Mobile product · 2026
Stobi
A mobile app for people who paint, hide and find stones — keeping each stone’s story in one place.
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My contribution
I work on the product concept, UX/UI, brand and character design. I also use AI tools to build the frontend and contribute to parts of the backend.
Working together
Collaborates on backend development, GPS functionality, and the AI scanner implementation.
A stone’s story can get lost between posts.
People share painted stones and their finds in community groups. But the artist, hiding place and later discoveries can end up in separate posts. I wanted to connect these moments around the stone itself.
Separate posts about a hide, a find or an artist.
One stone, connected to its creator, places and discoveries.
Explore, take part, keep a collection.
The map connects the activity to places. The feed brings people and discoveries together. The profile keeps someone’s own contributions accessible.
An overview of the stones
The globe shows stones grouped by location. Search and location controls sit alongside a direct “Found a stone” action for someone who already has a stone in hand.
Looking for a stone and reporting a find have separate entry points.
Turn browsing into an activity
Community discoveries sit beside a weekly challenge and direct routes to finding or hiding a stone. The feed gives people several ways to take part.
The character appears beside the challenge, connecting the brand to an activity rather than a separate decoration.
A collection connected to the person
Created and found stones have separate tabs. Photos keep the painted objects recognisable, while status labels distinguish stones marked as lost.
A person’s contributions stay together instead of disappearing into unrelated posts.
App screens · September 2026. These views show different stones and tasks, not one continuous session.
Make the next action understandable.
Three views of acting on a physical stone: preparing to hide one, capturing an image for AI recognition and opening a stone’s details. Each screen explains a different part of the activity.
Show the shape of the task
The introduction breaks hiding into Scan, Details and Place. Before opening the camera, it explains what to photograph and reminds people to choose a public, reachable place.
The visible step indicator tells the person where they are and what comes next.
Connect the physical stone to its record
The AI scanner compares the stone with saved records to determine whether it is the same stone or a different one. Each stone has its own number in the database.
This is the capture stage: framing and lighting guidance help the person prepare the image for recognition.
Help someone act on a stone’s page
The photo and status identify the stone. Distance, a map link and the author’s hint support the search, followed by separate actions for finding the stone or reporting that it is not there.
The page offers a next step for both a successful search and an empty hiding place.
One physical stone. One digital identity.
A scan is not just a photo upload. AI compares the stone with records in the database so repeated finds can belong to the same stone. Each registered stone has a unique number.
Scan the painted stone
AI compares it with saved stones
An existing stone
Connect it to the record and number already assigned to that stone.
A new stone
Save a new record in the database with its own unique number.
The design challenge is to connect recognition to a record people can understand: which stone this is, what is known about it and what they can do next.
What shaped the product.
I looked at how painted-stone communities shared hides and finds, and how creators followed up on their stones. This helped me frame the product around a continuing journey, rather than another feed of separate posts.
- A find appears in a new post.
- Keep discoveries attached to the same stone.
- The artist and earlier sightings can be hard to trace.
- Show the creator and previous events in the stone’s record.
- The activity happens in real places.
- Connect the record to a map and nearby stones.
A summary of community observations and design responses. Original community posts are not reproduced here.
A companion for the activity.
I designed the brand and stone character alongside the interface. The rounded shape, texture and expressions connect the digital experience to the painted stones people handle outdoors.
A product that continues to develop.
Stobi is available on iOS and Android and continues to develop. The product connects real painted stones to individual digital records through AI recognition. My work covers product structure, interface and visual identity, with AI-assisted implementation alongside Anton.
Explore StobiLive projects may look or work differently from the version shown here. Changes made without me after my involvement ends are not part of my work or responsibility.