2025 was a great first step for SHSAT Buddy. The goal wasn’t just to ship an app — it was to understand whether modern tooling, AI-generated content, and thoughtful UX could meaningfully help students preparing for one of the most high-stakes, under-resourced middle school exams in the country.
Here’s how the year unfolded.
What We Built
By the end of the year, SHSAT Buddy had:
- 4,000+ AI-generated questions, carefully tuned to mimic six years of real SHSAT exams
- 300+ students who took at least one quiz
- 200+ students who completed a full-length practice test
On the acquisition side:
- Nearly 50 TikTok posts became our strongest channel for reaching students directly
- Facebook and Instagram drove the most parent interest
- Word of mouth ultimately converted the best users
What We Learned About Ed Tech
Building in education surfaces hard truths quickly:
- Students want help — but they won’t pay.
Motivation is high, willingness to spend is not. Parents are the real customers. - Parent retention is incredibly strong once they’re onboarded.
When parents understand progress and outcomes, retention exceeds 80%. - Practice tests matter more than daily quizzes.
Quizzes help build habits, but realistic practice tests deliver the most value. - Authenticity beats novelty.
Nearly all feedback focused on making the experience feel more like test day. - Gamification isn’t guaranteed.
Leaderboards failed due to low density and lack of friend-to-friend usage. - Native app distribution is painful.
App Store friction made one thing clear: web-first is the path forward.
What We’re Building Next
Based on everything we learned, our focus moving forward is clear:
- Rebuild the parent onboarding flow to simplify test management and progress tracking
- Focus on desktop-first experiences
- Expand question types as the SHSAT continues to evolve
- Increase overall question difficulty
- Keep learning directly from parents and students — continuously
Closing Thoughts
Building SHSAT Buddy in 2025 was equal parts energizing and humbling. Education products don’t succeed because they’re clever — they succeed because they earn trust, reflect reality, and respect the stakes students and families face.
I’m proud of what we built, grateful for everyone who used it, and excited to keep building.
Onward 🚀
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