HeyNora AI
An AI companion for music producers: seamless support, endless creativity
HeyNora is an AI-powered assistant and platform that helps music producers transform creative challenges into breakthrough moments. The project’s key challenge was designing an interface that could seamlessly integrate with any production environment (DAW) without disrupting complex workflows. I worked closely with the founder and CEO to bring his vision to life, leading the project independently and designing the entire UI/UX from the ground up. The resulting solution is a movable, expandable chatbox that stays compact and unobtrusive by default and provides richer content and creative support when engaged, ensuring inspiration is always accessible without interrupting the user’s flow.
Company
HeyNora AI
Contributions
UI/UX design
Branding
Graphic design
Year
2025
The Problem
Music producers need AI-powered creative support that sparks inspiration without disrupting their workflow or cluttering complex production tools.
The Research
I began by working closely with the founder, an experienced music producer, to understand how creative flow is typically disrupted within modern production environments. Through competitive analysis, workflow observations, and immersing myself in the tools producers use every day, it became clear that switching between complex interfaces to search for ideas or solve problems breaks momentum. Producers needed quick, in-context inspiration that wouldn’t require leaving their workspace. This insight shaped the core requirements for the solution: a flexible, lightweight interface that could sit on top of any production setup and provide support without interrupting the creative process.
The Design Solution
The HeyNora interface is designed as a flexible, multi-layered system that adapts to a producer’s workflow and reveals depth only when needed. It stays out of the way when focus is essential, expands naturally as the user engages, and provides richer AI-driven content through lightweight modules that sit above the production window.
Minimized
HeyNora begins in a small, unobtrusive minimized state that lives in the corner of the screen. This keeps it accessible but never distracting, preserving full visibility of the user’s production tools.
Engaged / Listening
When the user clicks or speaks to HeyNora, the interface expands into a slightly larger compact panel. This state includes quick-access menu icons for inspiration, the dashboard, and settings, allowing for fast interactions without covering key parts of the workspace.
Chat
If the user types or asks a question, the chat view expands to accommodate longer responses and richer AI interactions. This state supports natural back-and-forth with HeyNora while maintaining a compact footprint that keeps production tools visible.
Suggestions + Inspiration
For deeper exploration, HeyNora can open a lightweight module over the DAW that surfaces AI-recommended tracks, trending sounds, and creative starting points. This module is intentionally spacious yet unobtrusive, giving producers the context they need to spark new ideas.
Dashboard
Accessed through the menu, the dashboard module provides an overview of recent projects, saved files, and personalized next steps. It also highlights curated suggestions from the user’s own library that may complement their current work, creating a seamless bridge between inspiration and action.