Comprehensive visual design in the MindOne application

BitRaptors • Product Design • 2023

MindOne is a mobile application designed and developed by BitRaptors. The app's goal is to bring AI-based tools, such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion, to a broader audience of everyday people.

Background

I joined the project team during the testing of the alpha version, after which I started working on the product's branding and user interface. The visual elements used at the launch were reinterpreted based on the emerging vision, mission, brand message, promise, and personality. During the branding process, we conducted a competitor analysis to determine the app's market position.

Our three-person design team was responsible for shaping the interface, taking into account user experience and product-level decisions. We worked closely with the development team, holding regular consultations throughout every phase of the design process.

Brand

The incredibly fast-paced tech market, or more specifically artificial intelligence, demands a unique response. During competitor analysis, we observed that current AI applications often use specialized terminology, which can make it harder for users to connect with them. In many cases, applications on the market visually associate AI with anime, futuristic scenes, and outer space in their communications, making the technology appear magical and extraordinary.

For users, AI represents a new and contradictory experience, meaning that many have not yet formed a concrete opinion on the subject.

MindOne's message is that generative AI is a fun phenomenon, and therefore it must be approachable for the general public. In MindOne’s communication, we have chosen a direct, friendly tone with simple, everyday language, accompanied by images of animals, nature, and classic vehicles. All of this is presented in a retro-futuristic environment, making it familiar to people.

UI/UX

Clarity. When designing the user interface, clarity was a key consideration—many competing applications do not present their services, generated texts, or images in a simple and familiar way. We achieved an organized look by using text streams and collections assigned to the services.

Ethical design. In our design, we paid special attention to avoiding dark patterns, and we did not force users to register or subscribe. We clearly and visibly communicate the available choices to the users. The use of dark patterns fundamentally undermines users' trust, which is even more crucial when it comes to unfamiliar technology.

Restrained aesthetics. Our principle is that aesthetics should not come at the expense of user experience, whether in terms of visual overload or device performance. The clean interface has also proven to be a good choice for scalability.

Platforms

MindOne was first launched as a native iOS (Swift) and Android (Kotlin) app, followed by web (React) and visionOS versions. Although each platform has its unique features, we have strived to provide a consistent experience for all users.

Workflow

The design process was conducted in collaboration with the developers through regular meetings. I chose the format for delivering the final designs that best suited the team. In this Figma page, we prepared the design covering edge cases, broken down into flows and annotated, and then presented it to the team members.

In the proven method, the screens are placed as components, so modifying any part updates all the flows. Using Figma variables, we developed a two-tier token system.