mobile app design
Tone AI
Nurturing authentic connection between creators and fans.
Tone AI, previously Nodeio, is an audio-social startup I joined in 2023 at the pre-seed stage. Originally focused on helping creators connect with fans through short voice-based posts called "nodeios," the company has since evolved into an enterprise platform that captures workplace conversations and transforms them into content and market insights for growth teams.
I worked with the founding team as a UI/UX designer when they were raising their pre-seed round. My role was to lead the mobile app design for the original creator-focused product and build an interactive prototype to demo to early investors and stakeholders.
Timeline
January 2023 - March 2023
Disciplines
User experience
Art direction
Role
Product Designer
Introduction
Step one
Discovery and UX Research
I was given 4-6 weeks to design and prototype an audio-social platform that prioritized creator to listener connection, however it was unclear whether the existing product or preliminary design aligned with both user needs and business goals.
With very little time to conduct user interviews in the discovery stage, I had to find a work-around. I spent time researching existing audio-social apps, like Clubhouse, to teach me about the product and audience. With this research guiding us, Ria and I created user personas that would guide the MVP features and UX.
MVP ☆
Discoverability
"Question" and "Answer" nodeios was an MVP feature designed to kickstart conversation between creators and their fans.
Similar to a virtual "meet and greet" creators are encouraged to answer intimate questions. The discover page acted as a connection hub, designed for fans to learn about and interact with creators.
Inclusive audio
Keeping our users in mind, I set to design a Home feed with creator to fan connection and community building in mind.
Audio-based social media apps lack structured conversation, leading to low content quality. It also leaves out fans who might be audibly impaired. To combat this issue, I decided to implement interspersed audio and text based threads- to promote communication and accessability.
Threads revolutionize storytelling and are effective for both content organization and extended conversation. Audio fosters intimacy and threads provide structure, making the platform interactive, inclusive and impactful.
Visually, I wanted to keep the home feed minimal to keep focus on the content and prioritize accessability.
Quick audio reply to encourage voice-based connection.
Making audio friendly
Audio can be intimidating.
To combat this, I created a personal profile page that felt familiar, playful, customizable and included clear user touch-points.
Keeping the user interface design simple, approachable and accessible was important in onboarding the next wave of audio-first creators and users.
Tone AI
