Kyral - A social app for creators and influencers
Designing Echo, an AI assistant inside SocialHeads.
Project Overview
In 2020, the creator economy was exploding - TikTok passed 850M users, Twitch saw record engagement, and platforms like Patreon and Substack empowered creators to monetise directly. But while creators were thriving individually, collaborations were messy, fragmented, and often failed.
Creators relied on Instagram DMs, Discord chats, and scattered Google Docs to manage projects. This caused chaos:
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Discovery was random and unstructured.
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Scope and rights were unclear.
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Assets got lost in endless versions.
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Credits were often missed, hurting trust and visibility.
Kyral was born as the missing layer in the creator economy: a platform where creators could discover each other, align on scope, work together in one place, and publish with proper credit.
Market Opportunity
"2020 was a breakout year for creators. TikTok was exploding past 850M users, Twitch streamers were pulling in billions of watch hours, and Patreon & Substack gave writers and artists new ways to earn. But in the middle of all this growth, something was broken.
Creators told us they were juggling Discord chats, Instagram DMs, Google Docs, and endless email threads just to finish a single project. Credit often got lost. Rights were unclear. Files disappeared.
Kyral emerged from a simple insight: creators didn’t just need another publishing tool. They needed a place to discover each other, align on ideas, and deliver work without chaos.
Pain Points
"Every pain point we heard became a design challenge."
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Too many fragmented tools → One Project Room.
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Cold DMs and random matches → Taste-based Collab Match.
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Unclear rights and scope → Brief Builder + rev-share templates.
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Version chaos → Inline comments & approvals.
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Missed credits → Auto-credit export.
Competitor Analysis
"Of course, tools existed. Discord was where the conversations started. Fiverr offered gigs. Patreon and Substack helped creators earn. Trello and Notion organised tasks. But none of these answered the heart of the problem: creators didn’t have a home for collaboration.
Kyral’s promise: the missing hub where creators could meet, align, and build together.
User Interviews
"We didn’t just read articles; we listened."
“I find collaborators through Instagram DMs, but keeping track is a nightmare. Half the time I lose files.” - Motion Creator, 23,
“Collabs are fun, but setting them up is messy. Fiverr feels too transactional. I just want people I vibe with.” - Twitch Streamer, 27, US
“I run workshops on Substack but need designers for visuals. It’s hard to judge quality from a random DM.” - Writer, 30, US
“I once released a track and forgot to credit the vocalist. They were upset. I wish credits were automatic.” - Music Producer, 21, US
Their words shaped Kyral’s DNA: discovery, alignment, trust, and credit.
Target Audience
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"Our users weren’t corporations or agencies. They were individuals - young, ambitious, creative people who just wanted to work together without losing their sanity."
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Gen Z & Millennials (16 - 35) creating on TikTok, Twitch, Substack, Instagram.
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Solo creators & small teams (2 - 5 people) building passion projects.
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Geographies: US, UK, India, Southeast Asia - the hotspots of the creator economy.
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What united them wasn’t a tool or platform. It was a mindset: visibility, recognition, and growth through collaboration.
Assumption Mapping
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"When we began, we had a few big hunches."
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Creators don’t just publish solo - they crave collaboration.
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Most discovery still happens through cold DMs and Discord.
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Tool fatigue is real, projects often spread across 3 - 4 apps.
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Recognition matters: one missed credit can damage trust.
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Trust is fragile. A bad collab experience lingers.
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We tested these assumptions through interviews, and they were right. 70% of creators told us they had lost work due to “version chaos,” and 60% said they’d had a negative collaboration because of unclear credits or expectations.
Storyboard, Journey Mapping & low-fidelity wireframes
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My Role
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I worked end-to-end on Kyral’s design journey:
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UI/UX Design → Designed the app experience, from wireframes to high-fidelity screens.
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Product Demo → Created walkthroughs and interactive prototypes to showcase key features.
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Logo & Branding → Developed the visual identity, ensuring it resonated with creators.
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Ideation to Execution → Partnered on research, assumption mapping, user journeys, and feature prioritisation — and carried it through into a cohesive product story.
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This meant not just shaping how Kyral looked, but also how it worked — ensuring that creators had a clear path from idea → collab → published, credited work.
Roadmap
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"We couldn’t do everything at once, so we built a roadmap grounded in creators’ realities."
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MVP: Creator Cards, Collab Match, Brief Builder, Project Rooms, Auto-credit.
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Next: Moodboards, publishing checklists, rev-share templates.
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Later: Talent pools, cross-promo bundles.
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Not yet: Payments & escrow - too complex for launch.
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Our measure of success wasn’t just signups. It was collaborations that started, finished, and credited everyone fairly.
Work Process
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Research & Assumption Mapping
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Analysed 2020 creator economy trends (TikTok, Twitch, Patreon, Substack).
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Conducted user interviews with 12 creators across motion design, streaming, writing, and music.
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Mapped out their pain points: fragmented tools, DM chaos, unclear rights, and missed credits.
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Personas & Journey Mapping
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Synthesised insights into four primary personas (motion creator, streamer, writer, music producer).
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Built journey maps to capture the “before Kyral” experience of chaos, and the “after Kyral” vision of streamlined collaboration.
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Ideation & Wireframing
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Brainstormed features such as Collab Match, Brief Builder, Project Rooms, and Auto-credit Export.
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Sketched low-fidelity flows to align on the MVP scope.
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UI/UX Design & Branding
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Designed the app interface - prioritising simplicity and clarity for creators who were used to juggling multiple tools.
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Created Kyral’s logo and visual identity to give the product a distinct, creator-friendly brand.
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Prototyping & Product Demo
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Developed walkthrough videos and interactive demos to showcase Kyral’s flow from discovery → collaboration → publishing.
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Storyboard, Journey Mapping & low-fidelity wireframes
 Group 1 |  1 |  2 |  3 |  5 |  4 |  6 |  7 |  13 |  16 |
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Why These Videos Matter
They were more than marketing assets - they became a visual prototype, helping others instantly understand Kyral’s purpose and potential. This was especially important since much of the product existed in design prototypes and research at the time.
Logo Animation & Branding Video
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Designed Kyral’s logo and visual identity to resonate with the creator community.
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Used After Effects to animate the logo, adding personality and movement.
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Crafted the animation to reflect Kyral’s values: creativity, trust, and collaboration.
Product Demo & Branding Videos
As part of bringing Kyral to life, I created motion-based demos and branding videos that told the product’s story in a clear and engaging way. These videos were designed not only to showcase features but also to help stakeholders, collaborators, and early testers feel the experience of using Kyral.
Product Demo Video
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Wrote the script to explain Kyral’s flows step by step (from discovery → collaboration → publishing).
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Directed the narrative to highlight user pain points and how Kyral solved them.
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Collaborated with a voice-over artist to give the demo a professional yet approachable tone.
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Designed and animated the video in Adobe After Effects, ensuring the motion aligned with Kyral’s brand energy.
Results & Impact
The project delivered a clear UX foundation and a compelling product narrative that showed how Kyral could transform fragmented workflows into seamless collaboration. By handling everything from research to design, branding, and demo, I ensured Kyral was not just functional, but inspiring and creator-centric.