Designing a motion capture platform that makes complex 3D workflows feel approachable
I was the first designer at PLASK.ai and built the entire web product from scratch. I focused on making complex motion capture workflows feel simple and beginner friendly, working closely with engineers and creators to ship a platform that helps users turn videos into character motion in minutes.
TL;DR
The problem
Motion capture is powerful, but traditionally it’s inaccessible.
Most motion capture tools are built for professionals, require expensive setups, and feel overwhelming for beginners. PLASK’s mission was different: let anyone upload a video, track motion, and edit it instantly in the browser.
The challenge was clear:
How do we make something as technical as mocap feel simple, intuitive, and even fun?
My role
I was the founding designer, working directly with the CEO, engineers, and creators.
I owned:
Product UX and UI across the entire platform
Core workflows from upload to export
Design system and visual language
Prototyping and iteration with engineering
Usability testing and user feedback loops
Launch-ready design for a growing creator audience
This was true 0→1 design work.
Understanding the users
PLASK served a wide spectrum of creators:
Beginners trying motion capture for the first time
Indie animators working in Blender
Game developers needing fast character motion
Professional studios looking for lightweight tools
What I kept hearing was:
“I don’t know what all these controls do.”
“I just want to get motion into my character fast.”
“I’m scared I’ll break something.”
So the product needed to feel safe, guided, and beginner-friendly, without losing power for advanced users.
The core challenge
The product was technically complex, but the experience couldn’t be.
Motion data is messy. Editing it requires unfamiliar concepts such as joints, keyframes, cleanup, and retargeting.
The hardest part was designing an interface that balanced:
Visibility for learners
Speed for experienced creators
Confidence for everyone
Designing the platform from scratch
1. Making the workflow obvious
I mapped the entire creator journey into a simple flow:
Upload video ➝ Track motion ➝ Review the result ➝ Fix issues ➝ Export to Blender or Unity
Instead of dumping users into a complex editor immediately, we structured the experience around clear steps and progress.
2. Designing for approachability
A big focus was reducing intimidation.
I introduced:
Friendly empty states
Clear labels instead of technical jargon
Guided interactions for first-time users
Layouts that made motion editing feel lightweight
The goal was: beginners shouldn’t feel lost five seconds in.
3. Motion editing without overwhelm
One of the hardest moments in mocap is cleanup.
Instead of designing a tool that felt like professional animation software, we built editing that felt more like “adjusting” than “fixing.”
We focused on:
Simple controls
Immediate visual feedback
Default settings that worked well
Progressive complexity for advanced users
4. Building the design system
Because the product was growing quickly, I created the full design system early:
Components for editing panels and workflows
Consistent typography and spacing
Scalable interaction patterns
Reusable UI for new tools and features
This helped engineering move fast while keeping the product cohesive.
Collaboration and iteration
PLASK was extremely fast-moving.
I worked closely with engineers daily, prototyping in Figma, testing interactions quickly, and shipping improvements weekly.
We constantly used:
Internal usability testing
Creator feedback from the community
Support tickets and friction points
Rapid iteration after launch
It felt like designing live, with real users shaping the product alongside us.
Impact
By building the full PLASK web product experience from the ground up, we shipped a platform that made motion capture accessible to a much wider creator audience.
The work helped:
Lower the barrier to entry for beginners
Improve clarity of complex motion workflows
Reduce confusion and support needs
Enable faster creator success from upload to export
Establish a scalable foundation for future features
Most importantly, creators could go from “I have a video” to “my character is moving” in minutes, without needing a studio pipeline.
What I learned
Designing PLASK taught me how to translate extremely technical systems into human experiences.
I learned that great product design isn’t about hiding complexity, it’s about shaping it into something people can actually feel confident using.
When you build from zero, every decision becomes foundational:
How users learn
How workflows scale
How trust is created
How a product feels
And that’s what made PLASK so meaningful to design.