Client

Teacher’s Buddy is a New Zealand A.I. SaaS startup helping teachers create classroom resources and reduce preparation time.

Problem

A.I. can generate resources quickly, but speed alone is not enough. Teachers need tools that understand their working context, remove repetitive steps and make useful content easier to create. The challenge was deciding what genuinely deserved to be built while the company was moving at startup pace.

Strategic framing

Get time-poor teachers who are creating lessons and learning resources to spend less time preparing content, by using teacher feedback to simplify workflows and make A.I.-assisted creation more relevant, so they can focus more of their time on teaching.

Solution

As an A.I. startup, we believed the technology should sit at the heart of everything we did, not as another feature, but as a deliberate way to add genuine value and make teachers’ lives easier. Teacher feedback, recorded demos and product behaviour showed us where that value could be found, helping us challenge assumptions, strip away friction and focus on the opportunities worth pursuing.

That ambition extended beyond the product. We built a distinctive brand across presentations, events and marketing, so every touchpoint felt unmistakably Teacher’s Buddy.

PRODUCT & CREATIVE DIRECTION 2026

Design System

Teacher’s Buddy needed a design system that could make a capable A.I. product feel clear, human and practical rather than cold or generic.

Navy and teal create a confident foundation, with pink reserved for primary actions and yellow used for emphasis. Geologica gives the brand an expressive, distinctive voice while remaining readable across dense product interfaces.

Solar iconography, reusable controls and accessible colour scales bring consistency across the SaaS platform, presentations and marketing, giving the product team a system that can grow without losing its identity.

Product Strategy & UX

Teacher’s Buddy was already in use, so the work began with how teachers actually created resources rather than a list of speculative features. Teacher conversations, recorded demos, transcripts, the existing creation form and product-team context exposed where effort was being repeated and where assistance could make a genuine difference.

Every opportunity was weighed against teacher value, engineering effort, A.I. processing cost and student privacy. File uploads remained a recommended direction, while an optional “Fill in the gaps” interaction was refined with teachers and shipped inside the familiar resource-creation flow.

Feedback helped sharpen the interaction and increased uptake. The principle stayed simple. A.I. should make the task easier without taking control away from the teacher.

Brand & Campaigns

The job extended beyond the interface. Teachers, schools and the sales team needed the same clear sense of who Teacher’s Buddy was wherever they encountered it.

We created a flexible visual direction spanning presentations, events, launch material, social content and video. Editable Canva templates gave the sales team a practical way to move quickly while keeping every piece recognisably on brand.

The result connected what the product promised with how the business presented it. The brand made the product easier to understand, while the product delivered on that promise.