This project began in 2005 and it is a result of the cooperation between the experts in the field of university pedagogy working at the University of Helsinki. The work was coordinated by the Centre for Teaching and Learning (HYPE). UniHow first started as the tool that is now known as HowULearn, and all other products in the UniHow product family are based on the HowULearn mechanism.
Prior to the implementation of UniHow, no one within the university staff had time to structurise, analyse and catalogue the various feedback surveys presented to the students in the academia. Similarly, there was no standardised method of collecting the feedback as the questionnaires varied in scope and content and were being constructed by individual teachers and scholars. In addition, the surveyees had no access to wider-scope feedback. If, for example, there was dissatisfaction with studying conditions or studying fatigue emerged, the only way for an individual to get consulting was to see a study counsellor or a student psychologist. Simply, there was a need for a unified survey and feedback tool. The initiative came from the University of Helsinki faculties which meant that product development was based on actual need instead of being a project governed from the administration level. The software development began in 2009 and HowULearn was first piloted in 2013. Soon the decision was made in the Helsinki University Centre for University Teaching and Learning to expand the product family by adding four new products and renaming the product family UniHow.