Avatar Stickers

My Roles:

• 3D Animator

• Avatars Interactions

Case Study:

Related Teams:

• Engineering

• UX Research

• Product Design

• 2D Art

• 3D Art

• Global Legal and Cultural Review

3D animation mirrors UX design!

Overview

Problems

Solutions

Low avatar engagement among teenagers and young adults (TAYA)

Expressive stickers to create emotional connection and playful interaction

Engaging avatar animations and stickers

This project is from when I was a 3D Animator at Meta - interestingly, the design process was very similar to UX design.

Empathize

The UX Research team conducted several focus groups with TAYA

Target Users:

• Teenagers and Young Adults (TAYA)

Users Problems:

• Stickers lack fun, trendiness, and relevance

• Low interest in creating/using avatars

• Misaligned with user behavior and preferences

Business Objectives:

• Increase avatars’ adoption and engagement

Goals:

• Launch fun, trendy stickers to drive avatar engagement

How might we make avatars more playful and emotionally expressive to better engage teen users on Meta platforms?

Define

Competitive Audit:

Analyzed GIFs, trends, meme culture, and stickers from other platforms

Brainstormed Solutions:

• Developed multiple quick sketch ideas

• Conducted early concept testing with the team

Prioritized ideas with the majority votes.

Ideation

Similar design process as UX and product design

Wireframes:

• Low-fidelity sketches of sticker ideas

Low Fidelity Prototype:

• Low-fidelity 3D version of the sketches (blocking)

Design System:

• Following avatars design system and style guides

Mockups:

• Adding 2D imageries on 3D stickers

Design

Wireframe

Lo-Fi

Hi-Fi

Final

Plank Sticker Evolution

High-Fidelity Prototype:

• Posing and animating vibrant, exaggerated motions in 3D

• Plank Sticker: humor + expressiveness = instant hit

Design

Test & Iteration

After three rounds of testing, feedback, and iteration, we received final approval and released the final version.

Before

After

Outcomes

Received insights from the engineering and UX Research teams after the release.

• Plank Sticker hit 125 M+ impressions in 2 weeks

• Highest-performing avatar sticker at Meta

• Boosted avatar creation & user engagement

• Users loved the humor & expression

Key Takeaways

• Storytelling + empathy = strong user connection

• Cross-functional teamwork drives success

• Stakeholder management is crucial

• This project led me to UX design