Making Generative AI Feel Magical
Lumi is an AI-powered storytelling app that transforms simple ideas into illustrated, narrated children's stories. I designed the complete product experience from onboarding and story discovery to AI creation, reading mode and immersive narration making generative AI feel approachable, playful and emotionally engaging for families.
Personal Project
Global
Product Design, UX Research, Interaction Design, AI Experience Design, Design System, Prototyping
At a glance
~2 Months
AI · Storytelling · Education
iOS MVP
Founder · Product Designer
UX Research, Product Design, AI Experience, Design Interaction, Design Prompt, Design Prototyping
Independent Project
The idea & the opportunity
Lumi began as an exploration into how generative AI could become a more meaningful companion for children and families. Rather than producing generic text, the goal was to transform simple ideas into illustrated, narrated stories that felt magical, personal and emotionally engaging.
Most AI tools focus on productivity or conversation. I saw an opportunity to explore a different direction: using AI to encourage imagination, reading and shared storytelling experiences through an interface designed to feel approachable instead of technical.
From idea to story
Discover
Users explore stories, categories and recommendations designed to spark curiosity before creating their own adventures.
Imagine
A simple prompt becomes the starting point. Instead of complex AI instructions, users only need to describe an idea.
Generate
AI transforms the prompt into an illustrated story with narration, creating a personalized experience in seconds.
Experience
Stories can be read or listened to through an immersive interface designed for distraction-free storytelling.
Return
A growing personal library encourages users to revisit stories, discover new adventures and continue creating.
Every interaction was designed to make generative AI feel less like a tool and more like a creative storytelling companion for families.
Four guiding principles
Every experience was designed around four principles that made AI storytelling feel magical, approachable and effortless for families.
Spark Imagination
Instead of presenting AI as a technical tool, every interaction was designed to encourage curiosity, creativity and storytelling from the very first screen.
Story Creation · Discovery · InspirationMake AI Feel Human
Complex AI capabilities were hidden behind a simple conversational experience that felt natural, emotional and easy to understand.
Prompting · Voice · Storytelling · GuidanceRemove Creative Friction
Generating a story should never feel overwhelming. Every flow reduced decisions and guided users from an idea to a finished story in just a few steps.
Generation · Reading · Narration · LibraryBuild a Magical Experience
Beyond functionality, the product aimed to create emotional moments through illustrations, animation, typography and immersive storytelling.
Illustration · Motion · Audio · Visual IdentityMaking AI Feel Magical
Generative AI often feels technical, text-heavy and intimidating for everyday users. The challenge wasn't simply generating stories it was designing an experience that transformed complex AI workflows into something that felt playful, emotional and accessible for both children and parents.
Making AI Feel Creative, Not Technical
Most AI products begin with prompts, settings and complex interfaces. The goal was to hide that complexity behind a simple experience that inspired imagination instead of intimidating users.
Designing Trust For Families
Because the audience included parents and children, every interaction needed to communicate warmth, safety and emotional comfort instead of feeling like another AI utility.
Balancing Simplicity With Personalization
The experience needed to remain effortless while still giving users enough control to shape stories around their own ideas, characters and themes.
Turning Generation Into Storytelling
Creating a story wasn't enough. Every generated tale needed to feel like a complete experience through illustration, narration and immersive reading.
An approachable storytelling foundation
Rather than building another AI tool, the objective was to create a storytelling experience that felt approachable, emotional and enjoyable for families. Every design decision focused on reducing technical complexity while increasing imagination, confidence and delight.
Humanize AI
Hide technical complexity behind natural interactions that encourage creativity instead of intimidating users.
Inspire Before You Ask
Help users overcome the blank page by surfacing ideas, categories and visual inspiration before they begin creating a story.
Create Emotional Moments
Every interaction should reinforce the feeling of reading a real story through illustration, narration, motion and thoughtful pacing.
Design for Wonder
Build a visual language that makes AI feel magical, memorable and emotionally engaging while remaining simple enough for everyday use.
Creating a World of Stories
Unlike traditional AI tools that begin with an empty prompt, Lumi needed to inspire creativity before asking users to create anything. The first experience wasn't just about browsing stories it was about making imagination feel immediately accessible.
Rather than presenting AI as the destination, the product introduced a curated world of categories, illustrations and recommendations that encouraged exploration before creation.
Instead of opening directly into story generation, I designed the experience around discovery.
The Home and Categories experiences became the emotional entry point of the product, helping users explore illustrated stories, discover themes and gather inspiration before creating their own.
Rich artwork, carefully organized content and a calm visual rhythm reduced the intimidation often associated with generative AI while reinforcing Lumi's identity as a storytelling platform rather than a technical tool.
The discovery experience transformed Lumi from a simple AI generator into a destination for storytelling. Users could explore, read and become inspired before creating their own stories, making the creative process feel more approachable and enjoyable.
Designing an End-to-End Storytelling Journey
Creating an AI story isn't a single interaction it's a journey. Users need to discover the product, feel inspired, generate a story and finally experience it through reading or narration. Every stage had to feel connected, effortless and emotionally engaging.
Instead of treating story generation as a single prompt, I designed a complete storytelling experience where each screen had a clear purpose.
Users move naturally from discovering stories, to exploring categories, generating new adventures and finally reading beautifully illustrated narratives. Each step builds anticipation while keeping the interface calm, approachable and focused on imagination rather than technology.
