Case 10 — Mobile app · Learning

A living library you talk to, one great mind at a time.

Client: WisdomApp
Scope: Mobile app · 12 screens
Sector: Learning · AI conversation
Status: Shipped

Three phones on black: “Welcome to WisdomApp” under yin and yang in a web of gold constellations, “Who would you like to speak with?” with a grid of portraits, and a chat with Buddha. — WisdomAppWelcome, choose a master, talk: the whole promise of the app in three screens.

Context

WisdomApp offers one-on-one conversations with more than thirty of the greatest minds in history — Buddha, Plato and the rest of its ‘living library’ — and keeps a searchable transcript of every conversation.

Conversations are paid for in time: a monthly or yearly plan of minutes, or minutes one at a time, with the first day free.

Problem

Make it feel like a meeting, not a chatbot.

“Great minds want to talk with YOU about all the things that are important to you, to them, and to the whole world.”
WisdomApp, onboarding

Under the portraits it is an AI conversation, and people know it. The app had to give each conversation the weight of meeting someone — a choice, an arrival, a presence — while being honest that the clock is running and the minutes are paid for.

Constraints

Working within constraints

Library: More than thirty masters to choose from
Pricing: Minutes by the month, the year or one at a time
Trial: First day free, cancel within 24 hours
Record: A searchable transcript of every conversation
Tone: Timeless, but not a museum
Screen: One-handed, on a phone

In the file

Twelve screens, from welcome to feedback

Onboarding 1–3
Plans
Plan activated
Choose a master
Arrival
Conversation
Time left
Menu
Account
Feedback

Decisions

Decisions that shaped the app

Time is the thing you buy.

Why: What people use in a conversation with Plato is minutes, not features.
Result: Plans are sold in minutes — 30 a month, 360 a year, or 10 at a time — with the first free day and the 24-hour cancel window on the same screen.

Two phones: “Unlock WisdomApp for free” with the monthly, yearly and by-the-minute plans and Try for $0, and “Yearly plan activated” with a gold seal.

Choosing a master like choosing a person.

Why: Thirty names in a list flatten into a menu.
Result: Masters are chosen by portrait: a grid of faces on the home screen, and a carousel to swipe through one at a time on the way in.

“Who would you like to speak with?” under yin and yang, and a grid of six portraits, each captioned with a name.

A moment of arrival.

Why: Dropping straight into a chat makes it feel like a bot.
Result: Every conversation opens with a transition — “Standby, we’re opening the portal to Plato…” — before the master appears.

Two phones: Plato’s portrait with “Just a moment, we’re getting things ready” and “Standby, we’re opening the portal to Plato…”, then the conversation with Buddha.

The clock in plain sight.

Why: When time is what you pay for, you should be able to see it running.
Result: The chat carries its timer on the master’s portrait, and the voice view puts an hourglass with the time right above the microphone.

The voice view: Buddha’s portrait filling the screen, an hourglass at 00:19 above the microphone, the speaker and the chat buttons.

System

Night sky, gold and a serif

Black, gold constellation lines and portraits in warm light — with a classical serif for the voice of the masters.

Motif

Yin and yang, glowing white, in a web of gold constellation lines on black.

Yin and yang in a web of constellations — the idea of the app before a word is read.

Typefaces

Forum — titles, the masters’ voice
Source Serif Pro — long reading
Montserrat — interface and labels

Palette · sampled from the screens

#FFFFFF
#231B15
#C5C6CC
#B07A20
#09080F
#8F9098

Solid fills, sampled by frequency from the plans, master, conversation and menu screens — the gold among them; the rest of the gold lives in the images and gradients.

Screens

All twelve, in order

Welcome
The promise, 1 of 3.
Great minds
Who you’ll talk to, 2 of 3.
Let’s start
How it begins, 3 of 3.
Plans
Minutes by month, year or one at a time.
Activated
The plan confirmed.
Choose
A master by portrait.
Arrival
Opening the portal.
Conversation
Talking, with the timer.
Time left
The time glass.
Menu
Everything else, one tap away.
Account
Payment, email, password.
Feedback
A line back to the team.

Craft

The details that carry it

Two crops at actual size.

The plan cards: Monthly, 30 minutes, $14.99 a month with “First day free!”; Yearly, 360 minutes, $139.99 a year, save $39.89; By-the-minute, 10 minutes, $7.00 once; and Try for $0. — Plan cardsPlan name first, the minutes under it, the price on the right — and the yearly saving spelled out in dollars.

“Speak with?” — six portraits of masters in warm light on black, each captioned with a name. — PortraitsEach master in warm light on black — the same lighting for every face, so no one looks more ‘real’ than the others.

Outcome

What shipped

Status: Shipped
Screens: Twelve, onboarding to feedback
Pricing: Minutes by month, year or one at a time
Record: Transcripts for every conversation

No product metrics were shared for this page, so there are none on it.

Reflection

If I had another two weeks

What I’d test: Whether minutes feel fair. A timer is honest, but it can also make every pause feel expensive.
What I’d measure: Which masters people return to, and after how long — the library is the product.
What I’d change: Let people search the library by question, not only by name: most arrive with a problem, not a philosopher.

End of case 10

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