Case Study · Managed UX Design Services
How Akraya Removed an Engineering Bottleneck for a Global Wearables Leader
With its AI health coach moving from public preview toward full launch, a global wearables company needed conversation, onboarding and motion design delivered inside its design system. Akraya took ownership of those UX workstreams and specced a capability that removed the engineering rebuilds slowing down animation delivery.
Talk to Akraya about your design bottleneck- Client
- Global health and wearables technology leader
- Product
- AI-powered personal health coach in its flagship fitness app
- Engagement
- Managed UX design: conversation, onboarding and motion
- Key outcome
- Localized animations reach the app without engineering rebuilds
The problem
Animations were built twice
Designers built each animation, then engineering normally rebuilt it with standard UI components before it could ship. On a product moving from preview to launch, that double handoff cost the team in three ways:
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Engineering time went to rework.
Rebuilding animations was a time-consuming process, and it put engineers on work designers had already done.
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Motion changes ran through engineering.
Adding motion or polish meant another rebuild, which left designers less room to iterate.
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The coach's first impression had less room for polish.
The animated welcome and coach introduction are the first things new users see, and the rebuild step limited how much motion and visual flair they could carry.
The solution
Akraya took ownership of conversation, onboarding and motion design
Akraya joined the client's AI coach team through a managed UX design engagement and took ownership of three connected workstreams.
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Conversation UX
How users interact with the coach and what each exchange looks like
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Onboarding visuals
The visual design of the welcome and intro every new user sees first
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Motion design
The coach introduction imagery and the animations around it
Akraya works directly with the client's product managers, UX researchers, content designers, and iOS and Android engineers, and pairs with engineering on prototyping and implementation.
The results
Localized animations now reach the app without engineering rebuilds
Before
- Designer creates the animation
- Engineering rebuilds it with standard UI components
- Animation reaches the app
Each change means another rebuild
After LIVE
- Designer creates the animation in After Effects
- Exports a Lottie file with dynamic, localized text
- Animation reaches the app
No animation rebuild required
"I specced out a feature that engineering picked up, and this is live. You can add more motion and iterate more on visual flair, and it removes a bottleneck from engineering."
- 1
Engineering no longer rebuilds localized animations
The live capability lets animations with dynamic, localized text reach the app without engineers recreating them in standard UI components. That takes a recurring task off engineering's plate.
Demonstrated outcome
- 2
Designers have more room to refine the experience
With the rebuild step gone, the team can add more motion and iterate more on the coach's welcome and introduction imagery.
Workflow benefit
- 3
One managed service owns the connected UX workstreams
Akraya owns conversation UX, onboarding visuals and motion design for the coach, so the client has one accountable partner across three connected design disciplines as the product moves toward full launch.
Operating model
Is design work slowing down your product launch?
When design work keeps landing back on engineering, iteration slows and your engineers lose time they need for the build. Akraya takes ownership of defined UX design workstreams, from conversation and onboarding to visual and motion design, and works directly with your product and engineering teams to keep delivery moving.
Every engagement runs inside a PMO-backed structure with defined SLAs.
Tell us what you're building and where design is slowing it down.