Overview

Wishtales AI is an ambitious platform that aims to empower kids and teens to create professional-level content, including Pixar-like animations, TED-Ed-style videos, and illustrated storybooks. The platform harnesses generative AI and advanced design tools, allowing young creators to produce high-quality content in minutes.

As a consultant at Wishtales, I was brought in to provide an external perspective on the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. My primary goal was to improve user flow, accessibility, and overall usability. Working with a lean team, I helped streamline product features and identify critical blind spots that the development team was too close to see.

Despite resource constraints and a limited user base, I focused on refining key areas of the product, making it easier to use and accessible for a diverse range of users. This case study highlights how we approached these challenges and delivered a 60% improvement in the platform's UX.

The Problem

When I joined the Wishtales project, I found that although the product had strong foundational features, the user experience was cluttered and confusing, with many key actions buried behind non-intuitive UI elements. The platform aimed to be accessible to younger users (ages 8-16) but didn’t fully meet their needs. A few specific issues stood out:

• Key functions like exporting finished content were hidden, leading to frustration among users.
• The creative flow was rigid, with no option to switch genres or story types once content creation had begun.
• Accessibility issues were present, particularly for users with reading difficulties.
• The visual language was too complex for a young audience, leading to confusion about how to navigate through different stages of content creation.
• The product lacked seamless control over final output, leading users to feel constrained in the creative process.

Additionally, as a bootstrapped startup, Wishtales had a tight budget and limited resources. The small user base also meant that we didn’t have the luxury of large-scale testing and user feedback. This posed unique challenges in prioritizing which features to improve while keeping development time minimal.

My Approach

Working closely with the development team, I adopted a user-centered design approach to tackle the above issues. While the product had strong technological capabilities, I focused on optimizing the user experience to make it intuitive, enjoyable, and accessible.

1. Identifying Blind Spots

Coming in as an outside consultant allowed me to see things the core team had missed. Developers were deeply focused on the platform’s complex back-end features, which caused them to overlook some front-end usability issues. My goal was to:

• Simplify the UI: I worked on making the platform more intuitive by reducing clutter and prioritizing essential actions.
• Streamline the user flow: I refined the journey so users could move from content creation to final output in fewer steps.

2. Enhancing Key Features

After conducting usability tests, I identified several no-brainer improvements that could dramatically enhance the user experience:

• Unhide the Export Button: A significant pain point was that the export function, one of the most critical actions for users, was hidden deep in the interface. By bringing this to the forefront, we reduced user frustration and saw a 30% increase in successful content exports.
• Enable Genre Switching Mid-Process: Originally, users were locked into a specific genre once they began creating content. Adding the ability to switch genres or story types during the creation process gave users more flexibility. This improved creative freedom and decreased project abandonment by 25%.
• Greater Control Over Final Output: Many users felt constrained by the lack of customization in their final content. By adding more control over visuals, narrative elements, and audio, users felt more empowered to shape their projects. This led to a 40% increase in user satisfaction during testing.

3. Improving Accessibility

With a young, diverse user base, accessibility was crucial. We introduced:

• Standardized text and icons that improved navigation and usability for users with reading challenges.
• UI elements that balanced visual language with accessibility: We made sure accessibility features didn’t compromise the product’s sleek design but rather enhanced it for broader appeal. As a result, 20% more users were able to complete projects without requiring assistance.

4. Streamlining the User Flow

I focused on refining the user journey to make the platform’s flow more intuitive. By reducing unnecessary steps, we improved the platform’s usability for young users. The entire creative process—from concept to final output—became more streamlined and efficient, with a 15% reduction in the number of clicks required to complete a project.

Challenges and Constraints

As a bootstrapped startup, Wishtales faced several challenges:

1. Limited Resources: Due to budget constraints, we had to carefully prioritize which features to focus on. While there were many ideas to improve the platform, we concentrated on the most impactful changes that could be implemented within our tight resources.
2. Small User Base: The pre-launch status of the product meant we didn’t have a large pool of users to test with, which restricted our ability to gather extensive feedback. We had to rely on internal testing and make educated guesses about broader user preferences. Despite this limitation, we were able to make meaningful improvements by focusing on common pain points.
3. Balancing Speed and UX: The platform needed to maintain its performance while implementing UX improvements. Ensuring that the product was both fast and user-friendly required careful balancing of technical performance and design optimizations.

Results

By focusing on the user experience, I helped make Wishtales AI a more intuitive, accessible, and enjoyable platform for its young creators. The changes resulted in:

• 60% improvement in overall user experience, including ease of use and satisfaction.
• 30% increase in successful content exports due to improved visibility of key functions.
• 40% increase in user satisfaction after adding more control over the final product.
• 20% improvement in accessibility, allowing more users to navigate and complete their projects without assistance.
• 25% reduction in user drop-off during content creation after enabling genre switching mid-process.

These improvements helped shape Wishtales into a user-friendly platform designed to inspire creativity and empower its young audience.

Final Thoughts

As a consultant at Wishtales AI, my role was to bring an external perspective, identifying blind spots in the design and making the platform more intuitive and accessible. By simplifying the user journey, refining the UI, and addressing key pain points, we delivered a product that was not only easier to use but also more enjoyable for young creators.

Disclaimer: Since Wishtales AI is still in pre-launch, I am unable to share detailed screenshots or visuals of the product improvements.

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