Markit

Markit Chrome Extension UI

Inspiration

During my research internship at NIT Warangal, I spent hours reading research papers and collecting useful insights from different sources. To keep track of them, I manually maintained Excel sheets with links and notes. This process was tedious, broke my focus, and reduced productivity. I wanted a simpler way to capture research insights while reading without switching tools. That experience inspired Markit.

What it does

Markit is a Chrome extension that helps users capture, organize, and revisit important information directly while browsing. With a single click, users can save key insights from research papers or articles along with full source context. Each saved highlight includes the original link, date, and time, making information easy to trace and verify. Markit also allows users to share these highlighted insights with others, eliminating the need for spreadsheets or manual tracking and making collaboration simple and efficient.

How we built it

We built Markit as a lightweight Chrome extension using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The extension interacts directly with web content to capture selected text and metadata, stores data locally for fast access, and presents it in a clean, minimal interface designed to avoid distraction.

Challenges we ran into

Designing a workflow that felt natural without interrupting reading was challenging. We also had to balance simplicity with flexibility, ensuring saved insights remained structured while keeping the extension easy to use. Managing storage efficiently without slowing the browser was another hurdle.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully replaced a manual, error prone workflow with a seamless in browser solution. Markit significantly reduces context switching and makes research reading more efficient. Building a tool directly from a real personal problem and turning it into a usable product is something we are proud of.

What we learned

We learned the importance of building around real user pain points and keeping interfaces minimal for productivity tools. We also gained hands on experience with browser extension architecture, storage management, and designing workflows for focused work.

What's next for Markit

Next, we plan to add smart categorization, search, and AI assisted summarization to help users extract even more value from saved insights. We also aim to expand support for exporting, collaboration, and cloud sync to make Markit useful for long term research workflows.