeps the door open for adding different interactions within each frame of the moment beyond just images and text. Sometime. In the future. Maybe. ;)

Creating a moment should feel easy and lightweight so operating the composer should be straightforward and fast. Switching between a photo or a color background with text on it is as simple as swiping up or down on the screen. There are controls for taking a photo or, of course, the keyboard for writing text. Advancing slides is as easy as tapping *Next* on the keyboard or swiping to the left on the screen.

Up or down to switch between photos and color backgrounds. Left and right to move forward or go back and edit in time. High five.

### **Chat rooms using keys not names**

Imagine you have a key in your hand. It’s a key to a room that only you and your friend know about because she told you about it. No one else in the world knows where this room is. Further, you own one of two keys that open this room. The other one is with your friend and she already used it and she’s waiting for you to join her.

It sounds like the beginning of a really good story, but that’s actually how our chat rooms work. We could have made it so that your friend told you to “bring your ID and they’ll let you in,” but we (the room makers) don’t really want your information. And for that matter, we don’t want you fussing with emails, phone numbers, and passwords either.

> …we don’t want you fussing with emails, phone numbers, and passwords either.

Every chat in Moment begins with you creating a room that can be accessed with two unique keys. One of those keys is immediately used for you to enter the chat and the other key is left for you to share with whomever you want to chat with. You can share that key however you can— it’s just a URL. The important thing you have to remember is that once two people enter a room, it can’t be accessed by anyone again.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2FqQiEyzZjzOg9dZrh1cRy%2F03a6e8da-4b53-4f5b-85f7-12475d45d663.gif?alt=media&token=501eedb0-7c66-4df6-8e7c-e50ce2b168d1","id":"03a6e8da-4b53-4f5b-85f7-12475d45d663","width":275,"height":562,"filename":"medium-iphone2.gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

It’s like the door locks behind you and there are no more keys. If you or your friend exits, the room vanishes along with the moments shared between you two. There is no preciousness here. A room is only slightly more difficult to delete than it is to create. If a room is deleted for whatever reason by one of the participants, it’s also removed from the device of the other participant, no questions asked.

It’s quasi-anonymous in this way, too. You can chat with any of your contacts by sending them the key, or you can broadcast it out and whoever sees the key (and has the app) can enter the room on a first-come, first-served basis.

Best of all, our method of using private chat rooms gets you chatting as fast as you can send someone a key without all the back-and-forth of email confirmations.

---

And that’s how we want to present Moment. We want our users to jump in and start having fun, creating awesome moments, and sharing them with whomever they please. There’s an option to share a chat — it exports a short video of the combined moments — so please, share them on Facebook and Instagram. Reach out to us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/momentrocks), too. For more specific information about using Moment, check our [FAQ](https://moment.rocks/faq/) and if you need our logo and App Store screenshots, grab them [here](https://moment.rocks/resources/downloads/press-kit.zip).

Like I mentioned earlier, we couldn’t be more proud or excited. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we enjoyed making it.

**[Download Moment](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moment-fun-way-to-share-stories/id929355264?mt=8)**

Moment

In 2016, I stepped into the exciting world of [Remind](http://remind.com), an education technology company valued at over a billion dollars, as a senior product designer. I was part of a 14-person design team in a thriving company experiencing the heady days of the tech boom where high valuations were commonplace, despite the lack of a clear business model.

Research suggests students thrive when parents and teachers are highly engaged and invested in their success. Our mission was to connect parents, students, and teachers through a communication network that would support a student's educational career—a Slack for schools.

But, reality set in. We couldn't figure out a way to monetize our hundreds of millions of users and we faced the harsh reality of a down round and attrition. It was a difficult period, but it also presented an opportunity for transformation.

In the wake of these challenges, I assumed leadership of the design team. I hired five talented designers and a researcher, forming a new core to navigate the company's evolution. Together, we embarked on a journey to reposition Remind away from its consumer-facing origins as a teacher's classroom tool into a robust, districtwide communication platform. This pivot marked a turning point and laid the groundwork for a sustainable future focused on enterprise sales.

