Buddy—the first English AI tutor for kids
Buddy.ai is a voice-based virtual English tutor app for kids that helps children develop English vocabulary and pronunciation. I contributed to both the parental and kids’ experiences.
Worked: Jun 2022–Apr 2025.
My role: product designer.
Magic of voice
Designing a speech-driven game for children comes with unique challenges. Kids often expect to talk to Buddy at any time because they see a robot character on the screen. However, Buddy only listens during specific “listening phases,” which he signals with a clear gesture. According to research conducted by an independent UX specialist, not all children understand this cue.
We enhanced the “speaking” phase with voice visualisation to improve clarity. We also introduced rewards to encourage more voice interaction.
Parental onboarding
Buddy has acquisition funnels for kids and parents, so the onboarding process must be effective for both.
The role selection screen guides users to the right onboarding path. To prevent kids from entering the parent section, we made the “I am an explorer” button large and noticeable.
The onboarding flow for kids and parents adapts to factors like subscription status, device permissions, user account presence, and app configuration, which may vary by region or A/B test conditions.
COPPA compliance
I ensured Buddy UI complied with COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) and secured kidSAFE+ certification for Buddy.ai. This involved adjustments to the parental onboarding flow and direct communication with the kidSAFE representative.
Design system
Buddy’s UI is built in Unity, so all components were designed and implemented from scratch. I created a custom, cross-platform library with consistent visuals and behavior on iOS and Android. The system supports child and parent flows, RTL languages, and unified mobile guidelines.
