AI Chatbot Assistant
Optimizing Usability & Retention
Project Overview
This consulting project involved three key UX/UI design tasks to improve an AI chatbot app’s usability, enhance user retention, and then assess competitive features for building another, separate new app:
Usability Testing & Design Improvements
I conducted a comprehensive usability analysis on an existing app, focusing on user flows, screen navigation, and interaction design. Based on the findings, I proposed detailed optimizations to enhance the user experience.
User Retention Features
To address user retention, I brainstormed and proposed innovative features designed to increase user engagement and subscriptions. I created wireframes and high-fidelity designs for 4 of the features to illustrate how they would provide value and keep users returning to the app. It was also important to show how they could be implemented and ensure each design decision was carefully justified.
Competitive Feature Research for MVP
As a final task, I performed a competitive analysis for a separate new app in the plant scanner app category, identifying key features for inclusion in its Minimum Viable Product (MVP). I analysed trends and competitor apps to define the essential features necessary to bring a new product to market in this space.
Problem
A messy and distracting UI making the app’s purpose and use cases unclear to users.
An overuse of emojis giving the app an unprofessional look & feel.
Too much content on screen making it feel busy and cluttered, leading to confusion and friction in the user flow overall.
Solution
I focused on simplifying the UI by decluttering and creating a clear visual hierarchy, emphasizing the app’s core purpose and use cases.
Emojis were minimized to maintain a more professional tone, and content was prioritized to reduce cognitive load.
By streamlining navigation and enhancing visual clarity, the user flow became more intuitive, allowing users to focus on key tasks without unnecessary distractions
Research
Usability testing
Competitive benchmarking
Analysis
User flows
Navigation
Design
Wireframing
Interaction design
High fidelity design
Tools
Figma
Research
Current state analysis
To get a clearer picture of the overall user experience of the app, I first went through the user journey myself before recruiting two more users to ensure there was no bias in my findings.
I analysed the entire app to assess it’s current state, looking at readability, visual hierarchy, navigational elements, content layout, as well as user retention and business-critical elements such as sign-up & subscription screens in order to pinpoint opportunities for optimization.
I then set out to do a competitive benchmarking exercise to understand how other apps approach the problem in the category.
Cluttered, fragmented UI
Usability testing
Having done my own initial analysis of the apps’ flow and features. I moved on to usability testing in order to validate my hypothesis.
I simply asked the two users to open the app and establish its purpose, being careful not to influence them at all. Users were then instructed to progress through the various screens and features while I questioned and probed for feedback and user emotions along the way.
Define
Research analysis
I analysed my research in order to validate the hypothesis and clearly define the problem, while identifying key points of focus for improvement. This then served as the foundations for my designs later in the process.
Pain points
I identified the following areas for improvement:
UI visual hierarchy
Screens were described as “messy” and “distracting” with users missing the overall point of the app during usability tests. Inconsistencies in elements such as typography, imagery, spacing & layout and colour schemes led to a fragmented and confusing experience with poor readability and an unclear user flow.
In some instances, the overuse of emojis and having too much content on screen detracted from the experience by adding unnecessary clutter, distracting the user from the use cases at hand and taking away from the app’s sense of professionalism. There were text and elements that are not laid out correctly, with letters from sentences wrapping to the next line and an overuse of emojis which take away from its professionalism.
Users commented that the app’s goal or purpose was unclear and asked “why not just use ChatGPT?”.
Pro access subscription screen
This screen was described as “too busy”. Both users said that they were price sensitive when it comes to apps.
Placement of key pricing information didn’t matches users’ mental models of where they expected it to be shown on screen. Users commented that they didn’t really care about the price per week breakdown and would prefer to see the overall price to be paid called out clearly.
As this screen is key to generating revenue, it’s critical to get it right.
Home screen grid layout
The horizontally laid out square carousel grid made for reduced readability and required users to take an extra step in order to get important information. Potentially business-critical features were missed by users.
Users commented that having to swipe left on the tiles under “premium features” and “get help with any task” was an extra step and that they expected to see the options listed vertically like in other apps.
Navigation
On open, users felt bombarded with information which led to them not knowing the purpose of the app straight away. Eventually, after tapping the chat input field, users realized the purpose of the app commenting “ahh it’s like ChatGPT”. It’s vital to make the apps purpose clear to users from the beginning.
Text & letters wrap to next line
Overuse of emojis
Busy subscription screen
Cluttered UI
Chat screen
Too much info in results
Inefficient use of menu space
Design
Improvements
I provided recommendations for overall app improvement and also designed wireframes and high-fidelity screens for four selected features:
Clearly define the UI visual hierarchy
I suggested decluttering and ensuring consistency in all UI elements throughout the app in order to improve the apps sense of professionalism and security. Ensuring UI consistency and making it look more professional would make users feel more secure about giving personal information or payment details to subscribe.
