Motion for AI: Creating Empathy in Technology

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives, the need for empathetic technology is paramount. This talk explores the role of motion design in enhancing AI interfaces to foster empathy and improve user experiences.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction to Empathetic AI

- The importance of creating empathy in AI interfaces
- Personal journey from character animation to AI and robotics design


2. The Role of Motion in User Interaction

- Historical context of motion in design, from early Disney animations to modern interfaces
- The blinking cursor: An example of effective motion use since 1960

3. Designing for Empathy

- How motion can enhance user satisfaction and trust in AI systems
- Examples from human-robot interaction and AI interfaces


4. Creating Human-like Interactions

- Using motion to provide transparency and context in AI interactions
- The importance of natural conversation flows and the ability to interrupt AI responses


5. Avoiding the Uncanny Valley

- Recognizing and mitigating the uncanny valley in AI-generated content
- Examples of effective and ineffective uses of motion in AI


6. Systemizing Motion Design

- Strategies for integrating motion into AI systems at scale
- Salesforce’s approach to creating and scaling a motion system for AI

1. MOTION FOR AI
By Pavithra Ramamurthy, Lead Product Designer for Salesforce
Creating Empathy in
Technology
UXDX
2024

2. About Me
UXDX
2024

3. Sketchnoting

4. About Me
UXDX 2024

5. About Me
UXDX 2024

6. THE 

SPATIAL ECOSYSTEM
In their 1981 book “The Meaning of Things,”
Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton write, “Man
is not only homo sapiens … he is also homo faber,
the maker and user of objects, his self to a large
extent a reflection of things with which he interacts.”
UXDX 2024

7. THE 

INTEGRATED ECOSYSTEM
UXDX 2024
“
We shouldn’t just be designing for our most productive
selves, but for our messy whole selves.
- Danielle Krettek, Founder of Google Empathy Lab

8. 

MOVEMENT
We see and experience the world using
movements, picking up cues to inform
our next action.
UXDX 2024

9. HISTORY OF
ANIMATION
UXDX 2024

10. ILLUSION OF LIFE
UXDX 2024

11. THE BLINKING 

CURSOR
UXDX 2024

12. The prototype of the
huggable robot ‘Probo’.
The Cuddly ‘Paro’
Keepon
UXDX 2024

13. What BUDDY
Taught us
UXDX 2024

14. THE BUILDING OF BUDDY,
2017
UXDX 2024

15. UXDX 2024

16. Simulating
EMPATHY
Motion can provide transparency into an
AI’s background process, instilling faith
and trust in the AI application.
UXDX 2024

17. Interaction
EMPATHY
UXDX 2024

18. Response 

PATTERNS
UXDX 2024

19. Response PATTERNS
UXDX 2024

20. Where is the line
to creepy realm?
UXDX 2024

21. Where is the line
to creepy realm?
•Chatbots that pop up untriggered
•AI-generated alternate texts that spout
suggestions and changes non-stop
UXDX 2024

22. HUMAN in the
LOOP
UXDX 2024

23. WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
Salesforce’s Motion UI research
suggests that motion can
increase user productivity by
11.5 times if implemented
correctly.
Observed improvement in
discoverability, increased
guidance and reduced cognitive
load on Salesforce product
pages
Motion choreographed UI
elements support accessibility
and improves the overall
experience for differently abled
users
UXDX 2024

24. Why do organization deprioritize motion?
1. Lack of skill sets

2. Lack of developmental capabilities

3. Lack of dependable and implementable libraries,
patterns, standards and tech stacks
HURDLES
“
I want to leverage motion
within our UX flows but I’m
not sure how to get the
engineering teams to
prioritize it
- Product Designer, Service cloud
UXDX 2024

25. Invest in Systemization
Efforts
Motion System Guidelines comprising of Principles,
UI choreography, Implementation rules, Accessibility
and Mobile best practices
Kinetics education modules for adoption support
20 Base Components Patterns in Figma and
Storybook
Support for custom product motion experiences
UXDX 2024

26. UXDX 2024

27. UXDX 2024
Education MODULES

28. Published 

BLOG POSTS
UXDX 2024

29. Kinetics patterns to support Gen AI
UXDX 2024

30. THANK
YOU
Shoutout to all collaborators: The Foundations Team, 13 product clouds at Salesforce, Digital Experiences
Team, and AI Cloud Team.
Let’s Connect | in/pavithraram/ | pavithradesign.com
Special shoutout to the following individuals
for their exceptional support:

Doug Molidor, the dev wizard; Austin Guevara,
the AI partner; Holly Prouty, the research
extraordinaire; Alan Weibel, Nancy Niu, Angie
Elko, and Adam Doti.