LINE Official Account / AI Chatbot / Debt Coaching
Sunny AI: a debt coach on LINE that never sells a loan
Overview
Sunny is an AI debt coach on LINE. It helps Thai borrowers understand their debt and plan repayments. It is free to try, and there is no app to download and no sign-up. Nobody is asked for a phone number or a national ID number.
Sunny doesn't lend, and it doesn't push anyone to borrow more. It exists to help people with debt.
I led the product end to end as Head of Design at ABACUS Digital: research with people in debt, conversation design and Sunny's tone, the "debt weather" idea, the payoff plan screens on LINE, and the communications. I worked with designers and engineers.
Tools
Figma and FigJam for research, flows and screens. LINE Official Account, with a Rich Menu and LIFF screens. An LLM for the conversation, with a formula-based calculation engine and a knowledge base built for Thailand.
Business Goal & Opportunity
Thai household debt is high, and many people have several debts at once without knowing which to pay first. Most debt advice comes from lenders who want to sell, or from government channels that are hard to reach.
ABACUS saw value in a neutral coach that helps people see their current debt situation and get out of debt for real. The bet is that this builds long-term trust, and that borrowers who manage debt well are good for the whole system. Sunny is also a test of whether an AI can talk like a person while keeping the numbers right.
UX Challenge
I interviewed more than 10 people with several debts, then tested the conversation prototype with them on LINE. Three findings shaped the product.
- Shame and fear of judgment. People don't want to tell anyone about their debt. Sunny never scolds, and it never asks for personal data.
- People don't know their real totals. They remember roughly, and they give up on forms that ask for exact figures. The first check is four questions answered by tapping, and people can tell Sunny what they remember and correct it later.
- The AI got information and sums wrong. Testing showed it. Sunny talks like a person, but every number comes from a formula, and its answers come from a knowledge base built for Thailand.
From four questions to a plan
The check gives a result as weather, not a grade: clear sky, dark clouds coming, overcast and rain, or a storm. Each comes with what to do and what not to do this month. Sunny then works out two payoff plans side by side, one that saves the most interest and one that clears a first debt sooner to keep people going, and the borrower picks. The plan shows when the debt ends, each lender's share, and the money left each month.
When someone can't make the payments, Sunny drafts what to say to each lender: a longer term, a pause on the principal, a lower installment, or a discount to close the account. Cases beyond its reach go to government channels. Sunny never acts or contacts lenders for the user; the borrower decides and applies.
What testing changed
A persona. Early answers sounded robotic and uneven. Sunny got a clear character: a warm, close friend who knows about money and doesn't judge. People felt safe enough to tell it things.
Intent first. People used to type freely, got lost, and the AI misread them. The second version asks what they want help with first: check their debt health, build a plan, negotiate, or just talk. Each intent leads to a flow built for it, with buttons and the Rich Menu. The AI handles the conversation; the numbers go through formulas.
Communications
Posts on Sunny's Facebook page explain how it works in five minutes, step by step, with the real screens.
Outcome
Sunny is still an experiment, open to a limited part of the community. More than 150 people have added it on LINE so far. With them we test what the AI can do, fix errors and keep improving the experience, most of all the persona and the intent-based flow.