AI Conversation Assist

Prologue

In residential communities, online forums are where most conversations happen. But not every message is read the way it was meant. A small concern typed in a rush can sound rude. A frustrated message might feel too harsh. These little misunderstandings often lead to friction and avoidable tension between residents.

Ideation

To solve this, we imagined a solution that acts like a friendly nudge, one that helps residents pause, rephrase and reflect. A way to stay expressive while still being respectful. That’s how the 'Community Tone' nudge and action were added.


But we didn’t stop there. We also added a 'Rephrase Text' action. It’s especially for residents who aren’t sure how to phrase things right and want to make sure their message says exactly what they mean.

Core Personas

We designed this feature keeping two core users in mind:

A: Reactor

✦ Types fast and speaks their mind quickly

✦ Often doesn’t realize their tone may sound rude

B: Refiner

✦ Spends time editing their message carefully

✦ Wants to sound respectful and clear

Research & Insights

We studied how existing grammar checkers and rephrase tools work, and used those patterns to design a flow that fits our users. We also gathered insights from residents who communicate frequently within their community forums.

Core insights that shaped the flow:

✦ Users don’t want to feel policed or instructed, but they’re open to gentle, non-intrusive suggestions that help improve their message.

✦ Moderators can’t regulate every message and prefer systems that encourage residents to self-regulate.

Core insights that guided our design decisions:

✦ Users appreciate having control, being able to switch back to their original message gives them flexibility.

✦ Users felt tone or rephrase suggestions weren’t needed for very short messages under 15 characters just felt too small to matter.

✦ Users responded positively to friendly & subtle nudge, something that feels more like a glow-up than a correction.

Designs

I designed for key user stories: like the "Community Tone moment when a message feels harsh", "the Confused moment when users aren’t sure how to phrase their thoughts" and "the Nudge moment when a gentle suggestion helps them reflect before posting".

User Story 1 ✦ Community Tone Moment

Steve Park


✦ The Expressive One, types quickly and speaks his mind. ✦ Often sounds harsh in forums, but never means to offend.

User Story 2 ✦ Rephrase Text Moment

Stefan Djokovic

✦ The Thoughtful One, not fluent in English, so he takes time to make sure his message feels right.

Animation & Interactions

Setting the right feel for the AI supported feature was really important. I didn’t want users to feel corrected, I wanted it to feel like a magical little improvement to their message.

Impact

Once launched, we noticed a good amount of usage through the AI Conversation Assist. The API hits confirmed that the feature was being actively used, marking our first successful AI-powered feature in the app.

Forum Messages processed through AI Conversation Assist

2300+

% of users used AI Conversation Assist while posting conversation

66.5%

% of users used AI Conversation Assist more than once

72%

Learnings

Through this feature, I learned how to design AI-assisted interaction flows that feel intuitive and user-friendly and explored various interaction and animation patterns.

👋Hey mate! Mobile view’s still in progress. I request you to switch to a desktop or laptop for the best experience.