Lilokwi

Overview

Lilokwi is a private audio platform where families record, organise, and replay voice recordings from the people they love: grandparents reading stories, parents teaching languages, siblings sending voice messages that last. The concept arrived with a real community of families ready to use it, and a big open question: what exactly should we build for them?

This was one of the most intense and rewarding projects of my career. I joined when there was an initial Testflight build and an enormous Miro board: full of possibilities, target groups, use-cases, and unanswered questions. My job was to turn that into a focused, shippable product.

The Problem

"Your voice is a vitamin." Research shows that hearing the voices of people we know, trust, and love increases natural oxytocin levels and reduces anxiety.

The digital world is dominated by strangers: influencers, celebrities, algorithmically amplified noise. People are losing access to the most grounding thing: the familiar voices of the people who actually know them. Lilokwi wanted to reclaim that slice: capturing precious audio from loved ones for learning, laughter, legacy, and comfort, at every life stage.

Discover

When I joined, the Miro board was legendarily big, endless scrolling, endless ideas. Should we focus on everything or narrow down? Do we keep the birds? Is the name right? What about branding? These questions filled every session.

I had direct access to people from every target group (mothers of young children, grandparents, families spread across countries) and interviewed them all personally. The general feedback was enthusiastic: every person I spoke to immediately started imagining how Lilokwi could fit into their life. That was a strong signal.

Define

Despite the enthusiasm in interviews, Beta drop-off told a different story. Users who were excited to record content would stop after a few recordings, or never invite other family members at all.

After deeper research, four root causes emerged:

BUSY LIVES: Mothers are overwhelmed. Adding something new to their routine requires near-zero friction.

TRUST: The Beta app didn't feel stable enough. Families feared losing irreplaceable audio content.

ONBOARDING: Installing via Testflight was too technical for less tech-savvy family members, especially elders.

BLANK MIC: The pressure of "what do I record?" caused users to delay, and then forget entirely.

Ideate, Prototype & Test

Every user testing session fed directly into the next prototype. I ran A/B tests, sent surveys, and kept iterating. Over time, we made a key strategic shift: targeting mothers alone was too narrow. The real focus was the voice of your loved ones, any audio moment that brings joy when replayed.

AUDIO SAMPLES & PROMPTS: Solved the blank-mic problem. Users get inspiration for what to record, removing the pressure of performing in front of a microphone.

REQUEST AUDIO: Some users didn't want to record. They wanted to ask someone else to. A simple request feature let the more expressive family member take the lead.

MVP SCOPE: After numerous iterations and workshops, we focused the MVP on what mattered: easy join, invite people, record, request, and a nicely organised audio library. Everything else waited.

Launch

Collaborating closely with the dev team, Lilokwi launched successfully on the App Store. The product went from an overwhelming Miro board to a focused, shipped iOS app with a clear value proposition: hear the voices of the people who love you.

Reflection

Lilokwi taught me that a great idea and an engaged community aren't enough. You still have to fight to narrow the scope, understand the real drop-off reasons (not just the ones people tell you), and build confidence at every step of the user journey.

The blank-mic problem was the most important insight: if users don't know what to say, they'll never start. Solving that unlocked everything else.