Text, typefaces, font size & colour, spacing and padding should optimized to give a clearer and more sleek experience. I used typefaces that give enough contrast between heading and body text, increased heading font size, ensured sufficient colour contrast and followed a 4 pt layout grid to improve readability and ensure UI elements are consistent across the board and guide the user through the flow.
It’s important to clearly define and prioritize the business-critical features and focus design efforts on them with user centricity in mind.
Home screen grid layout
I recommended changing the square carousel grid layout to a vertical list to enhance readability and usability. After identifying business-critical features, I suggested leading with a balance of both business-critical and user-critical features to accommodate user needs while supporting business objectives. Alternatively, these options could be placed in another section of new navigation menu.
Navigation
On app open the user is taken straight to a new or recent chat screen like the one that comes up when you tap the chat text input field to more closely match user mental models.
Going straight to the chat screen and showing a “what can I help you with today” message would make the apps purpose clear from the beginning.
Instead of listing premium features etc. on the home screen and causing confusion, these features could live in a separate section of the app. This would allow for the removal of the bottom navigation bar, freeing up more space on screen.
The nav bar tabs “chats” “tasks for AI” and “history” could then live in a hamburger menu on the global navigation bar at the top of the screen.
A help icon located beside the settings gear icon on screen could also be used to show suggested use cases & features on tap instead of listing the features on the home screen.
Direct to chat on open
User types help
Use cases given
New hamburger menu
Help menu
“Ask me anything” affordance
Answer given
Direct to chat on open
User types help
Use cases given
New hamburger menu
Old chat from history
Help Menu
“Ask me anything” affordance
Answer given
Pro access subscription screen
I simplified this screen and removed the emojis which created too much colour contrast, distracting users.
As both users said that they were price sensitive, I redesigned the visual hierarchy to lead with the overall price on the right side of the screen as this matches user mental models of where they expect price to be shown beside the description. Users commented that they didn’t care about the price per week breakdown, so I led with just the overall price called out clearly.
Priority option highlighted
Selected option highlighted
Subscribe button now active
Priority option highlighted
Selected option highlighted
Subscribe button now active
Tool tips
Tool tips could be used at various points throughout the app to highlight certain features or uses.
Again, users felt bombarded with information on the home screen regarding the various features displayed. Attention could be brought to several key features with quick and not overly invasive tooltips to guide users through the overall flow.
It was commented that users originally didn’t know what the apps’ purpose was or what it could do. Tips could be used to bring attention to a help icon on the global nav bar with a quick “tap here to see what I can do” message, highlighting all features on tap.
A key issue in my usability tests was the users simply not knowing what to use the app for, and when questioned what they would do following this initial impression of the app users commented that they would simply uninstall it. With 78%* of users uninstalling apps withing 90 days of use, it’s important to get it right from the start to reduce user churn.
Home screen
Tool tip after 4-5 secs
Tips guide user
Home screen
Tool tip after 4-5 secs
Tips guide user
Brief onboarding
Having seen first-hand the confusion caused by the first screen users are brought to on the app and then having my suspicions confirmed during usability tests, a brief onboarding feature would work well to inform users straight out about the apps purpose, features, capabilities and use cases.
Currently, it’s hard to tell what the app does when you first open it. A quick onboarding feature would serve to educate new and existing users allowing them to use the app to its full potential and see its value reducing user churn and uninstalls.
Onboarding shown 1st use
Breadcrumbs guide user
Key features highlighted
Onboarding shown 1st use
Breadcrumbs guide user
Key features highlighted
Option to skip
Button colour option 2
Next steps
Following client or business approval of my suggested features and optimizations, the next step would be to create a working prototype of the fully redesigned app and move to validation through usability testing.
I would then collect and analyse any feedback from validation and iterate on the design to ensure a continually evolving, fully functional and viable design solution with both user & business needs in mind.
In order to evaluate longer term success of the new design after launch, I would aim to improve the following metrics:
Increase user retention & decrease churn rates with a view to grow the userbase and reduce uninstalls
Increase daily or monthly active users & user return frequency to determine success over a longer period of time
Increase conversion rates & decrease bounce rates to evaluate the efficiency of the subscription process in order to grow revenue
Conclusion & learnings
I received this project while on summer vacation and realised I would return home quite close to the deadline, leaving me with a very short timeframe of just 2 days to deliver. I managed to successfully complete and deliver the task in just 48 hours (while jetlagged!), receiving extremely positive feedback from all stakeholders involved.
I greatly improved my ability to think critically and work effectively under time pressure and in less-than-ideal circumstances to deliver the project to a high standard. This experience has enhanced my ability to adapt and iterate quickly and efficiently while also improving confidence in my analytical and design abilities.
