Overview
Product Context
LastingMind helps people preserve the stories, values, relationships, and experiences that make up their lives. Through guided voice-first activities, users gradually build a personal archive.
That archive can eventually power an AI-based conversational legacy, letting family revisit stories, ask questions, and better understand the person behind the memories when they're no longer around.
The Challenge
Users were asked to contribute a vast amount of deeply personal information without a clear sense of where to start, how the activities connected, or how each contribution moved them toward the final outcome.
Problem 01
No obvious starting point
“Tell me about your life” is overwhelming with nowhere obvious to begin.
Problem 02
Disconnected activities
The pieces didn't add up to a journey users could follow.
Problem 03
Invisible progress
Nothing showed contributions accumulating into something meaningful.
Problem 04
Unclear payoff
Users couldn't feel why their effort mattered or where it led.
In four weeks, an ambiguous idea became a cohesive mobile product with a clear journey, multiple ways to contribute, a meaningful progress system, and a repeatable model for AI-assisted capture.
The prototype now serves as the implementation reference for the development team, and is being prepared for App Store release.
In Development
App Store Next
Research & Discovery
I studied adjacent products and the science of remembering, then translated the findings into design principles.
WHERE I LOOKED
Journaling
Memoir writing
Family history
Conversational AI
Long-term learning
Adjacent Products
WHAT I READ ABOUT
Memory
Nostalgia
Motivation
Reminiscence
Gamification
Intergenerational storytelling
01
Specific prompts unlock memories that broad questions can’t reach.
02
Bite-sized activities lower the emotional and cognitive load.
03
People keep going when they can see something growing.
04
Understanding who benefits makes contributing feel worthwhile.
Information Architecture
One clear, progressive journey
PHASE 01
Foundation
Relationships, interests, experiences, and values that establish who the user is.
PHASE 02
Life Story
Deeper memories, turning points, and the personal chapters that shaped a life.
PHASE 03
Leave Your Legacy
Messages, guidance, and wishes the user wants to preserve for loved ones.
ALWAYS OPEN
My Study
An open-ended space for journaling, reflection, daily questions, and conversations with family.
Motivation System
Making an invisible archive feel alive
Onboarding
Turning a cold start into a warm welcome
BEFORE
AFTER
WHAT CHANGED & WHY
01
The growing tree that powers progress is introduced on day one: “every legacy starts as a seed.” Users feel what they're building before being asked to build it.
02
Name and birthday are captured early and framed with a reason, “this places your memories within the timeline of your life”, and the app greets you by name.
03
Instead of leading with “AI-powered legacy,” the flow previews it: a glimpse of loved ones one day in conversation with what you've created.
04
A dedicated privacy moment, “what you share here is yours” lands before any meaningful sharing begins.
05
Rather than opening with the hardest question, onboarding hands users a gentle suggested starting point: the people closest to them.
Core Interactions
Designing the guided voice conversation
MODEL A
AI interview
A straightforward question-and-answer exchange.
Strength: Clarity & low ambiguity
MODEL B
Living conversation
A more immersive talk where the tree visibly gains more color as you speak.
Strength: Clear progress motivator & story based
MODEL A
Quiet Reflection
The user can speak as long as they like, in an open reflection no back and forth
Strength: Calm, emotionally-led atmosphere
This direction evolved into a separate Open Reflection mode for long-form storytelling.
THE FINAL DIRECTION
Calm, voice-first with its interpretation made visible
Users select relevant topics, answer one focused question at a time, and review the names, relationships, and details the AI extracts before saving them.
Rather than asking users to trust that the system understood them, the experience makes its understanding explicit and editable.
Strength: Clear progress motivator & story based
Different ways to contribute
01 · OPEN REFLECTION
One prompt, room for a longer story
Users respond without conversational interruptions, giving meaningful memories space to unfold naturally.
Best for: Long-form stories and reflection
02 · SLOT MACHINE
One prompt, room for a longer story
A playful prompt generator breaks up longer modules and makes collecting small facts and favourites feel less like completing a survey.
These answers can later become starting points for deeper AI follow-up questions.
Best for: Favourites, preferences, and quick facts
03 · PICK A CARD
Reveal one reflective prompt at a time
Choosing and flipping a card adds variety and makes abstract questions about values or wisdom feel more approachable.
The responses provide context the AI can explore in future conversations.
Best for: Values, beliefs, and advice
Conclusion
Impact
Over four weeks, I transformed an open-ended product concept into a cohesive mobile experience with a clear journey, multiple contribution formats, and a reusable model for AI-assisted storytelling. The coded prototype established the product’s core architecture and interaction patterns and was handed to development as the implementation reference.
