Designing Viral AI Test Cards for TikTok & Reels
Swipe culture loves receipts. When an AI card shows up with a loud score, a wild label, and a whispered CTA, the screenshot travels far beyond the person who generated it. This playbook breaks down the rituals, interface choices, and distribution loops we use inside AI Viral Test Lab.
1. Start with a specific social ritual
Every sticky lab mirrors something friends already do. AI Toxic Score feels like the classic "rate my chaos" joke, while Crush Match recreates the thrill of sliding two names into a ship generator. Keep prompts hyper focused—one name, one situation, one confession. Anything longer than 50 characters breaks the rhythm of a screenshot and scares people away from typing on stream.
Finding rituals is a research exercise: scroll TikTok comment sections, search Twitter for "tell me your" threads, and watch how people caption poll stickers on Instagram Stories. If the prompt sounds like a text from a friend, completion rates spike.
2. Give the card a story spine
Cards that travel read like a mini comic strip: hook, reveal, payoff. We design each template with an oversized score, a punchy label, and two proof statements. On Villain Origin Story the hook is "Trigger," the label is "Villain Title," and the payoff nudges viewers to try their own confession. Visually that means high contrast headlines, gradients that match the tone (neon slime for Toxic, rose-gold for Flirt), and layouts that survive cropping.
Write copy like Netflix subtitles—8 to 12 words per line, no nested punctuation, and zero manual line breaks once the PNG is rendered. That constraint forces the LLM prompt to return clean JSON we can drop straight into `product.js`.
3. Bake credits into the fun
Instead of surprise paywalls we show the credit counter inside the experience so people feel they are gaining power, not losing access. Our daily five-credit drop plus +3 per share keeps newcomers exploring while paid packs (coming back soon) add fuel for teams that need dozens of screenshots in an hour.
If you are building your own lab, connect the monetization story to the creative story. "Share this card to refill" feels mechanical. "Show your toxic score and we will spot you three more tests" feels like a dare. That small copy tweak doubled share rates in October.
4. Design with screenshot math
Cards must survive TikTok, Instagram, Discord, and Reddit. Use 1080x1350 resolution, double padding so stickers do not cover the text, and dedicate real estate for QR codes plus share copy. Place CTA language ("Enter Lab", "Save + Share") on the card itself because users often crop the original webpage UI.
Stress-test legibility by opening the PNG on your phone, dropping brightness to 40%, and viewing it in the photo thumbnail grid. If the score and label are still readable, you are safe. If not, raise contrast or lighten the gradient. TikTok compression eats about 25% of color detail, so designing "too bright" in Figma is safer than going muted.
5. Chain internal links
Every post and every lab should propel the visitor somewhere else. Inside this article we already pointed to Toxic Score, Crush Match, Villain Story, Emotional Damage Meter, and Edge-Lord Index. Once someone finishes a run we recommend the next vibe so sessions keep escalating.
You can recreate this structure by mapping emotional adjacency. If a user inputs a dating scenario, suggest other labs about texting or compatibility. If they type an apology, route them toward social energy scans or persona generators.
6. Borrow social proof
External references make an article feel grounded. Cite tactical resources such as the TikTok Creative Center or HubSpot social statistics when discussing creative format or cadence. Inside cards we mirror that proof with lines like "48.2K runs today" or "Trending on Discord" so viewers feel they are late to the party.
7. Ship creator assets
Every lab bundles ShareCopy snippets, QR downloads, and usage tips. Surfacing them on the same page removes friction. When a creator can copy a caption, grab a PNG, and paste a hashtag in under thirty seconds, they are more likely to hype the tool organically.
If you are building your own tools, add a "Creator Mode" section below the result. Offer both vertical and square crops, link to editable Canva templates, and list three hooks they can use in a reel. The easier amplification becomes, the cheaper traffic acquisition gets.
8. Close with a production checklist
Before any lab ships we run a five-step checklist:
- Prompt reviewed for banned words, clarity, and max length.
- Result card tested on mobile, low brightness, and Discord dark mode.
- Credit counter synced to the latest daily allotment.
- Share modal preloaded with two hooks and one CTA.
- Heat score seeded so the first visitors do not see "0 runs today".
The same list doubles as QA for the next wave of duo labs.