Bodhi Astrology · Consumer Marketplace · 2020
Designed for believers.
By a skeptic.
I joined Bodhi as solo product designer in 2020 and shipped the consumer marketplace end-to-end — 8 modules, 600+ astrologers across chat and call, 7 languages. Ayush Srivastava (Dream11 co-founder) brought me back after Moneytor; the app has since grown to 1.8 million downloads at a 4.6☆ rating.
Role
Product Designer (solo)
Timeline
4 months
Team
Solo design + engineering team
Scope
Product Design, UX Research, UI
Background
A second call from Ayush. A category exploding under COVID.
Four months to design trust at scale.
Bodhi is an on-demand astrology platform — a marketplace connecting users with 600+ verified astrologers via chat and call. Vedic astrology, tarot, numerology, palmistry, across seven languages. The CEO, Ayush Srivastava, had previously co-founded Dream11 (100M users) and Moneytor — where I was already the solo designer.
He brought me in to design the consumer app end-to-end. 2020 — COVID had just pushed millions of Indians online for astrology for the first time. The market was exploding, the competition cluttered, the design quality across the category poor. Four months to design a marketplace that could earn trust in a domain where trust is everything.
Impact
One designer. Four months. 8 modules shipped. 600+ astrologers in the marketplace. The design foundation held up as the app grew to 1.8 million downloads at a 4.6☆ rating — the most loaded number on the page below.
The problem
How do you design trust for the most personal
transaction a stranger can have?
Astrology is uniquely intimate as a digital purchase: per-minute billing, deeply personal questions, an emotionally vulnerable user. Four constraints had to be designed around at once.
Marketplace trust
Users paying per-minute for personal advice from a stranger. Every second of hesitation costs money.
Emotional state
Users arrive during crisis — breakup, job loss, health scare. They need calm, not clutter.
Category UX
Competitors used loud colors, dense listings, zero trust signals. Transactional, not personal.
Discovery
600+ astrologers across specialties, prices, and languages. Paralyzing choice with no guidance.
The reframe
I don’t believe in astrology.
That was the design advantage.
Most designers shortcut research because they’re also the user. I couldn’t. So I had to actually understand what builds trust for someone seeking guidance during the worst week of their life.
What I assumed
- Users want astrology content
- Trust comes from astrologer credentials
- The app is a utility — find, book, consult
- Engagement means more features
What research revealed
- Users want reassurance during crisis
- Trust comes from feeling heard, not just verified
- The app is an emotional support system
- Engagement means a reason to return daily
The reframe
From ‘astrology consumers’ to ‘people in crisis seeking reassurance.’ That single sentence changed every downstream decision — palette, navigation, profile hierarchy, chat chrome — toward reducing anxiety, not adding features.
The work
Eight modules. Every screen designed
to earn one more minute of trust.
01 · Astrologer marketplace
570 astrologers, filtered to the one you trust.
Filters by skill (Vedic, Tarot, Numerology), price tier, and language. Each card surfaces the three things users scan for: experience years, rating, per-minute price. Reduces a paralyzing 570-person list into a confident choice.
02 · Astrologer profile
Every number on this page earns one more minute of paid time.
24 years experience. 31,000+ consultations. 5.0 rating. Languages spoken. Specialty tags. The profile is a trust page — every element exists to reduce the anxiety of paying a stranger per-minute. Call and chat CTAs always visible.
03 · Consultation
The most personal conversation a user has with a stranger. The design had to disappear.
Minimal chrome. Timer visible but not anxiety-inducing. Recharge inside the chat so the conversation doesn’t break at the worst moment. The interface steps back so the astrologer’s words feel personal, not mediated by an app.
04 · Daily engagement
Horoscopes bring them back daily. Remedies keep them engaged weekly.
Personalized horoscopes (daily, monthly, yearly) and panchang create a daily habit. Remedies — assigned by the astrologer after a consultation — include calendar tracking and progress. Users return to check off remedies, see tomorrow’s prediction, and book another consultation.
05 · Services & entry points
Users don’t browse astrology. They arrive with a question.
Two entry models: service-type browsing (Horoscope, Tarot, Kundli, Psychic Reading) for users who know what they want, and problem-based categories (Past Relationships, Career Predictions, Love Life) for users who arrive with a question, not a preference.
Design decisions
Trust isn’t a feature.
It’s the sum of a hundred small decisions.
