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‍Problem

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Early interviews showed that users:

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- valued the idea of preserving memories

- felt discomfort recording personal stories

- didn’t understand where to begin

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Existing archive-style tools positioned memory capture as a task rather than an experience, creating hesitation to record.

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The MVP aimed to explore whether emotionally grounded onboarding could reduce friction to first recording.

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Product Hypothesis

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If users are introduced to voice capture through relationship-based prompts rather than open-ended recording, then they will feel less performance pressure and show greater willingness to begin recording.

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Recording Onboarding Flow

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Relationship Selection:

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→ Prompted Reflection
→ Voice Recording
→ Archive Placement
→ Revisit & Expand

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Product Experience Design

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The MVP introduced relationship-based prompts to reduce hesitation associated with open-ended voice recording.

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Memories were categorised by relationship (family, friendships, milestones) before capture to reduce cognitive load and support willingness to begin recording.

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A spatial archive view was introduced over a timeline feed to visualise memory accumulation and reinforce long-term value.

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Core interaction loop:

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Prompt → Record → Archive → Revisit → Expand

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Relationship-based prompts and archive visualisation were designed to support continued capture over time through milestone-based return behaviour.

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MVP Constraints

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The MVP prioritised validating first-time recording behaviour over archive management.

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- Single-user voice capture only

- Fixed relationship categories

- No transcription

- Limited filtering

- No shared accounts

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Interface complexity was minimised to support onboarding completion and successful first memory capture.

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Validation Method

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As the MVP was not taken to public release, interaction concepts were evaluated through moderated user walkthroughs.

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Participants were asked to complete a first recording using guided relationship-based prompts while observing hesitation and onboarding completion behaviour.

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Outcome & Learnings

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Moderated walkthroughs suggested that participants were more comfortable beginning recordings when guided by relationship-based prompts rather than presented with an open interface.

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Key learnings:

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- Guided entry points reduce recording hesitation

- Relationship-led categorisation reduces decision fatigue

- Archive visualisation supports perceived long-term value

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Future iterations would explore shared family accounts, automated transcription and contextual reminder prompts.

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