Role: Product and Research
Client: Carboncopies
Platform: Desktop, Mobile
Tools: Figma, Illustrator, Miro
As a product designer, I created CarbonGPT to address the lack of a specialized whole brain emulation chatbot for neuroscience researchers, so advancements in the field can propel biological and technology purposes.
Painting the Picture
There are many AI chatbots in our current landscape:
ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot, Grok etc.
Users will ask questions to stay up to date on news, help with homework or write a cover letter for them. While each AI database is massive, there are restrictions for specific research inquiries.
Carboncopies, a research foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area, aims to build an AI chatbot that allows researchers to ask away freely on whole brain emulation related matter.
Users that are interested in exploring, understanding and researching whole brain emulation need an accessible way to research using an AI chatbot because there are a lack of specialized AI chatbot resources in this field.
The target market is neuroscience researchers aged 18-65+ looking for a safe space to conduct research without restrictions. Restrictions included biased answers, limited knowledge on niche subjects (WBE) and outdated information.
To combat these challenges and learn more about user needs, I conducted intensive user interviews and the answers were loud and clear. Participants were asked to fill out this worksheet: https://forms.gle/yoeCRsNoJXtSqbZv9
Research Questions—-
1. Which AI chatbot do you prefer to use?
2. What is your favorite feature when using an AI chatbot?
3. What is the biggest frustration you face using current popular chatbots when researching WBE?
4. Do you currently feel any biases included in AI chatbots when researching WBE? (positive or negative)
5. How many hours do you research WBE during a week?
6. Do you have any ethical concerns with current WBE studies?
7. Would you welcome an AI chatbot that specializes in WBE research?
Understanding User Needs Using Research
Design Process and Brand Identity
Minimum Viable Product:
To capture the initial design vision, we followed industry standards like Jakob's Law.
We developed a Minimum Viable Product for CarbonGPT. To foster brand recognition and ensure a cohesive user experience, we established a brand identity for CarbonGPT that aligns with Carboncopies' existing logo and website. This visual consistency streamlines user interaction and reinforces brand identity.
Timeline: 8 day sprint to create MVP for CarbonGPT
Brand Identity & Values
At the Carboncopies Foundation, it is our mission to identify, facilitate, and directly conduct the research that will deliver whole brain emulation. Carboncopies envisions a future where WBE unlocks profound insights into consciousness and human cognition.
Values—-
Inclusive: We embrace diversity and equity as a team.
Scientific Pursuit: We believe in driving for innovation and advancement
Flexibility: We constantly shifting roles to meet our needs at a high level
Accessibility: We want our product(s) to be used by all regardless of ability.
Free Speech: We advocate for all topics in WBE being spoken upon in a democratic way.
Typography
Components
Colors
Key Takeaways
Help researchers find their objective
Working on a niche research matter like whole brain emulation really narrows down the users likely to use our chatbot. To improve their user experience, we issued three gateways to help them reach an CTA: 1. Donate to the Carboncopies foundation to fuel WBE research, 2. Collaborate with Carboncopies on a project, 3. Use CarbonGPT to conduct WBE research.
Integration of a front end system
Understanding the process of an front end system like ReactJS helps make product collaboration with our engineering team easy, by ensuring we are all on the same playing field.
Working with technical limitations
The development process of an artificial intelligence chatbot involves continuous collaboration with engineering teams to comprehensively understand and navigate the technical constraints and capabilities inherent in the system, thereby ensuring the optimization of the chatbot's performance within these parameters.
Turn debates into healthy conversations
During the development process on a small team, each department will speak their feelings on every subject matter relating to the product. It is important to remember that we are all on the same team and working different roles to keep the non-profit's vision alive. Constant communication with the engineering and leadership team is necessary to meet project deadlines and help lift one another.