© Conor Walls 2025
AI Chatbot Assistant
Optimizing Usability & Retention
Project Overview
This consulting project involved three key UX/UI design tasks to improve an AI chatbot app’s usability, enhance user retention, and then assess competitive features for building another, separate new app:
Usability Testing & Design Improvements
I conducted a comprehensive usability analysis on an existing app, focusing on user flows, screen navigation, and interaction design. Based on the findings, I proposed detailed optimizations to enhance the user experience.
User Retention Features
To address user retention, I brainstormed and proposed innovative features designed to increase user engagement and subscriptions. I created wireframes and high-fidelity designs for 4 of the features to illustrate how they would provide value and keep users returning to the app. It was also important to show how they could be implemented and ensure each design decision was carefully justified.
Competitive Feature Research for MVP
As a final task, I performed a competitive analysis for a separate new app in the plant scanner app category, identifying key features for inclusion in its Minimum Viable Product (MVP). I analysed trends and competitor apps to define the essential features necessary to bring a new product to market in this space.
Problem
A messy and distracting UI making the app’s purpose and use cases unclear to users.
An overuse of emojis giving the app an unprofessional look & feel.
Too much content on screen making it feel busy and cluttered, leading to confusion and friction in the user flow overall.
Solution
I focused on simplifying the UI by decluttering and creating a clear visual hierarchy, emphasizing the app’s core purpose and use cases.
Emojis were minimized to maintain a more professional tone, and content was prioritized to reduce cognitive load.
By streamlining navigation and enhancing visual clarity, the user flow became more intuitive, allowing users to focus on key tasks without unnecessary distractions
Research
Usability testing
Competitive benchmarking
Analysis
User flows
Navigation
Design
Wireframing
Interaction design
High fidelity design
Tools
Figma
Research
Current state analysis
To get a clearer picture of the overall user experience of the app, I first went through the user journey myself before recruiting two more users to ensure there was no bias in my findings.
I analysed the entire app to assess it’s current state, looking at readability, visual hierarchy, navigational elements, content layout, as well as user retention and business-critical elements such as sign-up & subscription screens in order to pinpoint opportunities for optimization.
I then set out to do a competitive benchmarking exercise to understand how other apps approach the problem in the category.
Cluttered, fragmented UI
Usability testing
Having done my own initial analysis of the apps’ flow and features. I moved on to usability testing in order to validate my hypothesis.
I simply asked the two users to open the app and establish its purpose, being careful not to influence them at all. Users were then instructed to progress through the various screens and features while I questioned and probed for feedback and user emotions along the way.
Define
Research analysis
I analysed my research in order to validate the hypothesis and clearly define the problem, while identifying key points of focus for improvement. This then served as the foundations for my designs later in the process.
Pain points
I identified the following:
UI visual hierarchy
Screens were described as “messy” and “distracting” with users missing the overall point of the app during usability tests. Inconsistencies in elements such as typography, imagery, spacing & layout and colour schemes led to a fragmented and confusing experience with poor readability and an unclear user flow.
In some instances, the overuse of emojis and having too much content on screen detracted from the experience by adding unnecessary clutter, distracting the user from the use cases at hand and taking away from the app’s sense of professionalism. There were text and elements that are not laid out correctly, with letters from sentences wrapping to the next line and an overuse of emojis which take away from its professionalism.
Users commented that the app’s goal or purpose was unclear and asked “why not just use ChatGPT?”.
Letters wrap
Lots of emojis
Pro access subscription screen
This screen was described as “too busy”. Both users said that they were price sensitive when it comes to apps.
Placement of key pricing information didn’t matches users’ mental models of where they expected it to be shown on screen. Users commented that they didn’t really care about the price per week breakdown and would prefer to see the overall price to be paid called out clearly.
As this screen is key to generating revenue, it’s critical to get it right.
Busy subscription screen
Navigation
On open, users felt bombarded with information which led to them not knowing the purpose of the app straight away. Eventually, after tapping the chat input field, users realized the purpose of the app commenting “ahh it’s like ChatGPT”.
It’s vital to make the apps purpose clear to users from the beginning.
Cluttered UI
Chat screen
Messy results
Menu
Design
Improvements
I provided recommendations for overall app improvement and also designed wireframes and high-fidelity screens for four selected features:
Clearly define UI visual hierarchy
I suggested decluttering and ensuring consistency in all UI elements throughout the app in order to improve the apps sense of professionalism and security. Ensuring UI consistency and making it look more professional would make users feel more secure about giving personal information or payment details to subscribe.
Text, typefaces, font size & colour, spacing and padding should optimized to give a clearer and more sleek experience. I used typefaces that give enough contrast between heading and body text, increased heading font size, ensured sufficient colour contrast and followed a 4 pt layout grid to improve readability and ensure UI elements are consistent across the board and guide the user through the flow.
