Notion AI Assistant

Characterization and animation of the new Notion AI assistant

I was part of the Buck team that developed the animations for Notion’s new AI assistant. The goal was to give this digital companion a clear personality while keeping it versatile across different contexts. My main role was debugging and refining the character’s facial expressions and states, making sure transitions felt natural and consistent with the design direction.

After the launch, the collaboration took an unexpected turn when the Notion team contacted me directly to create extra states, further expanding the assistant’s expressive range.

This second phase allowed me to explore subtler moods and gestures, making the character even more engaging and fun to interact with. It was a rewarding chance to refine the original work and see how animation can grow with the product itself.

Rive turned out to be an ideal tool for this project. Its flexibility made it possible to experiment quickly with different expressions and transitions, while the straightforward implementation pipeline ensured that the character could be integrated smoothly into the product.

Being able to iterate in real time without losing consistency in style gave us the freedom to push the assistant’s personality further, making the whole process both efficient and creatively satisfying.

CLIENT / AGENCY
Notion (Buck)
MY ROLE
Animation, Motion design