Solyn AI
Solyn AI
AI wellness companion for employees navigating high-pressure transitions
AI wellness companion for employees navigating high-pressure transitions
Solyn AI is an MVP wellness app that supports the emotional well-being of employees adjusting to high-pressure work environments and major life transitions, built around a habit and energy tracker that monitors mood patterns, recognizes energy dips, and delivers timely nudges toward meaningful micro-breaks.
The app blends task management with emotional support: it automatically adjusts a user's schedule based on their mental state, suggests grounding activities like calling family or taking a short walk, and offers an AI-guided calming experience inspired by CBT techniques when deeper support is needed.
Solyn AI is an MVP wellness app that supports the emotional well-being of employees adjusting to high-pressure work environments and major life transitions, built around a habit and energy tracker that monitors mood patterns, recognizes energy dips, and delivers timely nudges toward meaningful micro-breaks.
The app blends task management with emotional support: it automatically adjusts a user's schedule based on their mental state, suggests grounding activities like calling family or taking a short walk, and offers an AI-guided calming experience inspired by CBT techniques when deeper support is needed.
AI SAAS
AI SAAS
—
WELLNESS TECH
WELLNESS TECH
—
CBT-INSPIRED UX
CBT-INSPIRED UX
—
HABIT TRACKING
HABIT TRACKING
—
MVP
MVP
—
CONVERSATIONAL AI
CONVERSATIONAL AI
COMPANY
COMPANY
Upwork
Upwork
MY ROLE
MY ROLE
Senior product designer
End-to-end design of the MVP, from the habit and energy tracking system through the AI mascot and CBT-inspired calming flow, scoped around a single core persona to validate the concept.
Senior product designer
End-to-end design of the MVP, from the habit and energy tracking system through the AI mascot and CBT-inspired calming flow, scoped around a single core persona to validate the concept.
DURATION
DURATION
September 2025 - October 2025 (2 months)
September 2025 - October 2025 (2 months)
TOOLS
TOOLS
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
Most wellness apps ask a stressed, overwhelmed user to do more work: log a mood, pick an exercise, sit through a session. I designed an MVP that flips that model, the app watches for the dip and meets the user there, adjusting their day and offering support before they have to ask for it. The product was built around Ashish, a young employee adjusting to a new city and a high-pressure job, as the central persona for validating whether small, timely interventions could actually reduce day-to-day overwhelm.
Most wellness apps ask a stressed, overwhelmed user to do more work: log a mood, pick an exercise, sit through a session. I designed an MVP that flips that model, the app watches for the dip and meets the user there, adjusting their day and offering support before they have to ask for it. The product was built around Ashish, a young employee adjusting to a new city and a high-pressure job, as the central persona for validating whether small, timely interventions could actually reduce day-to-day overwhelm.
THE PRODUCT CONTEXT
THE PRODUCT CONTEXT
Employees navigating a new job, a new city, or a high-pressure environment are exactly the group least likely to reach for a mental health app, they're too depleted to add another task to their day, and traditional wellness tools mostly ask for exactly that: log your mood, complete a module, sit through a session. AI-guided mental wellbeing chatbots have proven there's real appetite for this kind of always-available, judgment-free support: apps like Wysa and Woebot have reached millions of users specifically by lowering the barrier between "I'm struggling" and "I got help," using CBT-based conversation rather than requiring a scheduled appointment.
Solyn AI's opportunity was to go a step further: instead of a chatbot the user opens when they remember to, or when things are already bad, build a system that notices the dip in the background and intervenes before the user has to self-diagnose that they need help at all. The MVP's goal was to prove that concept, personalized, proactive, habit-based emotional support, was viable as a lightweight, adoptable product organizations could eventually offer their employees.
Employees navigating a new job, a new city, or a high-pressure environment are exactly the group least likely to reach for a mental health app, they're too depleted to add another task to their day, and traditional wellness tools mostly ask for exactly that: log your mood, complete a module, sit through a session. AI-guided mental wellbeing chatbots have proven there's real appetite for this kind of always-available, judgment-free support: apps like Wysa and Woebot have reached millions of users specifically by lowering the barrier between "I'm struggling" and "I got help," using CBT-based conversation rather than requiring a scheduled appointment.
