The First of its Kind
🌕 Oct 2017 - Oct 2022
For over 5 years I had been working on Odus.AI — an AI-based conversational chatbot platform. This platform became the first visual chatbot builder on the market, the first of its kind among AI bot platforms. I was one of its founders and was responsible for UX/UI design, user research and team management. I managed a team of 7 people and 3 outsourcers.
Research.
Analyze.
Create.
Analyze.
Create.
Start Point
Starting this project, we knew almost nothing about the industry, but the team that we were had a lot of experience in related fields. Therefore, first of all, I began to study the market, competitors, technologies and tools available at that time.
Divide & Conquer
Research was a two pronged approach:
Сompetitive Analysis: Identify what we must have, and how we can differentiate Odus by researching the top 3 competitors currently in the market.
Customer Development: Ensure we solve the user's problem for both sides - developers and customers by having conversations with 20 individuals (devs, managers, users). Through both research methods, two threads emerged: accessibility and efficiency. This opportunity guided our design decisions.
Сompetitive Analysis: Identify what we must have, and how we can differentiate Odus by researching the top 3 competitors currently in the market.
Customer Development: Ensure we solve the user's problem for both sides - developers and customers by having conversations with 20 individuals (devs, managers, users). Through both research methods, two threads emerged: accessibility and efficiency. This opportunity guided our design decisions.
First Steps
Having studied the results of the research, we came to the conclusion that it is necessary to create the simplest possible interface. At the same time, the developer should be able to create a powerful chatbot that will really benefit its users. Our team developed a powerful software solution that I had to wrap in a simple and understandable interface.
My design process:
My design process:





High-detailed prototypes of the main pages and core interactions.

Dashboard with your chatbots and stats.

Introduction. The onboarding process for new users.

The main area where chatbots are created.

After all layouts are ready, we need to add comments for developers.

Odus Design System: I developed a design system because several people worked on the project and we outsourced part of the front-end work.
Wrap Up!
During the first year after the launch, the platform attracted 2500+ businesses and 10000+ chatbots were created. To be completely honest, I have to state that the UI has been constantly refined and improved over the two years. As a result of this small venture, the startup was sold to a large technology company.
