LUDIC
AI powered journaling app
Increased DAU by 20%
“It didn’t feel like I was journaling, it felt like I was having a conversation with myself.”- user
AI design thinking
Role
Product Designer
led design end-to-end, collaborated with 3 developers, 1 PM, 2 founders
Platform
Mobile-first on iOS -
A deliberate trade-off
Timeline
Started: Over a year ago
Status: In progress (Beta launched)
Context
When i joined Ludic, it was trying to solve the user dropouts in journaling.
My task was to identify reasons behind dropouts and design a product from scratch to make journaling an active conversation rather than a boring task - while leveraging Gen AI.
Success for us?
Our primary goal is to make journaling fun and frictionless, encouraging users to come back often - Not out of obligation, but curiosity!
Success for us looked like:
1000 beta invites → 500+ DAUs
80% users followed through incremental sign ups → More interested users
More User stories → More success stories
“ I used to write a log for my dog everyday. Now I create cute little stories. ”
The Starting point..
When we started testing AI powered journaling products, one pattern was clear - people lost interest in just about 10 to 12 days of starting a journal... leading to 80% of people abandoning completely within a month.
We then knew, Ludic should be more than just a silent recorder but an adaptive companion that evolves with the user- winning the hearts of that 80%.
As the lead designer, I saw this as an opportunity to transform user dropouts into delights.
Additionally, user retention rate decreases to 5% after 30 days. I then set out to investigate further through user interviews, surveys, and brainstorming sessions.
“After a few weeks, the prompts start feeling very boring and similar to each other.”
Listening to people..
Helped me realize that users dropped out because they find prompts as repetitive and eventually their excitement fades off due to the lack of fresh content.
Connecting dots…
I saw correlation between user’s motivations to engage with responsive content & interactive features.
I formed the hypothesis that if a journal is attuned with the user, reflecting their growth & journey, then the user is motivated and engaged over time.
Defining the challenge…
After analysing the research it was clear that introducing "non-monotonous" prompts is not enough - it was also about making it "context-aware" & "rewarding" to form a connection with the user.
How might we make journaling feel refreshing and connected each day, so users return by choice?
We ran a team-wide Fig Jam to identify the most impactful & feasible ideas. However, keeping in mind the product vision & resource constraints we made trade-offs between impact & feasibility.
Setting boundaries…
We decided it should NOT be just another digital notebook or overly mechanical habit tracker.
Instead, it’s a place where every entry is a delightful reward.
The biggest challenge for us was to design a product that develops a connection with the user - like catching up with a best friend everyday!
Creating possibilities…
While exploring alternatives, it became clear that conversational logging could significantly reduce cognitive load and ease the fear of writing, especially when paired with a self-learning AI.
Additionally, the reward system emerged as a key feature that needs to be thoughtfully designed, given its strong impact on user motivation and long-term engagement.
We chose to go with conversation & story option in lieu of complexity because we envisioned ludic as, like that one friend who gets you. Everyday you want to talk. And, they live in your pocket :)
First we introduced context aware AI conversation and the second a visual story that grows with each entry.
We measured during A/B testing as % of successful conversation (ref.PRD)
Users showed interest in knowing when AI is ready to create user story. And their curiosity increased with dynamic progress indicator rather than previously as a static or a one time notification.
During user testing we observed that the first instinct of the users was to click the text field (to write) during a dialogue even when it was disabled.
This indicated lack of clarity in distinction.
We de-emphasized it further for more clarity until the user was asked an open-ended question.
After each successful conversation visual animated story is created as a reward, bringing the journal into motion…
Users were found to form a deeper connection with journal with this reward system as they were interested to converse more.
HOW IT WORKS ?
A user can click on "Play" button from their entry of the day to watch their story in form of animated video or highlights.
And they could revisit their stories anytime from the navigation tab.
The experience lets the user talk to Ludic like a friend, and keep a living log of their own activities & context!
In addition, we also kept in mind to reduce the cognitive load for the users for frictionless interactions.
Our "AHA" moment…
We launched Ludic’s MVP with a hybrid flow - a conversational journal with a story telling feature which tracks your growth & grows with the user!
We had something more than a journaling app. We had a storytelling companion & we heard..
“I didn’t feel like I was journaling—it is like talking to someone who actually listens”
We tackled many technical challenges while design and development stages, performed multiple iterations to get it just right for our users !!
But through testing phases, analytics and our teams support we were able to create something that brought smile to our users :)
The final design introduced smart guided conversations that built on previous entries, visual reward in a form of story and habit insights powered by AI.
Within the first 4 weeks of the beta launch, we saw over 500 DAUs, a 40% increase in daily entries, and doubled time spent in-app.
Users described the experience as “comforting” and “oddly satisfying”.
Link to prototype
Reflections & Learning…
🙇♀️ What I learned
Balancing design and tech is tricky—I learned how dev time and UX needs often compete.
🧭 How it shaped me
Ludic showed me AI can support self-growth, not just work. It taught me how to build something emotional yet light.
What's next?
Introduce subscription based monetization models.
Use A/B testing insights to optimize user experience and engagement.
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Join the waitlist of our next version release updates.
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Other interesting work
Let’s work together
Want to connect and create something meaningful.
~say hi!
diksha.ux@gmail.com
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