AWDIO: Interactive Audio for Kids
Leading product strategy and UX design to transform passive screen time into high-agency audio adventures.
Client
LEGO Ventures
Year
2022
Role
Co-founder & Product Lead
The Vision: Combatting the "Zombie Effect"
Incubated under LEGO Ventures, AWDIO was designed to solve a critical parental pain point: the passive nature of screen time. My challenge was to design a "visual-first" audio platform that offered the engagement of a video game with the cognitive benefits of a podcast . I led the transition from a conceptual MVP into a scalable, high-fidelity product .
The explore screen, where the user can discover new stories. It features full screen cards with images and titles of the stories.
UX Challenge: Gamifying Permission Friction
In kids’ tech, requesting system permissions (Microphone/Notifications) is a major drop-off point. To solve this, I designed a narrative-driven onboarding flow. By introducing 'Audie' the host , we turned technical requirements into "unlocking voice powers" within the story , . This lowered abandonment rates by framing friction as fun , , .
introducing the host Audie
Designing for Discovery & Agency
For children, cognitive load is a primary constraint. I implemented a card-based UI that prioritized visual recognition over text . To drive retention, I designed a "Continue Playing" module that allowed kids to resume complex, branching stories in a single tap, significantly reducing time-to-value for repeat sessions , .
The explore screen, where the user can discover new stories. It features full screen cards with images and titles of the stories.
Interaction Design: The Player Engine
How do you visualize choice in an audio-only medium? I designed a bespoke branching story player featuring visual countdowns to "decision moments" . The UI provides tactile, immediate feedback during plot-branching and allows users to track their journey through a visual history of past choices , .
The player UI, in its minimized state, showing the time left until next interaction
Product Strategy: Scaling the Content Library
High production costs for interactive content threatened scalability. I led a strategic pivot to integrate third-party podcasts and audiobooks, wrapping them in our proprietary interactive layer . This move allowed us to scale our library by 400% in one quarter while maintaining the unique AWDIO value proposition , .
Browser screen, with a full width card taking the yser to a selection on content, here it is all quizzes
Engagement Loops: Gamified Learning
To boost Daily Active Users (DAU), I introduced interactive Quizzes . I focused the UX on "micro-moments" of delight: immediate confetti feedback for correct answers , educational "did you know" bitesize facts , and clear progression tracking to encourage replayability , .
Intro to a new quiz
Impact & Technical Oversight
Beyond the pixels, I managed the development of an "offline-first" architecture, ensuring stories pre-loaded during the onboarding flow . Testing with 100+ families showed that our interactive mechanics drove 40% higher engagement than standard audio. This validated our IP, which ultimately evolved into our next GenAI venture.
Step two on in the onboarding flow in AWDIO, welcoming the user to the app
