For as long as we can remember, people have been lonely. What if they didn’t have to remain that way? MyPeach.ai aimed to make this vision a reality by allowing users to create and engage with realistic AI companions. The project gained traction quickly, with a rapidly growing user base. Despite this momentum, the project had to be put on hiatus due to market changes and decreasing investor interest. However, we remain hopeful that with new investments, MyPeach.ai will resume and continue its growth.
As Head of Product, my responsibilities spanned across various domains, including product management, research, design direction, copywriting, and branding.
Addressing User Needs
MyPeach.ai sought to address the problems of loneliness and the need for a safe space to practice relationship skills. By creating lifelike AI companions, we aimed to provide users with a platform to explore and improve their conversational and relationship abilities in a secure and believable environment. The realism of these companions was crucial in ensuring users could genuinely connect and engage with the AI, making the experience more meaningful and effective.
Although the beta version attracted tens of thousands of users, we needed to scale the app for millions. I led the effort to create a scalable design framework, ensuring the user experience remained seamless even with significant user growth. This involved simplifying user flows to reduce the number of steps needed to complete key actions, designing intuitive interfaces that required minimal onboarding, and implementing responsive design to ensure consistency across devices. Additionally, we focused on creating modular and reusable design components to maintain design consistency and streamline updates as the user base expanded.
Determining which features were most desired and needed by users was crucial. By conducting competitive analysis, user interviews, and facilitating in-house feature prioritization workshops, I was able to gauge the most valuable features. This informed our prioritization of design and development efforts, focusing on delivering the most impactful features to our users. Additionally, I collaborated closely with the CEO and acted as Product Manager to keep the project on track and ensure timely delivery.
The initial version of the app had several usability issues that needed addressing. This involved conducting a thorough heuristic audit of the alpha app and monitoring error reports in order to make iterative refinements.
In addition, I made improvements on the design of the next version based on user feedback and the company’s goals for the platform. Specific improvements included:
• Implementing AI image recognition, voice chat, and memory
• Designing dynamic character creation
• Simplifying in-app purchases
• Integrating push notifications
• Introducing dark mode
• Adding a ‘Redo message’ button for user conversation control
• Adding a ‘Say more’ button to quickly get more AI content
Ensuring ethical AI interactions and image generation was critical. We generated a series of prompts to test for ethical responses among multiple large language models (LLMs) such as Meta, GPT, and Mistral before selecting which to move forward with. Then we trained our models to further ensure their responses were morally upstanding. This rigorous process ensured our AI interactions were ethical and did not promote harmful behavior. Similar efforts were made regarding image generation and character creation to ensure that our AI was not perpetuating any racial or physical biases.
Other ethical initiatives included emphasizing the proper maintenance of user data, ensuring the intellectual property of creators was respected, and that they were properly compensated via royalties.
The existing branding needed to be updated to create a more cohesive and engaging user experience. I spearheaded the branding efforts, facilitating workshops that led to key decisions on typography, colors, and overall brand identity. Additionally, I crafted copy for both the user interface and marketing campaigns to ensure a consistent and engaging tone across all user interactions. A key part of our branding strategy was emphasizing that our app is a safe space to practice conversational skills and explore relationship desires.
The improved alpha version of MyPeach.ai successfully attracted tens of thousands of users and was growing rapidly. The project demonstrated the potential for AI companions in addressing loneliness and highlighted the importance of ethical AI practices. Unfortunately, we ran out of financial runway just before completing the app’s development, which led to a temporary pause. However, we remain hopeful that with new investments, MyPeach.ai will resume and continue its growth, leveraging the valuable insights and lessons gained from our initial efforts.
Working on MyPeach.ai was a challenging yet rewarding experience that allowed me to leverage my diverse skill set in product management, UX design, and branding. The project underscored the importance of user-centric design and ethical considerations in developing AI-driven products. Despite its temporary pause, MyPeach.ai provided valuable insights and lessons that I carry forward into future endeavors, with hopes to secure new investments and continue its growth.
