What is Habit Coach AI and why does it matter?
Habit Coach AI is a 24/7 AI-powered accountability companion that helps users build habits through proactive phone calls, conversational tracking, and personalized coaching. Think of it as a personal coach in your pocket: one that actually reaches out to you.
When I joined as the first designer, the product had early functionality but no design foundation. The experience was inconsistent, the brand had no identity, and trust signals were missing entirely.
Users dropped off before they ever saw the product
The core onboarding asked users to enter a phone number and continue via SMS, with no context, no trust signals, and no explanation of what the product actually does. For a habit-building app, that's a fatal first impression.
Beyond onboarding, there was no visual habit tracker (data lived in Google Sheets), no design system, and inconsistent UI across every touchpoint. 95% of users dropped off before experiencing anything.
First and only designer. End to end.
I was brought in as the founding designer with no existing design system, no brand guidelines, and no design process. Everything was built from zero alongside a fast-moving engineering team.
Three patterns that shaped every decision
I combined Amplitude drop-off data, user feedback sessions, and competitor analysis to identify what was failing and why. Three themes emerged consistently.
"I want to build habits but my calendar is already full."
"I train every day but sleep and recovery habits fall apart."
"I've downloaded every habit app. I start strong, then ghost it."
Three rounds of iteration, tracked in Amplitude after every ship
I didn't guess my way to the solution. I shipped, measured where users dropped off, identified the specific failure, fixed it, and shipped again. Here's what that looked like.
Wk 3: Drop-off data pointed to four specific problems. No step clarity in the progress bar. Habit selection felt like being bucketed into a list. Coach cards were text-heavy. No clear way to connect with the AI.
Wk 4: Shipped the redesign and tracked in Amplitude. Personality-first video coach cards replaced text. Visual icon grid replaced the list-style habit picker. Two connection options (call or text) removed a hard blocker. Drop-off at step 2 fell significantly.
The four screens that changed everything
From a 95% drop-off to a product users return to daily. Each screen below represents a specific design decision that moved the metrics.
Conversational daily check-in that feels human
Designed the chat UI and voice call experience. The AI coach calls users proactively, tracks progress through conversation, and adapts tone to their coaching style.
Calendar view, streaks, and emoji personalization
Replaced a Google Sheet backend with a proper visual tracker. Calendar view beat list view in testing. Light and dark modes built from day one because users check in at night.
A new user flow I pitched, ideated, and vibe coded
Identified a gap in progress tracking, pitched a consolidated dashboard to the founders, vibe coded a prototype, and presented it. They implemented it in the next sprint.
Personality-first coach cards, visual habit grid, step clarity
The redesigned onboarding opened with coach personality selection, replaced text lists with icon grids, added two ways to connect, and labeled every step. Overall conversion climbed to 42.7%, up 18.6%.
Most recent approach: vibe coded in Cursor and shipped as the product's primary light mode experience.
A design system built from zero, used in production from day one
I built the full Habit Coach AI design system in Figma while the product was actively being developed. Tokens first, components second, patterns third. Engineers pulled directly from the library.
Designed to convert, not just to impress
Beyond the product, I designed the ad creatives that brought users in. These ran on Meta, Instagram, and Google to 100k+ people, with Instagram story placement delivering the best conversion.
Make someone stop scrolling in under 2 seconds
The campaign ran cold, no retargeting, no warm audience. The creative had to earn trust before anyone read a word of copy. We tested dark and light mode variants across placements. Instagram story was the clear standout, with the highest click-to-onboarding rate of any channel.
Built from zero, shipped to real users, measured in Amplitude
From the ad campaigns that drove discovery to the onboarding redesign that converted users, every decision was tracked. These numbers reflect the full product lifecycle.
