The client came to us in February. The new school term started in May.
They needed a platform that let teachers create quizzes, students take them on basic smartphones, and parents see results. No frills. No LMS. No video streaming.
Just quiz + results + SMS notification.
The constraint that forced good decisions
The school term deadline was non-negotiable. The budget was fixed. Every feature decision had to pass a simple test: does this directly help a teacher give a quiz tomorrow?
Here is how we structured the build:
What we cut (and why it was the right call)
| In Scope (V1) | Cut for Later |
|---|---|
| Teacher quiz creation | AI-generated questions |
| Student quiz via web + SMS | Mobile app (iOS/Android) |
| Parent SMS result notification | In-app chat/messaging |
| Basic class management | Learning analytics dashboard |
| Manual student import | School admin portal |
| Simple pass/fail grading | Advanced grading (percentages, curves) |
| One admin user per school | Role-based permissions (multiple admin levels) |
The hardest cut
The client wanted a mobile app. We argued for a mobile web experience instead. Building and shipping a native app to both app stores would have added 4-6 weeks minimum. The mobile web version launched on day one and worked on every device. The native app shipped in V2, 4 months later.
The results
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Time to launch | 13 weeks |
| Development team | 3 engineers + 1 designer |
| Total cost | ₦8.2M |
| Users after 30 days | 527 |
| App Store rating (V2) | 4.2 stars |
| Schools onboarded (month 1) | 12 |
| Quizzes created (month 1) | 340+ |
| SMS results sent (month 1) | 8,400+ |
What we'd do differently
We spent too long on the teacher UI. Teachers are power users — they can handle a utilitarian interface. Students and parents (the other two user groups) needed more thought. In retrospect, we should have started with the student experience and worked backwards.
The tech decisions that mattered
- Next.js for the frontend — fast development, good SEO for discovery
- Firebase for auth + database — handled the rapid growth without infrastructure work
- Twilio for SMS — reliable delivery even on MTN, Glo, and Airtel networks
- Progressive Web App — students could save it to their phone homescreen like a real app
- No native app for V1 — saved 6 weeks and reached every device immediately
Key takeaway for founders
An MVP is not a smaller version of your full vision. It is the smallest thing you can build that a real user will pay for. If your MVP takes more than 3 months to build, cut harder.
Have an EdTech idea? Talk to us. We specialise in taking education products from whiteboard to live users in under 4 months.