Overview

iBot Stickers was born from a simple idea: What if texting felt more human?Static stickers exist — but they don’t capture the nuance of real emotion. So I created iBot: a lovable animated robot with 24 emotional states, each one designed to replace a word or emoji with a microstory in motion.From ideation to App Store launch, I handled every part of the process — design, animation, testing, development, and publishing. This was a creative playground and technical challenge wrapped in one: learning how motion could enhance digital communication in a way that felt personal, engaging, and expressive.

The Challenges

The world of iMessage stickers is crowded but flat. Most are static and cute, not expressive. I wanted to explore how motion design could unlock emotion, tone, and personality within our everyday messages.I also challenged myself to do everything solo from character design to frame-by-frame animation to Xcode deployment to fully understand both the creative and engineering side of launching a product.

Goals & Success Criteria

UX Goal: Enhance texting with expressive, animated visuals

Creative Goal: Design a consistent character that could show multiple emotional states
Technical Goal: Preserve vector quality across all iOS screen sizes
Personal Goal: Learn motion design, animation tools, and iOS deployment end-to-endSuccess
Metric: Launch on App Store with fully animated, working sticker pack

The Approach

Discovery & Research

I studied how motion design enhances UX especially in chat environments. I benchmarked other iMessage sticker apps, explored best practices in emotional design, and reviewed Apple’s sticker submission guidelines.

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Key Insights

--Expressiveness > complexity
--Platform limitations shape design choices (e.g., Android doesn’t render animated stickers natively)
--Timing nuances dramatically affect emotional tone

Logical Position’s analytics ecosystem spans multiple tools

(Looker Studio, Quickbase, Google Ads dashboards, and Excel-based reports).

Inconsistent use of brand colors for KPIs (e.g., red sometimes meaning “active” instead of “alert”).
Mismatched typography and chart labels.
Inefficient use of layout space.Accessibility and readability gaps in both dark and light modes.
The lack of a shared standard not only affected usability and accuracy but also made it harder for cross-functional teams to collaborate effectively.

Design Process

Sketch & Storyboard

I brainstormed 30+ emotion-based sticker ideas, then narrowed down to 24 for MVP. Each sticker started as a sketch, then evolved into storyboards.

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Vector Design

All robot assets were built in Illustrator for crisp resolution at any screen size.

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Motion Design

Used Adobe Animate CC to build fluid, expressive motion. Each animation was optimized for clarity, speed, and emotional tone.

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Prototype & Test

Using the iOS Simulator and my iPhone X, I tested sticker playback in real-world conversations. I ran a TestFlight beta with users on different iPhone models to gather feedback on emotional clarity, timing, and device performance.

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Results

Stickers played smoothly and clearly
Users understood the intended emotion quickly
High replay and reuse rate in actual conversations
Android showed static versions (platform constraint — planned future release)

Build & Launch

After final testing, I bundled the animated sticker pack using Xcode, submitted it to Apple, and launched successfully.iBot Stickers became available on the App Store turning a creative experiment into a live product.

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Outcomes & Impact

Launched a complete animated sticker app from scratch

Built full end-to-end design, motion, and deployment workflow
Used as a demo in UX team offsite to explain how motion design builds clarity, emotion, and delight
Sparked internal interest in motion design systems and micro-interactions

Reflection & Lessons

Motion requires intention

small timing changes completely shift tonePlatform constraints are real
Android limitations shaped future roadmapPeople respond to life in design
The stickers made people feel something

Deliverables

24 Animated Stickers

Full UX flow from concept → design → motion → dev → test → ship
Illustrator vector asset library
Frame-by-frame animation in Animate CC
TestFlight beta and QA testing
Published iOS App Store listing

Final Thoughts

This wasn’t just a motion design test it was a crash course in shipping joyful UX.iBot Stickers brought personality to plain-text messaging and reminded me that emotion is the most powerful design element we have. Motion isn’t just visual flair — it’s connection.