UX Audit: Emotional AI Self Reflection Platform
Identified UX gaps in startup's core experience to increase user retention that led to a redesign contract
CLIENT
US BASED SEED STAGE STARTUP
ROLE
UX DESIGNER
TIMELINE
3 DAYS
The Goal
A seed stage asked me to audit their onboarding and homepage for their self reflection platform.
My goal was to understand why first‑time users weren’t engaging deeply and how to build trust early.
The Impact
Hired on a contract to redesign their onboarding and homepage experience to optimize for retention, user experience and virality
A seed-stage emotional AI startup was struggling with user engagement in their core flow. Users were dropping off before building meaningful relationships with the AI companion, despite strong product-market fit indicators.
The Process
I started by auditing their onboarding to find out key screens that influenced the homepage. After picking out the flow, I went on to find usability issues from the user’s POV on the entire homepage, and suggested a new redirection to increase engagement and retention
EARLY DESIGN ANNOTATIONS FOR HOMEPAGE
Key Findings
Trust Architecture Failure
Users prompted to share personal emotional data without relationship building
No progressive disclosure or scaffolding for vulnerable interactions
AI insights delivered without context for user's emotional state
Looks like clickable pills
Not linked to user input
Nice greeting
User has no incentive to talk to Robyn, yet
Hidden
These should be actionable, especially because it’s a bottom sheet and the user is not guided enough after clicking a step
2. Fragmented User Journey
Homepage functioned like a landing page with scattered entry points
Emotional data, journaling, and AI reflection split across disconnected interfaces
No cohesive narrative guiding users through the experience
Looks like clickable pills
Not linked to user input
Nice greeting
User has no incentive to talk to Robyn, yet
Hidden
These should be actionable, especially because it’s a bottom sheet and the user is not guided enough after clicking a step
3. Missing Emotional Scaffolding
Users prompted to share personal emotional data without relationship building
No progressive disclosure or scaffolding for vulnerable interactions
AI insights delivered without context for user's emotional state
Looks like clickable pills
Not linked to user input
Nice greeting
User has no incentive to talk to Robyn, yet
Hidden
These should be actionable, especially because it’s a bottom sheet and the user is not guided enough after clicking a step
The platform was asking users to be emotionally vulnerable before establishing any foundation of trust - a fundamental mismatch for emotional AI interfaces.
Redirection Logic
I started by asking a fundamental question before suggesting a redirection -
What even is self reflection?
Successful Self reflection = one clear insight that relates current feeling with context
Proposed homepage UX
Check in = Feeling now
Context = Mood + Health
Right now, for a first time user, the homepage feels fragmented. User is lost and there’s a just a single action loop with redundant cards and copy that, even though feels comforting, lacks context to guide the user.
________________
This new flow simplifies the experience into an emotional progression:
Start from a low-stakes check-in
Mirror it back with feeling + context
Nudge action
Offer Robyn with trust built in
Old v/s New
Over time, I suggested that they can start making the action card and the insight reflective of the check in and the context card as an insight to how the mind and body behaves generally.
1. Scattered Entry Points
Before: Emotional data, journaling, and Robyn’s reflection are split into different cards, making it hard to know where to begin.
After: Starts with how the user feels today, and builds the page around that moment
Reflections don't feel guided
Before: The insights feel generic or static, with little guidance on what to do next.
After: Action Follows Reflection – Prompts like “One good thing today” and “Explore your rhythm” feel natural after an insight
Emotional Structure & Flow
Before: Cards feel stacked without hierarchy, mixing journaling, past insights, and chat without direction.
After: Homepage flows as a narrative:
acknowledge today’s state → explore rhythm → reflect deeper
before v/s after
Today, 24th June.
You checked in as meh
Explore your feeling today with Robyn
What’s rising with you, today
You’re tracking storm clouds before the rain. That’s awareness. Let’s explore what might be underneath
Explore with Robyn
Feels like a heavy day today
Your body today: Tight shoulders, low energy
Your mind today: Anxious
You tend to stay anxious when your steps are less than 5000.
Today feels like there is more weight in you, but there’s still room to calibrate
Your day today: Meetings, no space to breathe
One good thing, today
Step outside. A 10-min walk can reset your anxious brain
You’re still showing up, that’s what matters
Robyn can help you move through today, not around it. Dive deeper with Robyn
Share a journal
Drop a picture
Voice your thoughts
Dive deeper with yourself
Talk to Robyn
Adaptive UX
Over time, I suggested that they can start making the action card and the insight reflective of the check in and the context card as an insight to how the mind and body behaves generally.
new user
user not checked in
user checked in
Today, 24th June.
How are you feeling today, Sham?
Drop a thought, text, or mood
Feels like a heavy day today
Your mind today: Anxious
Your body today: Tight shoulders, low energy
You tend to stay anxious when your steps are less than 5000.
Today feels like there is more weight in you, but there’s still room to calibrate
Explore today’s rhythm
One good thing, today
Write about the one thing you’re proud of today?
You’re still showing up, that’s what matters
Robyn can help you move through today, not around it. Dive deeper with Robyn
Share a journal
Drop a picture
Voice your thoughts
Dive deeper with yourself
Talk to Robyn
Today, 24th June.
You checked in as meh
Explore your feeling today with Robyn
What’s rising with you, today
You’re tracking storm clouds before the rain. That’s awareness. Let’s explore what might be underneath
Explore with Robyn
Even on a “meh” day
Your mind today: Anxious
Your body today: Tight shoulders, low energy
You tend to stay anxious when your steps are less than 5000.
Today feels like there is more weight in you, but there’s still room to calibrate
Explore today’s rhythm
One good thing, today
Step outside. A 10-min walk can reset your anxious brain
You’re still showing up, that’s what matters
Robyn can help you move through today, not around it. Dive deeper with Robyn
Share a journal
Drop a picture
Voice your thoughts
Dive deeper with yourself
Talk to Robyn
Today, 24th June.
You haven’t checked in today
Explore your feeling today with Robyn
Feels like a heavy day today
Your mind today: Anxious
Your body today: Tight shoulders, low energy
You tend to stay anxious when your steps are less than 5000.
Today feels like there is more weight in you, but there’s still room to calibrate
Explore today’s rhythm
One good thing, today
Step outside. A 10-min walk can reset your anxious brain
You’re still showing up, that’s what matters
Robyn can help you move through today, not around it. Dive deeper with Robyn
Share a journal
Drop a picture
Voice your thoughts
Dive deeper with yourself
Talk to Robyn
Bonus Audit
Threw in an extra audit of their other tab (the insights tab) and proposed a new UI redirection for the insight page to get the emotionally intelligent OS vibe of the app
Score doesn’t make sense here, have one unified score
No connection to mind, pair it with emotional scorecard
The connection isn’t visible!
SHOULD BE ON TOP!
Use this as a unified score to connect all the emotions, mood and health
Repetition from homescreen
Let this tab be the unfolding
Old insights tab UX
Proposed UI/UX
Based on this 3 day audit and framework, I was hired to redesign the onboarding experience and implement the progressive trust architecture across core user flows.
The work is under NDA, but happy to get on a call and walk you through it!