I redesigned the onboarding experience and a review screen to help users build trust with Tenmin’s AI tutor and motivate them to build lasting speaking habits.

Tenmin is an AI-powered language learning app that focuses on speaking, not just memorizing. Learners get real-time pronunciation feedback, personalized lessons, and conversation practice that simulates real interactions.

As one of three designers, I led the prototyping and design for the onboarding flow, collaborating closely with Tenmin’s founders, product manager, and fellow designers. I also contributed to the redesign of the review home screen to ensure consistency in tone and visuals across the product.

I owned two key areas of the product:

Onboarding flow: Enhanced the existing onboarding flow to introduce Tenmin’s AI tutor in a warm and confident way, ensuring new users quickly built trust and felt motivated to return

Review home screen: Redesigned the existing layout to make daily review simple, motivating, and visually clean

Tenmin wanted to strike a balance between professional polish and youthful energy, while adding a human touch that makes their AI tutor approachable. The onboarding needed to create a sticky first impression, build trust in the AI, and set the tone for ongoing engagement.

Without that early clarity, it was harder for them to feel a personal connection and trust the experience.

Additionally, our competitor analysis showed that most onboarding flows either rushed through introductions or overloaded users with feature lists, leaving little room to build rapport.

Rather than just simply explaining Tenmin’s features and value propositions, we needed to design for connection. I reframed the challenge into a guiding question that would anchor our approach:

I also collaborated with the product manager and lead designer to explore different illustration styles, refine the tone of voice in microcopy, and map the onboarding journey to progressively reveal Tenmin’s core value proposition.

The goal was to design features that not only communicated Tenmin’s value but also made the AI tutor feel approachable, supportive, and memorable from day one

An onboarding flow that builds trust: A 4-screen sequence that clearly communicates Tenmin’s value, integrates social proof early, and uses bright illustrations with friendly microcopy to humanize the AI tutor.

Personalized welcome with name recording: Added a record-your-name feature so the AI can greet users personally, creating an immediate emotional connection from the first interaction.

The Review screen that motivates daily practice: Reorganized Phrasebook and Smart Quiz for clarity, added time indicators and card counts, and aligned visuals with the onboarding tone to keep reviews light and focused.

After my engagement, Tenmin implemented parts of my onboarding work, including the microcopy and AI-generated illustrations. While long-term metrics have not been fully measured yet, I outlined the following potential impact to connect design decisions with business outcomes:

Memorable first impression: A warm, trust-building onboarding experience encourages users to return after their first session.

Daily engagement: A streamlined review screen lowers friction and keeps practice sessions achievable and motivating.

Humanized AI: Personalization and approachable visuals reduce the perception of the AI tutor as robotic or intimidating.