Goodbye Cycle – Story Recorder
Full-Stack Web Application / Shopify Integration
Developed a complete browser-based story recording experience designed to work alongside the Goodbye Cycle Shopify website. The platform supports audio/video recording, guided prompts, age and consent validation, anonymous submissions, optional transcript generation through OpenAI speech-to-text, AWS S3 storage, MongoDB metadata management, story categorization, moderation, and a public listening page. The recorder was designed to maintain the Shopify site's branding and provide a native-feeling customer experience.
The project evolved from a basic recording page into a more comprehensive storytelling platform with guided prompts, deeper prompt flows, recording-state management, anonymous participation, metadata handling, moderation, categorization, public playback, and mobile-focused UX requirements. The system also needed secure handling of recordings, optional transcription, reliable background saving, and integration with Shopify while keeping the customer's audio/video stored in their AWS environment.
Implemented the platform incrementally with a Shopify-facing recording experience and backend services for secure processing and storage. The solution uses AWS S3 for audio/video files and MongoDB Atlas for story metadata, while OpenAI speech-to-text is used only when a user explicitly requests a transcript. The recording interface includes rotating prompts, deeper prompts, recording controls, consent and age verification, anonymous-mode guidance, automatic saving, categorization, moderation, and a public listening interface with filtering. The frontend was also adapted to match the Goodbye Cycle branding and Shopify experience.
The project resulted in a functional storytelling platform supporting audio and video recording, automated prompt rotation, deeper storytelling prompts, recording review, automatic uploads, story categorization, moderation, public listening, and optional transcript delivery by email. A dedicated landing page was also created with a “Finish the Brew” CTA leading users into the recording experience, while the final flow was updated to include first and last name, email/transcript selection, legal consent, birthdate validation, and anonymous-story guidance.
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