Carmen App
Project overview
The Mission: Real-world connection over screen time.
The founder of this startup approached us with a clear challenge: design an AI-powered social app that actually encourages people to spend less time on their phones. In a landscape dominated by infinite scrolling, Carmen was built to be a catalyst for real-life interaction, helping friends move from the group chat to the front door with zero friction.
Key Features:
AI-Guided Planning: A natural language interface to find locations and sync schedules instantly.
Smart Invitations: Automated RSVP tracking that eliminates the "logistics headache."
Interest Mapping: A personalized engine that understands what the whole "crew" actually enjoys.
The challenge
Ending the "Group Chat Fatigue."
We’ve all seen plans die in a group chat buried under hundreds of messages. Most social platforms are engineered to maximize "time-spent-in-app," often leading to digital exhaustion rather than meaningful memories.
The goal for the team was to build an interface that acts as a quiet, helpful assistant. We set out to solve:
Coordination Friction: The mental tax of picking a time and place that works for everyone.
Digital Noise: Feed-based distractions that pull users away from their original intent.
Information Fragmentation: The struggle of losing addresses, times, and shared photos in a long text thread.
Results & impact
Design for action, not attention.
The team prioritized speed of use over app retention. We developed a "low-friction" design strategy to ensure the technology stays in the background:
A Calm, Human Aesthetic: We utilized a warm palette and rounded forms to make the AI feel like a friendly companion rather than a cold utility.
Intentional Minimalism: By stripping away non-essential elements and highlighting only the critical details—time, location, and friend status—the interface remains unobtrusive.
Efficiency as a Metric: Every interaction was engineered to be completed in seconds. Our design ensures the focus remains exactly where it belongs: on the user’s real-world plans and the memories they are about to make.
