Hachi AI Startup — October 2024
Role
Lead Pitching Designer
User Experience Designer
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Rive
Team
5 UX Designers
2 Design Managers
2 Stakeholders
Duration
10 weeks
Hachi AI transforms search with personality, creativity, and real conversations instead of generic chatbot responses.
In October, I joined a team of four UX designers to improve Hachi’s chat experience, refining both the UX/UI and overall concept of the startup. Our goal was to make conversations more immersive, intuitive, and engaging.
As Lead Pitching Designer, I worked closely with UX designers, design managers, and stakeholders to shape the final interface. I was hands-on from research to final design, ensuring our work aligned with user needs and Hachi’s vision.
Beyond UI, I advocated for innovative interactive improvements and presented our final design and key insights to stakeholders.
Search is exhausting
Finding information feels effortless—just type a query into Google, and boom, thousands of results appear. But scrolling through the same generic recommendations and drowning in too many choices? Totally exhausting.
AI is swift but plain boring
AI-powered answers are fast, relevant, and efficient, but let’s be real—they’re also boring. It’s like talking to a calculator, which is helpful but not exactly exciting…
Meet Hachi AI: Your Search Hero
Hachi isn’t your typical AI assistant. Instead of just spitting out results, Hachi makes the search experience engaging and dynamic.
Get fun, creative responses every time.
Explore answers from multiple AI personalities.
Refine your search through real conversations.
Cool idea, but it still needs work
A cool idea, right? But bringing it to life wasn’t easy. Nancy and Jing, Hachi’s founders, knew they had something special, but they needed help making it truly user-friendly. So, they turned to UXGO with two big questions:
Deep dive into research
We analyzed competitors to spot gaps in the market, ran surveys to understand user needs, and conducted interviews for deeper insights. With 15+ interviews and 50+ surveys, we gathered 200+ data points to shape Hachi’s experience.
So, Who is Hachi For?
Digital natives (16-28 years old) crave instant, engaging interactions
They seek responses that feel personal dynamic, and creative. Generic Answers won't cut it
They want bite-sized, low-effort discoveries and love sharing insights that feel unique.
Our Big Opportunities for Hachi
Hachi Users Want Personality
Users enjoy chatting with AI characters that have unique personalities or shared interests, making conversations more meaningful and fun.
Hachi Stands Out with More Voices
Unlike most AI chatbots, Hachi lets you chat with multiple characters, bringing in diverse perspectives and fresh ideas
Increase Engagement with Sharing
Top AI chatbots boost engagement by letting users save and share conversations—we see the same potential for Hachi!
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we design Hachi to enable flexible conversations and personalized recommendations, making search fun and shareable?
Before — UX Flow felt restrictive
Hachi’s chat felt too restrictive, with limited choices and repetitive loops. Responses didn’t always match the questions, and users had no way to refine answers, making the experience feel static instead of interactive.
Limiting, and because it took too much effort, it was discouraging
After — UX Flow feels natural
We replaced the rigid questionnaire with a flexible, conversational flow where users ask a question, get a response, refine it, and repeat until satisfied—making interactions feel more natural, like chatting with a friend.
Make Hachi Stand Out with a Bold Look
Group Chat with Hachis for More Fun!
Letting users explore different answers from multiple Hachis makes Hachi unique, but giving them a group chat with two or more Hachis takes it even further. It makes conversations more dynamic, insightful, and lets advanced users quickly compare different perspectives!
Boost Engagement by Sharing Chats
Top AI chatbots boost engagement by letting users save and share conversations—we see the same potential for Hachi!
Make Chats More Lively with Reactions
Hachi’s reactions bring more personality to chats, making interactions feel more natural and fun. They also help improve Hachi’s learning, making each character more personalized over time. The more you chat, the better Hachi gets at responding in a way that feels unique to you!
New UX Flow Gives Instant Value
The clients told us, “Users liked the new UX flow way better since it gave them instant value compared to the old questionnaire style.” One user even said:
Doubled User-Initiated Conversations
The introduction of group chat instantly doubled user-initiated interactions, significantly boosting engagement. Users found conversations to be far more engaging and interactive with multiple Hachis, creating a richer and more dynamic experience than before.
My Takeaways from this project…
Navigating Ambiguity and Challenges
This journey came with challenges, pivots, and unknowns, but adapting, collaborating, and refining ideas pushed me to grow in unexpected ways.
Balancing Playfulness with Usability
We went through countless wireframes and ideations, and through constant iteration, I learned to merge fun interactions with practical usability for a truly engaging experience.
Bringing Ideas to Life in a Real Product
Seeing our ideas take shape in a real product—and the founders' excitement at the final result—made everything worth it.