Solyn AI's opportunity was to go a step further: instead of a chatbot the user opens when they remember to, or when things are already bad, build a system that notices the dip in the background and intervenes before the user has to self-diagnose that they need help at all. The MVP's goal was to prove that concept, personalized, proactive, habit-based emotional support, was viable as a lightweight, adoptable product organizations could eventually offer their employees.
RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY
RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY
As an MVP built around a single defined persona, this project didn't include a formal external research phase. My research instead focused on understanding the existing landscape of AI-guided mental wellness products, both to ground Solyn's approach in what's clinically credible and to find the specific gap it could fill.
Products like Wysa and Woebot were the clearest reference points: both are built on CBT and mindfulness principles, both use conversational AI to make support feel non-judgmental and always available, and both have demonstrated real clinical results, Woebot in particular has published trial data showing reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms among users. That validated the core premise that AI-guided CBT-style support is both credible and effective in a lightweight, self-help format, not just a novelty.
But both of those products are fundamentally reactive: the user has to open the app and start a conversation. Neither integrates with the user's actual schedule, tasks, or daily rhythm, they exist alongside a person's day rather than inside it. That gap shaped Solyn's core bet: instead of being a place you go to talk about your stress, be the system that already knows your schedule, notices the pattern before the dip hits, and rearranges your day around it, with the AI-guided calming conversation as a deeper layer of support when it's actually needed, not the primary interaction.
As an MVP built around a single defined persona, this project didn't include a formal external research phase. My research instead focused on understanding the existing landscape of AI-guided mental wellness products, both to ground Solyn's approach in what's clinically credible and to find the specific gap it could fill.
Products like Wysa and Woebot were the clearest reference points: both are built on CBT and mindfulness principles, both use conversational AI to make support feel non-judgmental and always available, and both have demonstrated real clinical results, Woebot in particular has published trial data showing reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms among users. That validated the core premise that AI-guided CBT-style support is both credible and effective in a lightweight, self-help format, not just a novelty.
But both of those products are fundamentally reactive: the user has to open the app and start a conversation. Neither integrates with the user's actual schedule, tasks, or daily rhythm, they exist alongside a person's day rather than inside it. That gap shaped Solyn's core bet: instead of being a place you go to talk about your stress, be the system that already knows your schedule, notices the pattern before the dip hits, and rearranges your day around it, with the AI-guided calming conversation as a deeper layer of support when it's actually needed, not the primary interaction.
KEY DECISIONS
KEY DECISIONS
Make energy tracking predictive, not just a log.
Make energy tracking predictive, not just a log.
Rather than asking the user to record how they feel, the emotional graph tracks patterns over time and predicts when an energy dip is likely, based on the user's own history. This shifted the app from a passive journal to an active system that could intervene ahead of a bad afternoon instead of just documenting one after it happened.
Rather than asking the user to record how they feel, the emotional graph tracks patterns over time and predicts when an energy dip is likely, based on the user's own history. This shifted the app from a passive journal to an active system that could intervene ahead of a bad afternoon instead of just documenting one after it happened.
Reward consistency, don't punish missed streaks.
Reward consistency, don't punish missed streaks.
A common pattern in habit apps is guilt-based reinforcement, red streaks, "you missed a day" notifications. For a user already dealing with overwhelm, that pattern actively works against the product's purpose. Instead, consistent habit-following unlocks a free trial of Pro features as a reward, reinforcing the behavior positively rather than shaming a lapse.
A common pattern in habit apps is guilt-based reinforcement, red streaks, "you missed a day" notifications. For a user already dealing with overwhelm, that pattern actively works against the product's purpose. Instead, consistent habit-following unlocks a free trial of Pro features as a reward, reinforcing the behavior positively rather than shaming a lapse.
Let the AI mascot carry the emotional weight of check-ins.
Let the AI mascot carry the emotional weight of check-ins.
A plain notification saying "you missed a task" reads very differently from a warm, familiar character checking in. The AI mascot, brought to life with lottie animations, was designed to vary its check-in frequency based on how stressful the user's day has been, and to guide the user into a real conversation, including breathing or meditation exercises, rather than just flagging a missed item.
