SpiritAnimal.ai
Designing the user journey (based on user testing with 30 people) + creating a futuristic/AI-looking brand identity
We implemented OpenAI's newest models and APIs to return high quality images to our users, within 2 minutes
Can you guess my spirit animal ??
2024 —> 1 year
Over 1,000 Spirit Animals were made: some for the memes, others to cheer up a friend or allow a child to envision themselves as their favorite animal.
We donated 50% of all our profits to WWF, protecting animals and their habitats!
Context
With no budget for formal research on our MVP, I conducted lightweight user testing through a group chat of 20 friends/family and one-on-one sessions with 9 product designers found online. My goal was to observe real-time behavior and gather candid feedback on key flows.
Challenge & Revisions
User tests revealed a psychological blocker: users who didn’t know us personally felt the product seemed untrustworthy— especially at two moments in the checkout flow:
The submit/payment button, which raised concerns about credit card safety.
To build trust at the point of purchase: I added a “Secure Checkout Powered by Stripe” label with a shield icon under the payment button to highlight the fact that a bigger/trustworthy company was facilitating the payment.
→ Result: 56% increase in payment conversion among tested users
The post-purchase waiting screen, where users feared they’d been scammed.
To ease post-purchase anxiety: I added social proof from real customer tweets & highlighted the charity donation tied to each purchase, humanizing the experience.
→ Result: 100% of users preferred the new waiting screen and said it made them feel more confident and reassured they would receive their Spirit Animal
Takeaway
Even with limited resources, small design interventions (based on user insights) can significantly increase trust and conversion in products.