Screen 1 of 10
Lumi transformed AI generation into a complete storytelling journey. Instead of feeling like a prompt-based tool, the product guided users from inspiration to finished stories through a seamless, emotionally engaging experience that encouraged exploration, creativity and repeated use.
Designing an Immersive Reading Experience
Most AI tools stop once the content has been generated. For Lumi, generation was only the beginning. The reading experience needed to feel calm, immersive and emotionally engaging, encouraging children and parents to spend time inside each story rather than simply consuming AI-generated text.
Rather than presenting stories as plain text, I designed a dedicated reading experience that combined full-screen illustrations, carefully paced typography and optional narration.
Every interaction was intentionally minimized so the focus remained on the story itself. Navigation, controls and secondary actions faded into the background, allowing the illustrations and narrative to become the center of attention.
The final reading experience transformed AI-generated content into something that felt closer to a digital storybook than a chatbot response. By combining immersive artwork, narration and distraction-free reading, Lumi encouraged users to enjoy stories instead of simply generating them.
Scaling One AI Storytelling Experience Across Multiple Journeys
Unlike most AI products that focus on a single interaction, Lumi combined story creation, discovery, reading and narration into one cohesive experience. The challenge wasn't designing isolated screens it was ensuring every journey felt connected while maintaining the same magical atmosphere throughout the product.
Story Creation
Turn simple ideas into fully illustrated, narrated stories powered by generative AI.
Story Discovery
Help families browse curated stories and explore new worlds beyond AI generation.
Reading & Listening
Support both independent reading and immersive narrated experiences within the same story.
Personal Library
Give users a place to revisit, organize and enjoy every story they created or discovered.
One Product. Multiple Storytelling Experiences.
A shared visual language ensured every feature from AI creation to bedtime reading felt like part of the same magical product.
How the product held together
Imagination First
Every interaction should inspire creativity before introducing technology.
Reduce Creative Friction
Generating a story should feel as effortless as describing an idea.
Emotional Storytelling
Illustration, typography, motion and narration work together to create memorable experiences.
One Consistent World
Whether creating, reading or listening, every screen belongs to the same visual universe.
Establishing a Shared Visual Language
As Lumi evolved from an early concept into a functional storytelling experience, maintaining visual consistency became increasingly important across creation, discovery and reading flows.
Rather than designing every screen independently, I established a shared UI foundation that kept interactions familiar while allowing new features to grow naturally.
Instead of creating a formal enterprise Design System, I focused on building a lightweight component library with reusable interface patterns, consistent spacing, typography and interaction behaviors.
This approach accelerated iteration, simplified future screens and helped maintain a cohesive product despite the rapid pace of exploration.
Reusable Components
Buttons, cards, navigation and interface patterns reused throughout the product.
Consistent Visual Language
Typography, spacing, color and illustration worked together to create one recognizable experience.
Faster Iteration
Reusable foundations made it easier to prototype, refine and expand the product.
AI Meets Familiar UX
Novel AI interactions were grounded in familiar mobile patterns, reducing the learning curve.
A lightweight UI foundation made Lumi feel cohesive from the first concept to the final prototype, enabling faster design decisions while preserving a consistent storytelling experience across every feature.
Designing Beyond the Prototype
Building an AI-powered storytelling app required more than designing beautiful interfaces.
Since Lumi combined AI generation, image creation and voice narration, every feature needed continuous validation to ensure the experience remained intuitive, emotionally engaging and technically feasible.
Rather than treating the prototype as the finish line, I continuously refined the product while it was being built.
I tested interactions, adjusted user flows, validated AI outputs and iterated on the interface until the storytelling experience felt natural from idea generation to the final narrated story.
Product Vision
Define the storytelling experience, visual identity and overall product direction.
Interactive Prototype
Prototype every core journey before implementation.
AI Workflow Design
Connect story generation, illustrations and narration into one seamless experience.
Real Device Testing
Validate animations, readability and interaction quality on mobile devices.
Iteration & Refinement
Continuously improve prompts, interface details and storytelling flows.
MVP Development
Transform the prototype into a fully functional application.
Production Ready
Deliver a cohesive experience ready for real users and future expansion.
The continuous iteration process transformed Lumi from an initial concept into a polished MVP, ensuring that AI generation, storytelling and interaction design worked together as one seamless experience.
What the work delivered
Lumi proved that generative AI could become a storytelling companion rather than just another productivity tool, combining text, illustration and narration into one cohesive experience.
End-to-End Product
From the first concept to a functional MVP, every core experience from story generation to reading and listening was designed as one connected journey.
AI-Driven Experience
The product successfully integrated multiple AI services into a seamless interface without exposing technical complexity to the user.
Foundation for Growth
The MVP established a scalable foundation for future features such as shared libraries, collaborative storytelling, personalized recommendations and additional AI capabilities.
Designed every user journey, interaction and visual system from concept to MVP.
Integrated story generation, illustrations and voice narration into one experience.
Designed, prototyped and launched a fully functional product.
A complete mobile experience combining creation, reading and listening.
Unlimited possibilities can overwhelm users. Clear prompts, thoughtful defaults and structured flows help transform imagination into meaningful stories.
Lumi challenged me to think beyond traditional interface design. Building a product around generative AI meant designing not only screens, but also creative workflows, emotional experiences and interactions between people and intelligent systems.
More importantly, it reinforced that great AI products aren't defined by advanced technology alone they succeed when that technology becomes almost invisible, allowing creativity, storytelling and human connection to take center stage.