It’s important to clearly define and prioritize the business-critical features and focus design efforts on them with user centricity in mind.
Home screen grid layout
I recommended changing the square carousel grid layout to a vertical list to enhance readability and usability. After identifying business-critical features, I suggested leading with a balance of both business-critical and user-critical features to accommodate user needs while supporting business objectives. Alternatively, these options could be placed in another section of new navigation menu.
Navigation
On app open the user is taken straight to a new or recent chat screen like the one that comes up when you tap the chat text input field to more closely match user mental models.
Going straight to the chat screen and showing a “what can I help you with today” message would make the apps purpose clear from the beginning.
Instead of listing premium features etc. on the home screen and causing confusion, these features could live in a separate section of the app. This would allow for the removal of the bottom navigation bar, freeing up more space on screen.
The nav bar tabs “chats” “tasks for AI” and “history” could then live in a hamburger menu on the global navigation bar at the top of the screen.
A help icon located beside the settings gear icon on screen could also be used to show suggested use cases & features on tap instead of listing the features on the home screen.
Direct to chat on open
User types help
Use cases given
New hamburger menu
Old chat from history
Help Menu
“Ask me anything” affordance
Answer given
Direct to chat on open
User types help
Use cases given
New hamburger menu
Help menu
“Ask me anything” affordance
Answer given
Pro access subscription screen
I simplified this screen and removed the emojis which created too much colour contrast, distracting users.
As both users said that they were price sensitive, I redesigned the visual hierarchy to lead with the overall price on the right side of the screen as this matches user mental models of where they expect price to be shown beside the description. Users commented that they didn’t care about the price per week breakdown, so I led with just the overall price called out clearly.
Priority option highlighted
Selected option highlighted
Subscribe button now active
Priority option highlighted
Selected option highlighted
Subscribe button now active
Tool tips
Tool tips could be used at various points throughout the app to highlight certain features or uses.
Again, users felt bombarded with information on the home screen regarding the various features displayed. Attention could be brought to several key features with quick and not overly invasive tooltips to guide users through the overall flow.
It was commented that users originally didn’t know what the apps’ purpose was or what it could do. Tips could be used to bring attention to a help icon on the global nav bar with a quick “tap here to see what I can do” message, highlighting all features on tap.
A key issue in my usability tests was the users simply not knowing what to use the app for, and when questioned what they would do following this initial impression of the app users commented that they would simply uninstall it. With 78%* of users uninstalling apps withing 90 days of use, it’s important to get it right from the start to reduce user churn.
Tool tip after 4-5 secs
Tips guide user
Tool tip after 4-5 secs
Tips guide user
Brief onboarding
Onboarding shown 1st use
Breadcrumbs guide user
Key features highlighted
Option to skip
Onboarding shown 1st use
Breadcrumbs guide user
Key features highlighted
Having seen first-hand the confusion caused by the first screen users are brought to on the app and then having my suspicions confirmed during usability tests, a brief onboarding feature would work well to inform users straight out about the apps purpose, features, capabilities and use cases.
Currently, it’s hard to tell what the app does when you first open it. A quick onboarding feature would serve to educate new and existing users allowing them to use the app to its full potential and see its value reducing user churn and uninstalls.
Next steps
In order to evaluate longer term success of the new design after launch, I would aim to improve the following metrics:
Increase user retention & decrease churn rates with a view to grow the userbase and reduce uninstalls
Increase daily or monthly active users & user return frequency to determine success over a longer period of time
Increase conversion rates & decrease bounce rates to evaluate the efficiency of the subscription process in order to grow revenueFollowing client or business approval of my suggested features and optimizations, the next step would be to create a working prototype of the fully redesigned app and move to validation through usability testing.
I would then collect and analyse any feedback from validation and iterate on the design to ensure a continually evolving, fully functional and viable design solution with both user & business needs in mind.
In order to evaluate longer term success of the new design after launch, I would aim to improve the following metrics:
Increase user retention & decrease churn rates with a view to grow the userbase and reduce uninstalls
Increase daily or monthly active users & user return frequency to determine success over a longer period of time
Increase conversion rates & decrease bounce rates to evaluate the efficiency of the subscription process in order to grow revenue
Conclusion & learnings
I received this project while on summer vacation and realised I would return home quite close to the deadline, leaving me with a very short timeframe of just 2 days to deliver. I managed to successfully complete and deliver the task in just 48 hours (while jetlagged!), receiving extremely positive feedback from all stakeholders involved.
I greatly improved my ability to think critically and work effectively under time pressure and in less-than-ideal circumstances to deliver the project to a high standard. This experience has enhanced my ability to adapt and iterate quickly and efficiently while also improving confidence in my analytical and design abilities.
Thanks for reading
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© Conor Walls 2025