Systemizing Expressive Animation for Scale

Design Systems, Motion Systems, Strategic Leadership
2023
Design System Lead

Process


The Challenge

Following a bold rebranding, the new visual identity featured expressive, high-fidelity animations. The core problem was that while the motion was visually stunning, it was created as "motion art," not "motion infrastructure," creating a significant bottleneck for scaling. This lack of systemization introduced inconsistency, increased implementation time, and hindered product team efficiency.


Motion with Meaning

We broke our motion philosophy into three key pillars:

  • Expressive: Celebrate key moments. From completing a flow to reaching a milestone, we use animation to inject emotion and joy.

  • Educational: Help users understand what’s happening—and what to do next. Motion guides without overwhelming, explains without words.

  • Focused: Subtle micro-interactions draw attention to what matters, without distracting from the overall experience.


From Brand Animations to Motion Infrastructure

System Deliverables: Translated Design Studio’s animations into systematized motion tokens and principles; Created a motion repository with assets for each platform.

Implementation & Governance: Built reusable patterns and code snippets for efficient developer handoff; Created comprehensive documentation, including annotation toolkits and specs for designers.

Adoption & Training: Conducted training sessions and motion audits across product teams to ensure consistent implementation.


Impact

The transition to a codified motion language delivered immediate efficiencies across the product organization:

  • Reduced implementation time and guesswork for engineers.

  • Maintained consistency across all mobile and web platforms.

  • Empowered product teams to innovate while staying strictly on-brand.


Motion System Project Team

Francisco Arias
Madona Morales
Camila Gonzalez
Ale Barone