PickyourtrailPickyourtrailVisual & BrandingVideo & Motion

Motion-Led Growth at Scale

Building PickYourTrail's visual identity across B2B and B2C products through Rive animations, content campaigns, and data-driven experimentation—from 5K to 27K YouTube subscribers and 15% conversion lift.

+20%

User Engagement Increase

+15%

Conversion Rate Lift

5K → 27K

YouTube Subscribers

Case study visual
Built withRiveLottieFigmaFramerGA4PowerBIYouTubeInstagramSocial Media MarketingPerformance MarketingLive site

Context

The working context

Team

KV

Motion Design Lead

Koushik Venkatesan
AB

Product Designer (Fluid)

Annet Babu
TA

Product Designer (Fluid)

Thageer Ashraf
SS

Designer (B2C)

Sandheep S
AG
AC

Designer (B2C)

Amit Choudhary
HS

Marketing (B2C)

Haritha Sreedhar
AR

Marketing (B2C)

Aditi Reddy
LH

Marketing (B2C)

Lubna H

Overview

Oct 2022 – Jul 2024 · 1 year 10 months PickYourTrail is a travel platform with two products: a B2C consumer travel booking app and Fluid, a B2B corporate travel management SaaS. I joined as Motion Designer and expanded into product design, growth, and PLG experimentation. This case study covers: - Fluid B2B landing page and interactive animations (Figma, Framer, Rive) - B2C app animations using Lottie JSON and Rive - Content-led growth campaigns (YouTube, Instagram, performance marketing) - PLG experiments (onboarding flows, in-product messaging) - Analytics-driven optimization using GA4 and PowerBI The work contributed to measurable growth: 20% increase in user engagement, 15% conversion rate lift, YouTube growth from 5K to 27K subscribers, Instagram growth from 180K to 225K followers, and 600K+ YouTube impressions.

My expertise

Motion design, interactive product animations, growth-focused video campaigns, landing page design, PLG experimentation, social media content strategy, analytics-driven optimization

Problem

What needed to change

How do you scale visual engagement and conversion across two different products (B2B SaaS and B2C consumer app) when you're the only motion designer on the team?

When I joined PickYourTrail in October 2022, the company had two distinct products:

  • PickYourTrail B2C: A consumer travel booking platform with a mobile app and web presence, targeting individual travelers
  • Fluid: A B2B corporate travel management SaaS for businesses managing employee travel

Both products had critical visual identity gaps:

  • The B2C platform had minimal motion design—static screens, no in-app animations, inconsistent social media content
  • Fluid (B2B) was launching without a landing page or visual storytelling to communicate product value to enterprise buyers
  • YouTube had 5K subscribers with low engagement
  • Instagram had 180K followers but stagnant growth

The core challenge: How do you simultaneously build a B2B landing page with interactive animations, scale B2C app engagement through motion design, AND grow social media reach—all as a solo motion designer?

Key questions I had to answer:

  • How do we visually differentiate Fluid (B2B) from PickYourTrail (B2C) while maintaining brand cohesion?
  • What's the fastest way to implement interactive animations without overwhelming the dev team?
  • How do we measure the impact of motion design on user engagement and conversion?
  • Can content-led growth (YouTube, Instagram) directly contribute to lead generation?

Questions we had to answer

01

How did the problem arise?

02

What was the company's growth stage and team structure?

03

Who are the users and what do we know about them?

04

Why is motion design and visual storytelling important for travel products?

05

How do we balance B2B (Fluid) and B2C priorities with one designer?

5K

YouTube subscribers

Starting subscriber count in Oct 2022

180K

Instagram followers

Starting follower count with stagnant growth

baseline

App engagement

Minimal in-app animations, no motion design system

none

Fluid landing page

No B2B landing page existed at project start

Alignment

What success had to look like

Success criteria

Success for this project wasn't just about making things look good—it was about measurable growth across three domains:

  1. B2B (Fluid): Ship a landing page with interactive animations that drives enterprise demo requests
  2. B2C (App): Increase user engagement and retention through Lottie/Rive animations in onboarding and key flows
  3. Content-Led Growth: Grow YouTube and Instagram audiences to drive brand awareness and lead generation, tracked via GA4 and PowerBI

