Designing an AI Assistant for Herbalife Distributors
Client:
Deliverables:
Herbalife is a global nutrition company that offers a range of products designed to support health, wellness, and an active lifestyle. The company operates through a direct selling model, where Herbalife Distributors play a key role by personally connecting with clients, understanding their needs, and recommending the right products instead of selling through traditional retail stores.
The lack of a standardized assessment process at Herbalife has led to inconsistencies in how Distributors evaluate client needs, with varying levels of competency and confidence. Additionally, many clients find lengthy forms cumbersome and prefer a more personalized, conversational approach.
The ask was to implement an AI-assisted system that standardizes the assessment process, equips Distributors with the right tools, and delivers personalized recommendations. This system would also store data for Distributors' convenience and provide Herbalife analytics.
I began my research by collaborating with stakeholders and distributors to understand their pain points and gather the company’s expectations for the new platform and process. Partnering with my colleague, I led the exploration phase, working closely with the copywriter and development team to assess feasibility and ensure alignment across all teams.
Our research guided the creation of user flows that accounted for the ideal path, alternative scenarios, and sensitive topics like mental health, suicide, and other difficult conversations. We focused on designing an experience that was both supportive and responsible, ensuring the AI could provide guidance with empathy while recognizing when to escalate to human support. Balancing user needs, compliance, and ethical considerations was key to creating a system that felt both safe and effective.
Once the flow and scenarios were defined, I started working on conceptual designs that aligned with Herbalife’s brand guidelines while also pushing for a fresh, innovative direction. My goal was to create something unlike anything Herbalife had before — modern, intuitive, and engaging — while still maintaining brand consistency.
For the handoff and implementation, we ensured a smooth transition by providing detailed documentation, design specs, and prototypes for the development team. Along with the chatbot experience, we designed a desktop version, accounting for not just the conversation flow but also the entry point to the chat, the results page, and a backend dashboard for distributors to access user data. The flow was tested on a focus group and refined based on feedback to ensure a seamless user experience.
Results
We rolled out the chatbot in Spain as a beta test to see how users and distributors would engage with it. Distributors quickly started using it in their daily workflow, making it easier to assess clients and follow up faster. At the same time, our team has been closely tracking where users drop off and refining the experience to make the flow smoother. We’re continuously improving the chatbot based on real feedback, ensuring it becomes even more intuitive and effective.
important numbers
Users completed
AI-driven assessment