On our journey to reshape our business we evolved Remind for enterprise-grade security and management features including a SIS sync, connecting back-of-house to front-of-house accounting to our sales CRM, and self-serve upgrade workflows.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fs5UsyYGmFLM5MDEUgFNH%2F7be7899c-0ed3-4b2c-a5ec-aba148d52e6b.png?alt=media&token=3cdb08ec-7224-47c6-995b-c86b44ecb09e","id":"7be7899c-0ed3-4b2c-a5ec-aba148d52e6b","width":2880,"height":1440,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"For Remind to be a successful communication tool, it needed to connect to a district's single source of truth registry for all students, teachers, and parents.","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fs5UsyYGmFLM5MDEUgFNH%2Fe1629a7a-b570-4e93-96fd-3101feed322b.png?alt=media&token=e9c6f60f-09b1-47a7-93e9-a275eb2e0cc4","id":"e1629a7a-b570-4e93-96fd-3101feed322b","width":2880,"height":960,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"Remind had impressive organic growth in classrooms driven by teachers. We built ways for them to influence administrators to leverage Remind throughout the district.","border":false}]}
```

In an effort to give administrators even more visibility into the student and teacher body, we built them the Admin Observatory—a way to traverse across every district, school, and classroom connected through Remind. They had the ability to message or call individuals directly and connect with relatives as needed. Together, this product eliminated two-to-three redundant tools that administrators used everyday.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fs5UsyYGmFLM5MDEUgFNH%2Fdce5a252-f249-4d7b-8147-4983bca433bb.png?alt=media&token=f73f3242-b802-48d1-b70c-f9c7060b6304","id":"dce5a252-f249-4d7b-8147-4983bca433bb","width":2880,"height":1440,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"We provided tools to admins that gave them confidence in their data and clarity in their actions.","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fs5UsyYGmFLM5MDEUgFNH%2F0a4acbbc-9e89-4b9c-a9a4-be3b6c78f4a2.png?alt=media&token=1ac3220a-f3b8-4b9a-b696-93f7dc61a14a","id":"0a4acbbc-9e89-4b9c-a9a4-be3b6c78f4a2","width":2196,"height":1440,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"The sidebar is well understood and provides flexibility in navigating lists for quick context and actions.","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fs5UsyYGmFLM5MDEUgFNH%2Faf2d77a2-d5da-4424-a011-c6f7cfb8b843.png?alt=media&token=06fd6cec-44f7-4429-b64a-36d279c44063","id":"af2d77a2-d5da-4424-a011-c6f7cfb8b843","width":1796,"height":1112,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"Multiple select actions can be more clearly explained and visible.","border":false}]}
```

We didn't abandon all our consumer-facing features. District growth followed classroom engagement and we built phone calls for teachers to talk privately with parents through Remind without making their personal phone numbers known (a common request). At the height of the pandemic, when students were forced to learn from home, we built a white-boarding and presentation tool that made it simple to host an interactive classroom.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2FvtBVmlrR5QeNDfMhKfyx5txieyo1%2Fs5UsyYGmFLM5MDEUgFNH%2F5964ff1e-8c4b-4e8d-baaa-9657bdbee03e.png?alt=media&token=5fd90e78-3f4c-4c28-9e8d-7aedb47059b3","id":"5964ff1e-8c4b-4e8d-baaa-9657bdbee03e","width":2880,"height":960,"filename":"image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"VoIP calls worked across desktop and mobile—allowing teachers to make critical calls and stay connected with families.","border":false}]}
```

At around the same time we saw an opportunity to leverage our rich student/teacher graph and build a service that would:

1. allow teachers an opportunity to reach more students while offering an additional income source and,

2. give students a private tutor for a fraction of the conventional cost.

We called it Remind Tutoring and it's a great example of a lean team building a 0 → 1 product with outsized impact. More on that project [here](http://read.cv/john/remind-tutoring).

While we were deploying the Tutoring service, we brought together a team to tackle Remind's core product—the composing and navigation UI. This product didn't hit production before I left, but it's a consideration for how we'd evolve the core product experience as the business grew.

```cv
figma
{"url":"https://www.figma.com/proto/0zZXLgtziTJB0r0ikBvcH7/Composer-2.0?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=1-4216&node-type=canvas&viewport=875%2C513%2C0.1&t=7RHqqVCj0Ub6ToGx-1&scaling=min-zoom&content-scaling=fixed&hotspot-hints=0"}
```

I'm grateful I was able to oversee these efforts and am proud of what the team was able to accomplish. Remind was acquired by one of its longstanding competitors, [ParentSquare](http://parentsquare.com), in 2023.

Remind: Enabling student success

Designer

App Builder

Tutoring

Some friends and I made an ephemeral messaging iOS app. You can't download it anymore, but I think it holds up pretty well. The verbose launch writeup is attached in case the link dies.

Keeping up the tradition of complex and challenging industries, education is an area sorely in need of talent and dedication. I rebuilt the design team through a down round, reported to the VP of Product, and helped transform the business from a consumer communication app to a districtwide tech platform.

Head of Design

Through an incredible growth period at Airtable I joined leadership to manage the App Builder and Core Surfaces (design systems, home, and mobile) teams.

Design Manager

Embraced complexity as a platform designer. Created the first declarative no-code tool for business processes called Process Builder. Did a brief stint on the Analytics team.

Senior Designer

First designer at a seed stage startup. Hey, it's the Bay. Grew my love for fast-paced, high trust building environments in the fascinating world of mortgages and finance.

Principal Designer

My primary focus was transforming Airtable from a conventional grid interface to an app building and deploying tool. I also developed enterprise-grade apps built on Airtable's platform.

John Shin

Projects

Work Experience

Side Projects

Contact