Success defined as:

  • 15%+ lift in conversion rates (tracked via GA4)
  • 20%+ increase in user engagement (app analytics)
  • 2x YouTube subscriber growth within 12 months
  • Fluid landing page shipped with interactive Rive animations within 3 months

Design themes

Motion as a Growth Lever

Use interactive animations not just for aesthetics, but to guide user attention, reduce friction, and drive measurable conversion lifts

Content-Led Acquisition

YouTube and Instagram aren't just brand channels—they're lead generation engines tracked via PowerBI

PLG Experimentation

Onboarding flows, in-product messaging, and content-led acquisition experiments grounded in GA4 data

Process

01Research & Audit
02Concept & Wireframes
03Interactive Prototyping (Figma + Rive)
04Implementation & Dev Handoff
05Analytics Tracking (GA4, PowerBI)
06Iteration Based on Data

Constraints

The tradeoffs we had to work inside

01

Solo motion designer across two products

I was the only motion designer supporting both B2B (Fluid) and B2C (PickYourTrail), plus all social media content. Had to prioritize ruthlessly and build workflows that scaled without adding headcount.

02

Dev bandwidth for animations

Engineering team was small. Couldn't hand off complex After Effects files—had to use Lottie JSON and Rive so devs could implement animations without writing custom code.

03

No existing motion design system

No component library, no animation guidelines, no reusable assets. Had to build the motion design system from scratch while shipping work simultaneously.

04

Tight timeline for Fluid launch

B2B landing page had to ship in under 3 months to support the sales pipeline. Couldn't afford long design cycles.

05

Measuring impact of motion design

Hard to attribute engagement/conversion lifts to motion design specifically. Had to set up GA4 tracking and PowerBI dashboards to isolate signal from noise.

Behaviors encouraged

  • Complete onboarding flows (driven by Rive animations guiding user attention)
  • Watch YouTube content (trend-driven, high-retention video content)
  • Engage with Instagram posts (visually compelling motion graphics)
  • Request Fluid demos (B2B landing page CTA driven by interactive animations)
  • Return to app (in-product animations reducing friction and increasing retention)

Behaviors discouraged

  • Drop off during onboarding (Lottie animations reducing cognitive load)
  • Ignore social media content (motion-first approach increasing engagement)
  • Bounce from Fluid landing page (interactive Rive animations holding attention)

Process

How the work moved from messy to shipped

The process had to adapt for B2B (Fluid) vs. B2C (PickYourTrail), but both followed the same core workflow:

Research → Concept → Prototype → Implement → Measure → Iterate

For Fluid (B2B):

  • Collaborated with Annet Babu and Thageer Ashraf (product designers) to define landing page structure and messaging
  • Built interactive prototypes in Figma
  • Created Rive animations for hero section, feature demos, and CTAs
  • Handed off to dev team via Framer for implementation
  • Tracked demo request conversion in GA4

For PickYourTrail B2C:

  • Worked with Sandheep, Anushya, and Amit (designers) on app UI/UX
  • Collaborated with Haritha, Aditi, and Lubna (marketers) on content campaigns
  • Built Lottie JSON and Rive animations for onboarding, in-app messaging, and micro-interactions
  • Ran PLG experiments on onboarding flows
  • Tracked engagement and retention via app analytics and GA4

For Content-Led Growth:

  • Produced 100+ internal training videos for Sales & CX teams
  • Created trend-driven YouTube and Instagram content
  • Directed video campaigns for product launches—scripted, shot, edited, delivered
  • Measured impact via PowerBI dashboards (impressions, reach, engagement, lead gen)

The key to making this work solo: reusable workflows, lightweight tools (Lottie, Rive), and ruthless prioritization based on data.

01

Fluid Landing Page — Concept & Wireframes

Worked with Annet and Thageer to define the B2B landing page structure. The challenge: how do we visually communicate what Fluid does (corporate travel management) in a way that's instantly clear to enterprise buyers?

We mapped out the user journey for the landing page:

  1. Hero section: What is Fluid?
  2. Feature showcase: How does it work?
  3. Customer proof: Who uses it?
  4. CTA: Request a demo

I wireframed the landing page in Figma, focusing on visual hierarchy and where motion could guide attention—hero animation, feature transitions, CTA hover states.

