That's So Econ!

Inspiration

During a career-aptitude survey at our school, we discovered something surprising: 6 out of 10 students who chose economics couldn't explain why they chose it—or even what field of economics interested them. We realized that students were often selecting their future major based on prestige, family expectations, or incomplete information rather than genuine understanding.

The more we spoke with students, the clearer the problem became. Economics is not a single discipline; it is a collection of diverse fields such as entrepreneurship, behavioral, and development economics, each leading to different careers and requiring different interests and skills. Yet very few students are introduced to these differences before committing to a major.

That's So Econ! was created to bridge that gap by helping students explore economics before they commit to it.

What it does

That's So Econ! is an interactive platform that helps students discover which field of economics best matches their interests.

Instead of overwhelming learners with long university-style courses, the platform delivers bite-sized lessons, real-world articles, quizzes, personal notes, learning roadmaps, and habit-building features such as daily streaks. Students can explore multiple branches of economics—including Entrepreneurship, Behavioral, and Development Economics—through practical examples before deciding which path fits them best.

Our goal is simple: help students move from guessing to choosing.

How we built it

We designed That's So Econ! as a modern full-stack web application centered around an engaging learning experience.

The platform organizes each learning track into a consistent structure: concepts, articles, quizzes, personal notes, and guided roadmaps. The backend manages educational content, learner progress, and user accounts, while the frontend focuses on making complex economic ideas approachable through an intuitive interface.

Throughout development, we continuously refined both the educational content and user experience by thinking from the perspective of students who are exploring economics for the first time.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was simplifying economics without sacrificing its depth and accuracy.

Another challenge was deciding how to organize the content. Economics contains many specialized fields, and we wanted students to understand the differences without feeling overwhelmed. Finding the right balance between academic rigor and accessibility required multiple iterations.

We also had to build a platform that encourages consistent learning habits rather than one-time visits, leading us to incorporate guided learning paths, quizzes, notes, and daily streaks.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Identified a real educational problem through data and conversations with students.
Built a complete platform dedicated to helping students explore economics before choosing a specialization.
Launched three complete learning tracks: Entrepreneurship Economics, Behavioral Economics, and Development Economics.
Designed an experience centered on active learning through quizzes, articles, notes, and guided roadmaps rather than passive reading.
Created a foundation that can scale to dozens of additional economics disciplines.

What we learned

Building an educational platform taught us that good education starts long before students enter a classroom—it starts with helping them make informed decisions.

We learned how to translate complex academic subjects into engaging learning experiences, balance educational depth with simplicity, and design software around real user needs instead of assumptions.

Most importantly, we learned that discovering the right problem is just as important as building the right solution.

What's next for That's So Econ!

We're expanding That's So Econ! beyond its first three learning tracks into a comprehensive library covering many branches of economics.

Our roadmap includes multilingual support to make the platform accessible to students beyond English-speaking audiences, richer personalization features, improved progress tracking, and interactive tools that make economics even more engaging.

Ultimately, we want That's So Econ! to become the platform students visit before choosing an economics major—helping them understand not just what economics is, but which economics is right for them.