How Headspace Built an AI Companion that Fosters Trust and Transparency | Figma Blog
Headspace built Ebb as an AI companion for reflection between therapy sessions—not as a replacement for human care. Because mental-health AI carries significant safety and trust risks, the team prioritized clinical grounding, transparency, user autonomy, and careful cross-functional design. Early alignment workshops, iterative prototyping, and explicit interface guidelines helped shape Ebb into a friendly but clearly non-human companion. ## Defining Ebb’s Role - Headspace created Ebb in response to growing use of general-purpose AI for emotional support. - The companion was intended to: - Support reflective practices between therapy sessions. - Help people who may be unable to access or afford therapy. - Complement, rather than replace, human care. - The team first clarified the complete user experience and business objectives through FigJam workshops. - This early alignment helped address internal concerns and ambiguity around using AI in mental health. ## Building a Non-Human, Approachable Identity - The team explored names including Odom, Ibo, and Scribe before choosing **Ebb**. - The name suggests the fluidity and changing nature of emotions. - Designers avoided a gendered human name to reduce stereotypes that associate caregiving with women. - Ebb was designed as a friendly, human-adjacent entity without a specific gender. - Brand, product, illustration, animation, and copy teams used FigJam “playgrounds” to explore how Ebb could look and sound. ## Iterative Collaboration and Prototyping - Headspace followed a “build-to-learn” approach, bringing brand and product teams together early. - The teams tested approximately six brand identities before selecting a direction. - Figma allowed designers to apply different visual treatments directly to product screens. - Sharing prototypes in one workspace kept teams connected and enabled rapid iteration. - The team deliberately stress-tested ideas before rejecting them. ## Designing for Trust and Safety - Ebb was trained with input from clinical psychologists, providing a strong scientific foundation. - Designers focused on reducing adoption barriers by helping users understand: - That Ebb is an AI system. - How it can support them. - How their information and conversations are handled. - The interface was designed to make users feel safe expressing themselves. - Users retain agency to exit and delete conversations at any time. - A central principle was that AI should never be invisible: members should always know whether they are interacting with AI or a human. - The team’s broader guidelines emphasized differentiating AI from human-delivered care, reinforcing privacy and safety, supporting member choice, and creating a reflective environment. Headspace’s approach suggests that mental-health AI should be designed transparently and collaboratively, with safety and user control treated as foundational product requirements rather than features added later.
Read original(opens in new tab)