Decision
What it reveals about how Janam thinks
Per-minute pricing visible on every astrologer card — not hidden behind a tap
Respects the user’s anxiety about cost. Hiding price creates distrust. Showing it upfront converts confidence, not just clicks.
Profile leads with consultation count (31,000+), not just ratings
In a trust marketplace, volume is proof. A 5.0 from 10 reviews means nothing. 31,000 consultations means reliability you can’t fake.
Chat timer visible but not centered — placed at the top, not over the conversation
Balances business needs (users must know time is being consumed) with emotional needs (the conversation shouldn’t feel like a taxi meter).
Remedies calendar with streak-like progress tracking
Thinks in retention loops, not just features. The calendar creates a daily reason to return — a one-time consultation becomes a recurring habit.
Two navigation models: service-type (Tarot, Kundli) AND problem-based (Love, Career)
Designs for the user’s mental model, not the business taxonomy. Some users know they want tarot. Others know they’re heartbroken. Both need a front door.
In-chat recharge so wallet top-up doesn’t break the conversation
Maps the worst user experience (running out of time mid-conversation during emotional distress) and eliminates it at the UX level.
Context
The design foundation held up as the app
grew to 1.8 million downloads.
Downloads
1.8M+
Consumer install base across India, with non-trivial NRI traction.
Play Store rating
4.6☆
Sustained at scale. Astrology marketplaces typically hover 3.8–4.1☆.
Marketplace depth
600+
Astrologers across 7 languages and 4 specialties — the filtering UI was the unlock.
What it proved
Trust UX, when designed from research instead of category convention, scales. The consultation-count signal, the in-chat recharge, the remedies-calendar retention loop — all held up as the app grew 100× past my four months on it.
Closing
I didn’t believe in the product.
I believed in the users.
Four months, eight modules, a marketplace that now serves 1.8 million people. That’s what happens when you design from research instead of assumption — and when not being the user is the strategic advantage, not the liability.
Deep dive
For the reader who wants the full story.
Chapter 1 · The skeptic advantage
Why not believing in astrology made better design.
The reframe in one sentence
From ‘astrology consumers’ to ‘people in crisis seeking reassurance.’ The shift was humbling — these weren’t gullible users looking for entertainment, they were smart people seeking comfort during real distress.
Most designers working on a product they personally use can shortcut past research — they know what feels right because they ARE the user. I couldn’t do that with Bodhi. So every decision had to come from research, not gut. I spent the first weeks talking to people going through breakups, career uncertainty, health anxiety. The palette got calmer. Navigation got simpler. Profiles got more trust signals. The chat interface got less chrome. Everything aimed at reducing anxiety, not adding features.
Chapter 2 · The trust stack
Trust is layered. I designed three.
Layer 01 · Platform trust
“Top 5% acceptance” messaging. Verification badges. Category-level credibility before any individual is chosen.
Layer 02 · Individual trust
Years of experience. Consultation count. Rating. Languages. Specialty tags. Per-astrologer signals tuned to the user’s mental scan.
Layer 03 · Experience trust
Clean chat. Visible-but-quiet timer. In-chat recharge. Conversation never breaks. The interface earns the next minute, every minute.
The most important call inside Layer 02 was making the consultation count more prominent than the rating. Ratings can be gamed; 31,000+ consultations is social proof at a scale that’s hard to fake.
Chapter 3 · The retention architecture
A one-time crisis becomes a recurring habit.
Astrology consultations are crisis-driven: bad event → seek guidance → feel better → leave. Without a return mechanism the business dies after the first session. Three retention layers shipped: free personalized daily horoscopes (daily check-in habit), astrologer-prescribed remedies with calendar tracking (multi-day engagement), and services discoverability (Kundli, matchmaking, panchang) for reasons to explore beyond the initial crisis.
The retention flywheel
The remedies calendar was the unlock. After a consultation, the user returns daily to check off remedies, see progress, and — when the prescribed period ends — books a follow-up. A one-time transaction becomes a recurring relationship, without notification spam.
Chapter 4 · Why I didn’t join full time
Knowing when to leave is part of the job.
The honest version
Ayush offered a full-time role after the four months. I said no. The work was some of the most interesting UX I’d done — but I don’t personally believe in astrology, and a product designer needs conviction in what they’re building to do their best work over years.
Four months was the right scope. Long enough to design the full product thoughtfully. Short enough that my skepticism remained an advantage (fresh perspective, no assumptions) rather than becoming a liability (cynicism, disengagement). The app has since grown to 1.8 million downloads — the design foundation held up.