The Problem

We’ve all been there.

Sitting at our desks, stuck on something.
Too scared to Slack the group.
Too embarrassed to DM someone.
Too proud to raise our hand and say, “I don’t know.”

Even in the most progressive workplaces, there’s an invisible fear:

“If I ask, will I look like I don’t belong?”

This fear leads to people staying silent.
And silence? It kills collaboration, morale, and productivity.

The Hypothesis

What if we could make asking for help… feel emotionally safe?
What if people could express doubt or confusion without fear, and still get real answers, fast?

Helpi: The Anonymous Work Ally
A mobile app UX concept that lets employees ask for help anonymously, have AI rewrite their message in a confident tone, and route it to the right person all without judgment.

The Goal

Design a low-friction, emotionally intelligent mobile experience that helps users:

• Ask questions without overthinking

• Choose how visible or anonymous they want to be

• Get help routed to the right expert

• Contribute back when they’re ready

  
  

Research & Insight

To uncover the emotional and practical barriers employees face when seeking help in professional environments especially in tech, design, HR, and support roles.

Research Method

• Approach: Informal qualitative interviews

• Participants: 15+ individuals across tech, design, HR, and support

• Format: Casual conversations with friends, ex-colleagues, and community members

• Tone: Open-ended and exploratory to surface emotional truths and workplace behaviors

What I Heard

“I often Google/ ChatGPT something for 10+ minutes just to avoid asking my manager.”
“Slack feels too public. I don’t want to look dumb.”
“It’s not the question, it’s how I sound, I overthink the wording.”

Emerging Patterns

1. Fear of Judgment

Many people hesitate to ask questions out loud due to a fear of being seen as unskilled or incompetent especially in open Slack channels or meetings.

• Who it affects: Early-career professionals, introverts, anyone in fast-paced or hierarchical orgs

• Result: Silent struggle → wasted time → potential mistakes

2. Overthinking Communication

Users weren’t just stuck on what to ask but how to ask it. The mental load of wording a message “the right way” was surprisingly heavy.

• Some said they draft help requests multiple times

• Others confessed they abandon the message altogether

3. Lack of Psychological Safety

Despite having tools like Slack or Teams, employees reported feeling unsafe or exposed when posting publicly.

• “What if this gets screenshotted?”

• “What if leadership sees this and thinks I don’t know my job?”

4. Self-Sufficiency ≠ Efficiency

People take pride in trying to solve things alone, but it often results in:

• Delays

• Redundant work

• Miscommunication

Core Insight

Fear of looking unskilled + lack of psychological safety = costly communication bottlenecks.

This insight reveals a critical UX gap: traditional tools prioritize access and speed, but overlook emotional friction.

Opportunity Areas

1. Anonymous or shielded help channels
   → To remove identity-based hesitation

2. AI rewriting or coaching
   → To reduce the burden of perfect phrasing

3. Emotionally intelligent UX patterns
   → To create safer spaces for vulnerable asks

4. Smart routing to the right people
   → To avoid asking the wrong person or flooding group chats

   
   

Ideate

Onboarding That Builds Trust

Rather than forcing signups up front, Helpi:

• Lets users start anonymously

• Offers personalization like tone preference and topic filters

• Builds trust before collecting data

Key onboarding screens included:

• Alias setup (optional)

• Department tags for routing

• Preferred tone (Neutral, Friendly, Encouraging)

• Notification preferences

The tone of the copy throughout?
Warm. Gentle. Empowering.

“You’re always in control.”
“It’s okay to not know — that’s how teams grow.”

UX Storyboard

How it works

The Logic

1. Context Extraction
   When a user submits a question, the AI analyzes:

• Text content (keywords, domain-specific terms)

• Tags or department set during onboarding (e.g., “Dev Team,” “Design,” “HR”)

• Emotional tag

2. Intent Categorization
   AI classifies the query:

• Type: Bug, Process, Concept, Feedback, Clarification

• Topic: e.g., “API Integration,” “Figma Tips,” “HR Leave Policy”

3. Delivery Controls

• Recipients get low-interruption notifications (in-app, not email blast)

• AI throttles exposure to avoid spammy repetition

• If no response within X hours → AI re-routes or bumps

Who Answers the Questions?

Once routed, help requests can be answered by:

UX Impact of Smart Routing

• No awkward DMs

• No “who do I ask?” paralysis

• Right people see the right questions

• Builds a transparent, respectful learning culture

Design

Testing the Concept

Since Helpi is still in the concept stage, I conducted lightweight usability testing using:

• Mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma

• Click-through prototypes for the “Ask for Help” flow

• Guided scenario prompts with test participants from design, support, and engineering backgrounds

What I tested?

• Can users confidently draft and post a question?

• Do they understand the role of AI in rewriting?

• Does anonymous posting feel safe and trustworthy?

Testing Method

I gave users a simple scenario:

“Imagine you just joined a new company. You’re blocked on something, but afraid to look unskilled. Use Helpi to ask for help.”

While they navigated the prototype, I observed:

• Where they hesitated

• What confused or delighted them

• Whether the emotional tone felt right

Results

1. People loved the rewrite preview.

“It’s like Grammarly for my questions ,but more human.”

Users appreciated seeing both the original + AI rewrite.
Some even toggled back and forth multiple times before posting.

2. Emotion chips were surprisingly impactful.

“Oh, I actually feel seen just by tapping ‘overwhelmed.’”

Selecting an emotion helped users feel validated.
It also made them feel like the app “got them”, even before posting.

3. Trust was earned, not assumed.

“I wouldn’t post anonymously unless I knew for sure it’s really anonymous.”

Users appreciated the preview of how their post would appear.
A few asked for a “test post” feature or reassurance in the UI.

Testing reminded me:

People don’t just need clean interfaces, they need emotional safety and clear expectations.

What I Learned

Final Thought

Helpi isn’t just about help.

It’s about giving people permission to be honest at work.
To not know something.
To grow.
Together.

That’s the kind of product I want to keep designing.