A plain notification saying "you missed a task" reads very differently from a warm, familiar character checking in. The AI mascot, brought to life with lottie animations, was designed to vary its check-in frequency based on how stressful the user's day has been, and to guide the user into a real conversation, including breathing or meditation exercises, rather than just flagging a missed item.
Let voice replace manual planning entirely.
Let voice replace manual planning entirely.
Employees adjusting to a demanding job don't have time to manually build out a calendar. The AI Planner lets a user record a single voice note describing everything they need to do, sometimes in one sentence, and the AI structures the day from that, removing the friction of manual entry that causes most habit and task apps to get abandoned within the first few weeks.
Employees adjusting to a demanding job don't have time to manually build out a calendar. The AI Planner lets a user record a single voice note describing everything they need to do, sometimes in one sentence, and the AI structures the day from that, removing the friction of manual entry that causes most habit and task apps to get abandoned within the first few weeks.
SCREENS DELIVERED
SCREENS DELIVERED
A cohesive MVP spanning daily planning, energy tracking, AI-driven scheduling, and CBT-inspired emotional support, designed around a single persona to validate the core concept before scaling to a broader employee base.
Everyday App Journey: An overview screen showing recent performance, the day ahead, and suggested tasks based on the user's routines, with events editable directly from the calendar. Swiping up reveals the Daily Summary, a timeline of the day's activities alongside an emotional graph tracking and predicting energy dips.
A cohesive MVP spanning daily planning, energy tracking, AI-driven scheduling, and CBT-inspired emotional support, designed around a single persona to validate the core concept before scaling to a broader employee base.
Everyday App Journey: An overview screen showing recent performance, the day ahead, and suggested tasks based on the user's routines, with events editable directly from the calendar. Swiping up reveals the Daily Summary, a timeline of the day's activities alongside an emotional graph tracking and predicting energy dips.
AI Automation and Emotional Scheduling: Solyn AI proactively reschedules tasks ahead of a predicted stress dip, based on the user's own historical patterns, and automatically schedules recurring life-admin tasks like calling parents or paying bills. The Solyn Score stays visible at all times as a running signal of how well the user is following their own wellness plan.
AI Automation and Emotional Scheduling: Solyn AI proactively reschedules tasks ahead of a predicted stress dip, based on the user's own historical patterns, and automatically schedules recurring life-admin tasks like calling parents or paying bills. The Solyn Score stays visible at all times as a running signal of how well the user is following their own wellness plan.
Pro Upsell: A reward-based upgrade path rather than a guilt-based one. Sustained habit-following unlocks a free trial of Pro features, including discounted partnered therapist sessions, a more expressive AI mascot, and deeper insights, reinforcing consistency as its own reward.
Pro Upsell: A reward-based upgrade path rather than a guilt-based one. Sustained habit-following unlocks a free trial of Pro features, including discounted partnered therapist sessions, a more expressive AI mascot, and deeper insights, reinforcing consistency as its own reward.
Hamburger Menu and AI Planner: A voice-first planning tool where users describe their day in a single voice note and the AI structures the schedule automatically, removing manual calendar entry. Includes manual task add/remove, plus a Habit Settings page for managing caffeine and sleep patterns through AI nudges during restriction windows.
Hamburger Menu and AI Planner: A voice-first planning tool where users describe their day in a single voice note and the AI structures the schedule automatically, removing manual calendar entry. Includes manual task add/remove, plus a Habit Settings page for managing caffeine and sleep patterns through AI nudges during restriction windows.
AI Mascot (CBT Flow): A lottie-animated companion that checks in on the user with a frequency that adapts to how stressful their day has been, guiding them into conversation and, when appropriate, into a breathing or meditation exercise drawn from CBT technique.
AI Mascot (CBT Flow): A lottie-animated companion that checks in on the user with a frequency that adapts to how stressful their day has been, guiding them into conversation and, when appropriate, into a breathing or meditation exercise drawn from CBT technique.
The MVP validated that personalized, pattern-based nudges could meaningfully support mental resilience without adding effort to an already overwhelmed user's day, and set the foundation for a scalable platform organizations could adopt to support employee wellbeing more broadly.
The MVP validated that personalized, pattern-based nudges could meaningfully support mental resilience without adding effort to an already overwhelmed user's day, and set the foundation for a scalable platform organizations could adopt to support employee wellbeing more broadly.
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