Yash Dhuper
Strings connects users anonymously by call (or chat) to ask questions they're not comfortable posting publicly; a voice-first alternative to comment-thread platforms like Reddit.
Client:
Strings Co.
My Role:
UI/UX Designer
Year:
2026
Service Provided:
UI Design, Web Design, UX Research
The Problem
Strings was a first-time design, not a redesign, there was no existing product to fix, only a concept to build from scratch. The core insight behind it: people have a lot of questions and confusions they're not comfortable asking openly, and platforms like Reddit require someone else's comment thread to resolve a personal question, which is slow and impersonal. Some situations genuinely need a live conversation for real clarity, not more text.
The challenge wasn't just designing a voice-first anonymous platform, it was overcoming the very real trust problem that comes with that category. Early users were scared to engage: security concerns, a lack of trust in an anonymous call platform, and language barriers were all actively converting interested users into people who closed the app and never came back.
Anonymity and voice calls are a hard sell together. You're asking someone to talk to a stranger with no name attached; every design decision had to work toward earning trust before anything else.
The Approach
The target audience skewed toward people who preferred voice over text for getting real answers, though the product was designed to work for anyone. The full process:
Research
Wireframing
Low and High fidelity design
Final polish
was compressed into an aggressive two-week timeline, which meant every design decision had to directly serve either usability or trust, with no room for anything speculative.
The Solution
Because trust was the central obstacle, nearly every major decision was built to address it directly:
Call and chat, not just call - voice remained the core interaction, but a chat option was kept available for users not ready to commit to a live call.
Two selectable color palettes - monochrome or a yellow accent option, giving users a sense of control over their own experience from the first screen.
Face scan verification to confirm a real person is behind each profile, while showing no photos to other users at all, just an avatar, the question being asked, the topic niche, and the language they spoke.
A wallet screen laying the groundwork for future monetization through purchasable credits.
Language selection at onboarding, so users are matched with people asking questions in the same language, removing a major barrier to useful conversation.
Quick in-call reporting, giving users a fast, visible safety net directly inside the call screen rather than buried in a settings menu.
The Result
Strings is not yet publicly published, but feedback from selected beta testers was strongly positive. Testers described the app as trustworthy and easy to use, a meaningful outcome given how much of the design brief was specifically about overcoming distrust. The language matching system resolved the communication barrier that had been a real concern, and the combination of verification, limited to no photo exposure, and quick reporting gave testers a genuine sense of safety using an anonymous call product.
The goal was never just to make an anonymous call app usable; it was to make people feel safe enough to actually make the call in the first place.
