Motion Designer (UX/Interface)

Xapply; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

ActAI is seeking a motion designer to craft motion for AI product interfaces, including loading states, streaming responses, and transitions that convey system state without lengthy explanations.

You will collaborate with product designers and engineers, build motion specs and a reusable animation library, and ensure accessibility and performance for real-time AI interactions.

Qualifications

• Portfolio demonstrating interface animation.
• Ability to design motion for loading states and transitions.
• Experience collaborating with product designers and engineers.
• Understanding how motion communicates state, feedback and progress.
• Awareness of accessibility and performance in animation.
• Judgment on when motion clarifies or adds noise.

Responsibilities

• Design motion and animation for AI product interfaces, including loading states and transitions.
• Create motion that conveys AI activity without long explanations.
• Develop animation patterns for uncertainty, thinking and waiting states.
• Collaborate with product designers and engineers to support feedback and error states.
• Build motion specs and a reusable animation library for AI surfaces.
• Ensure motion performance is suitable for real-time AI interactions.

Skills

Portfolio showing interface animation

After Effects

Lottie

Rive

Motion for system state

Product-design collaboration

Accessibility & performance

Reading AI behavior signals

Tools

After Effects

Lottie

Rive

Job description

Description: ABOUT ACTAI

There are over 5 billion users using basic applications today such email, notes, tasks, calendar and they're not AI-native. Our mission is to build proactive applications for anyone in the world, who are not used to complex prompting. We aim to bring intelligence to conversations, errands, organising and workflows, with minimal prompting.

Our product focuses on achieving high reliability for long-running workflows, persistent context, and real-world task completion. We believe products will greatly reduce hallucinations.

Our objective is to organise anyone's life, allowing us all to spend time on valuable and meaningful things.

ROLE

You will design motion and animation for AI interfaces. In AI-driven products, motion is not decoration - it is how users understand system state, loading behavior, uncertainty, progress, and transitions between AI actions.

This role applies HCI thinking to motion design: helping users understand what the system is doing, whether it needs attention, and what is happening next.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

• Design motion and animation for AI product interfaces, including loading states, streaming responses, task progress, and system transitions.
• Create motion that helps users understand what the AI is doing without requiring them to read long explanations.
• Develop animation patterns for uncertainty, thinking states, waiting states, failure, recovery, and asynchronous AI processes.
• Work with product and UX designers to define how motion supports feedback, confidence cues, and error states.
• Build motion specs and prototypes that engineers can implement accurately.
• Define and maintain motion design principles and a reusable animation library for AI surfaces.
• Ensure motion performance is appropriate for real-time and latency-sensitive AI interactions.
• Use motion to reduce confusion, not add decoration.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Experience in motion design for digital products, with a portfolio showing interface animation.
• Proficiency in After Effects, Lottie, Rive, or equivalent tools.
• Understanding of how motion communicates system state, feedback, progress, and user guidance.
• Ability to design animation that works within technical constraints of mobile and web.
• Experience working closely with product designers and engineers.
• Awareness of accessibility and performance considerations for animation.
• Good judgment on when motion helps users and when it creates noise.
• Curiosity about how motion can communicate AI behavior, trust signals, and uncertainty.

HOW WE WORK

The best products today in the world were built by small, world class teams. We are a high talent density and hands-on team. We make decisions collectively, move at rapid speed, striking a balance between shipping high quality work and learning. Joining our team requires the ability to bring structure, exercise judgment, and execute independently. Our goal is to put in hands of our users a truly magical product

INTERVIEW PROCESS

For design roles, we expect candidates to submit a portfolio as part of the application process.

If there appears to be a fit, we'll reach out to schedule 2 rounds of interviews and a design assessment.

Applications are evaluated by our team members. Interviews will be conducted via virtual meetings and/or onsite.

We value transparency and efficiency, so expect a prompt decision. If you've demonstrated the exceptional skills and mindset we're looking for, we'll extend an offer to join us. This isn't just a job offer; it's an invitation to be part of a team that's bringing AI to have practical benefits to billions globally.