Take Sawti, an early concept with no MVP, through to launch as Chaptrs, then address confusion around its credit-based subscription model.
Creating the brand and design foundations for launch.
When Sawti became Chaptrs, I created a new identity within three days of joining, designed for students, professionals and older adults without relying on conventional Islamic motifs. I then turned it into a lean design system to support the MVP launch.
We launched with an Audible-style credit model: one credit a month to unlock a book.
We chose a credit model because Audible had made it familiar in the audiobook market. We expected listeners to understand the approach, giving us an established starting point for the MVP.
From download to first listen
1
Create an account
2
Choose a plan
3
Find an audiobook
4
Redeem and listen
How credits worked
1 credit each month. 1 credit unlocks 1 audiobook.
Journey One: Helping users reach their first audiobook with minimal friction.
Plans before access: testing whether people would pay.
Optional interests: collected interest data for future personalised recommendations, without blocking setup.
Two routes in: new and returning users go straight to the right flow.
Journey Two: Helping users discover and listen to audiobooks.
Browse by category: a starting point for new listeners.
Built for long listening: speed, sleep timer, chapters and bookmarks.
One tap to resume: from the home screen or the library.
Listeners found credits confusing. They expected unlimited listening.
Credit confusion
Unclear value and renewal dates.
“Some books are much shorter than others. Is that still worth 1 credit?”
“Can you tell me when my next credit will arrive?”
Expectation mismatch
Expected unlimited listening.
“Great app, but 1 credit a month isn’t enough. I like listening to multiple books!”
“I thought the subscription gave us unlimited streaming?”
Purchase friction
Credits held listening back.
“I accidentally bought a book with my credit. Can you refund me?”
“I don’t want to wait until next month. Can I buy more credits?”
WHAT WE TRIED
We clarified how credits worked and added the option to buy an extra credit at 50% off. Both went live.
A credit explainer showed when the next credit would arrive and that unused credits roll over.
A 50% off extra credit let listeners keep going without waiting for next month’s credit.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Better UX couldn’t fix a model that didn’t match expectations. That led to unlimited listening.
We replaced credits with unlimited listening, and I redesigned every flow it touched.
User feedback helped shape the founders’ decision to move to unlimited streaming. They carefully weighed this against the business implications, particularly how publisher royalties would be paid. I used before-and-after comparisons to brief the founders and engineers on the changes needed across the app.
This removed one of the issues users raised most often with customer support, freeing the support team to focus on other requests.
As Chaptrs grew, I rebuilt the design system so it could scale with the product.
As the product grew, the MVP system became harder to maintain. I rebuilt it around primitive and semantic tokens, so styles update consistently across components and light and dark themes.
A snapshot of the Chaptrs Design System (CDS): colour, spacing and radius tokens.
Today, Chaptrs is built around discovery, listening and accessibility.
Using AI to explore, critique and accelerate design.
I used ChatGPT and Claude to explore edge cases, critique designs and draft flows in Figma with the Chaptrs design system, then refined the output against product constraints and user needs.
This let me explore more ideas in less time, leaving more room to test them critically against user and business goals.
What I learned building Chaptrs
01
Learn from real feedback
When clearer interfaces aren’t enough, question the model itself.
02
Build systems that can evolve
Ship what launch needs, then rebuild for the long term as the product grows.
03
Balance breadth with priorities
Working across product, brand and marketing taught me when to go deep and when to move fast.