Hiya AI Phone App
Crafting delight at the leading edge of technology
The phone dialer app has remained the same for as long as smartphones have existed. Our team set out to bring something new to the game, using Artificial Intelligence to bring value back to phone calls.
My role
At the project’s inception, I led the initial design exploration, handling
Design strategy
Exploratory iterations
Collaborating with product and engineering leaders to define goals and determine market opportunities
When the exploration matured into building a real product, I brought in one of the Principal Product Designers on my team to move the project forward.
Alongside the Chief Product Officer, the VP of Technology, and a handful of engineers I helped define and shape what the product would and could become.
The challenge
Your Phone is boring
The stock dialer apps for iOS and Android did the same basic things: receive incoming calls, dial outbound calls, show basic details about each one. There was room to add value and it was on our team to define what that was.
No one wants to answer spam calls
We had no shortage of research showing that people don’t want to answer the phone if they don’t know what the call is about. “It’s probably spam,” they think. But choosing not to answer can lead to missing important calls or starting a game of “phone tag.” What if we could take the uncertainty out of the equation?
AI fraud is real Fraud
Hiya already had an effective spam blocking app that used best-in-the-industry technology to block and label spam and fraud calls. Recent successes at Hiya made it possible to identify fraud calls and AI voices in real-time – a perfect match for our new AI-fueled app.
Writing things down is so 20th-Century
Sometimes, it’s just not possible to write down every detail from a conversation. With AI on the line protecting users from fraud, why not have it be a personal assistant too – taking notes about the call to be referenced later?
The journey begins
In the spring of 2024, with an engineering team excited to explore what they could do with AI, the vision started to take shape. Over the course of weeks, we explored ideas, investigated technology and tools, and gathered as much data and research as we could to refine the vision.
Version 1 of the Hiya AI Phone app would:
Provide details about incoming calls to help the user know whether to answer
Silence spammers and unwanted calls using Hiya’s industry-leading spam detection services
Detect AI deepfake voices in real time to warn users of fraud or scams
Use AI to extract and provide the most valuable details about a user’s calls
Create delightful interactions based on their conversations – like creating a calendar event for the birthday party you were talking about
Development is ongoing and Hiya AI Phone is currently available for iOS and Android devices.
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