Kinsome, an app designed to connect children aged 6 to 11 with their grandparents through fun interactions, approached me to bring interactivity to their app's animations using Rive. Their team had developed a series of video mockups showcasing the animations they envisioned, so my role was to turn their animated concepts into fully interactive animations within the Rive platform.

The objectives were as follows:

Enhance the onboarding experience with interactive animations that ensure a seamless transition between stages.

Create an engaging flow that would also allow smooth transitions in both directions, without disruptions.

Kinsome’s mission is to make family connections fun and accessible for young children and their grandparents. Through the character Kinzey, the app provides opportunities for families to share stories, play games, and explore family history. Kinzey is a central character that appears throughout the app, interacting with users at various stages.

One of the essential stages of onboarding involved obtaining permission for microphone access. Here, Kinzey played a vital role, with different animations for each possible action:

Idle State: Kinzey performs a looping animation, checking if the microphone works.

Access Allowed: When users allow microphone access, Kinzey put the microphone away and is ready for the next step of the onboarding.

Access Denied: If access is denied, Kinzey gets sad, because a lot of the user's interaction happens through the microphone.

This sequence of animations was designed to respond seamlessly to user actions, reinforcing Kinsome’s interactive storytelling.

During the onboarding flow, loading instances were necessary to communicate to users that content was being processed. Kinzey was part of these loading states to keep the experience engaging and cohesive, to make sure that users remained engaged even during potential pauses.

The result was an interactive onboarding experience that feels fluid, dynamic, and inviting for both young users and their grandparents. By using Rive, I was able to bring Kinzey to life in a way that responded intuitively to user actions, making the app experience seamless and engaging. Kinsome’s mission of fostering family connections was well-supported by a smooth and enjoyable onboarding process that set the tone for users’ journey through the app.