Yolanda Emmatya

Turning AI into a more human experience

PROCESS HIGHLIGHTS

Turning Complexity into Clarity

Overview

Sagen AI is an AI-powered avatar platform designed to make digital characters expressive, customizable, and lightweight across web and mobile. Working alongside the Art Director and developers, i supported UI production while owning the Live2D production workflow, from preparing layered assets and building modular character systems to rigging, animation, and production-ready exports. The project deepened my understanding of how production workflows and technical collaboration shape the final user experience

Timeline

2023 - 2024

Tools

Live2D
Figma
Adobe Photoshop
Slack
GitHUb

My Contribution

Owned the Live2D production workflow.

Supported UI production alongside the Art Director.
Built modular avatar assets for customization.
Rigged and animated expressive character interactions.
Collaborated with developers through QA and implementation.

BACKGROUND

From Cold to Conversational

AI avatars shouldn't feel like animated illustrations, they should feel like characters people naturally enjoy interacting with.

Working alongside the Art Director, I prepared expressive Live2D characters capable of blinking, smiling, reacting, and synchronizing naturally with AI-generated speech making interactions feel more approachable and human.

CHALLENGES

The Bumps in the Road

Making the Characters Feel Alive

Creating a believable avatar wasn't just about adding more animations, it was about making every movement feel intentional.

Working alongside the Art Director, i prepared expressive Live2D characters capable of blinking, smiling, reacting, and synchronizing naturally with AI-generated speech. Every animation was carefully refined to make conversations feel approachable and engaging, helping the character feel more like a companion than a digital interface.

Why 2D, not 3D?

Instead of relying on fully 3D models, we chose Live2D to balance visual quality with performance.

While 3D characters offered greater realism, they also introduced heavier assets, longer loading times, and higher hardware requirements. Live2D allowed us to create expressive characters that remained lightweight enough for web and mobile, making the overall experience smoother without sacrificing personality.

Building a Modular Avatar System

One of my primary responsibilities was building the Live2D production structure behind the avatar customization system.

To support interchangeable hairstyles, clothing, eyes, and accessories, I organized layered PSD files, created reusable parameter structures, and established naming conventions that allowed every customizable part to work together without disrupting existing animations.

By treating each avatar as a modular system instead of a single illustration, new customization options could be introduced more efficiently while maintaining consistent animation behavior.

Designing Across Platforms

Designing for multiple platforms meant more than simply resizing screens.

Every interface needed to feel familiar across web and mobile while supporting the technical requirements of Live2D implementation. Working closely with developers throughout production helped ensure designs translated consistently across platforms without compromising usability or performance.

Experience

From Illustration to Interaction

I managed the Live2D production workflow, transforming static illustrations into expressive, production-ready characters. From organizing layered PSDs and building modular asset structures to rigging, animation, visemes, and final exports, I collaborated closely with developers to ensure every asset performed as intended inside the product.

Organized modular assets to support scalable character customization.
Created expressive animations and visemes for natural interactions.
Collaborated with engineers to validate assets throughout implementation.

REFLECTION

Designing, Then Discovering

The production workflow turned out to be more challenging than I expected. Building a modular Live2D system, refining visemes, and making sure every customizable part worked together took several iterations. If I revisited this project today, I'd spend even more time planning the production structure upfront—but seeing those characters finally come to life made every iteration worthwhile.