For students and researchers
Lit review due. 40 PDFs open.
In Plexii, your lit review gets one desk.
The problem
A literature review means dozens of PDFs, notes in a spreadsheet and your supervisor's feedback in an email. Exam revision does not wait for it to be finished.
In the video: “Lit review's due. 40 PDFs open, notes in a spreadsheet, your supervisor's feedback in an email.”
How PlexiDesk handles it
In PlexiDesk, your lit review gets one desk. A desk is one canvas for one piece of work, and the video tours three of its widgets:
Every source
In the video: “Every source, what it found, and what's left to read.”
A Table widget lists every source, what it found and what is left to read.
Supervisor's notes
In the video: “What your supervisor asked for last meeting.”
A Page widget holds what your supervisor asked for at the last meeting.
The referencing guide
In the video: “The referencing guide, open as a live web page.”
A Browser widget keeps the referencing guide open as a live web page beside your notes.
When something else comes up
In the video: “Then exams creep up. Switch desks. Your lit review waits exactly where you left it.”
The other job gets a desk of its own, so switching does not mean packing anything away. In the video, “Thesis lit review” stays exactly as it was while “Semester exam revision” is open. Open desks sit side by side as tabs in the open items strip, a click apart, and Resume writes a short note on where a desk stands for when you come back to it.
Your lit review on one desk. Exams on another.
Try it
Try an university student deskThe interactive demo builds a ready-made desk for this kind of work in your browser. Nothing to install.
Or set up the desk yourself from a template: each one lists the widgets it needs and how to set it up in PlexiDesk.
- Desk template
Literature review matrix desk: every source, method and finding side by side
Build the literature review matrix as a Table, one row per source, grouped by theme, so the synthesis is written theme by theme in the Page beside it.
- Desk template
Revision timetable desk: topics, confidence and sessions until the exam
Plan revision from confidence as well as dates: every topic rated, the sessions on a calendar, a chart of confidence by subject and a 25-minute timer for each session.
- Desk template
Essay planning desk: the question, the readings and the word counts in one view
Put the essay question on a card, give each section a word target, and log every quote with its page number as you read, so the draft is planned against the brief, not the night before.
Related reading
- Blog
How to organise research for an essay, from readings to draft
Start from the question, keep every reading in one place, note page numbers as you go and map the argument before you draft. A method for research essays.
- Blog
Too many tabs open? A calmer way to keep your research
Tabs pile up because each one is a reminder, a bookmark and a workspace at once. Separate those jobs and keep research with the work it belongs to.
Transcript
Lit review's due. 40 PDFs open, notes in a spreadsheet, your supervisor's feedback in an email. In Plexii, your lit review gets one desk. Every source, what it found, and what's left to read. What your supervisor asked for last meeting. The referencing guide, open as a live web page. Then exams creep up. Switch desks. Your lit review waits exactly where you left it. Your lit review on one desk. Exams on another.
Real app footage of a demo desk with sample data. The illustrations and the voice are AI-generated.