Figma assets may take 1–2 minutes to load from CDN. Please wait if you see a blank or loading frame.

Fluid Landing Page — Figma Prototype

02

Fluid Landing Page — Interactive Rive Animations

Once wireframes were approved, I moved into Rive to build interactive animations across the landing page:

  • Hero section: Animated illustration showing corporate travel booking flow
  • Feature cards: Hover-triggered micro-animations
  • CTA button: Rive-powered state transitions (idle → hover → click)

The goal: make the landing page feel alive without heavy video files that slow load times. Rive gave us vector-based animations that were lightweight and interactive—perfect for enterprise buyers who might be on slower corporate networks.

Handed off Rive files to dev team for Framer implementation.

Figma assets may take 1–2 minutes to load from CDN. Please wait if you see a blank or loading frame.

Fluid Product Animations — Figma Prototype

Live — fluid.pickyourtrail.com

03

B2C App — Lottie JSON Onboarding Animations

For the B2C app, I focused on onboarding flows. User data showed drop-off at step 2 of the travel booking process—users weren't sure what to do next.

I designed Lottie JSON animations to guide users through each step:

  • Step 1: Animated pointer showing "Tap here to select destination"
  • Step 2: Progress bar with celebratory animation on completion
  • Step 3: Confirmation screen with subtle motion reinforcing success

Exported Lottie files and worked with dev team to integrate via the Lottie library. Zero custom animation code required on the dev side.

Result: 20% increase in onboarding completion rate (tracked via app analytics)

04

Content-Led Growth — YouTube & Instagram at Scale

Worked with the marketing team (Haritha, Aditi, Lubna) to scale social media reach as a direct acquisition channel:

  • YouTube: Trend-driven travel content, destination guides, customer stories
  • Instagram: Short-form motion graphics, Reels, carousel posts

I directed the full production pipeline—scripted, shot, edited, delivered. For the PYT Journeys product launch, I produced 17 videos in 48 hours, earning an internal award for fastest turnaround on high-quality video content.

Results tracked via PowerBI dashboards:

  • YouTube: 5K → 27K subscribers, 600K+ impressions, 200K views
  • Instagram: 180K → 225K followers, 4M reach, 6M views
  • Performance marketing: 15% increase in conversion rates

Content Campaign Videos — YouTube Playlist (67 videos)

05

Awards & Recognition — "People Who Inspired Us" · PickYourTrail · Mar 2024

"People Who Inspired Us" — Internal Award, PickYourTrail, March 2024

Recognized for exceptional ownership, speed, and quality on two simultaneous projects:

  • PYT Journeys: Single creative POC for the B2C project; took on 17 videos in two days (Scripted, Shot, Edited, Delivered)
  • Rive Migration: Alongside PYT Journeys, introduced industry-standard Rive to replace Lottie JSON—designed, animated, and delivered 12 UI animations in a week, saving almost half a month of video team bandwidth

Animation Showcase

12 UI animations. Two products. One designer.

Built with Rive and Lottie — vector-based, dev-ready, and shipped across Fluid (B2B SaaS) and the Pickyourtrail consumer app. Introduced Rive to replace Lottie JSON, cutting half a month of team bandwidth.

Trip Timeline View

01 / 05

Takeaways

What changed once the work met reality

What didn't go as planned

01

Dev team couldn't implement complex After Effects animations

Initially designing elaborate After Effects animations for the app. When handed off to dev, the response was clear: no bandwidth for custom animation code. How I adapted: Switched to Lottie JSON and Rive. Both export to lightweight vector formats that devs could drop in without writing animation code. This became the standard workflow—design in Figma/Rive, export, hand off. What I learned: The best design is the one that ships. If the dev team can't implement it, it doesn't matter how beautiful it is.

02

Measuring the impact of motion design on conversion

Marketing team asked "how do we know these animations are actually driving conversion?" Fair question—motion design impact is hard to isolate. How I adapted: Set up GA4 event tracking for onboarding flows, CTA clicks, and video engagement. Worked with the BI team to build PowerBI dashboards showing correlation between video content and lead gen. What I learned: If you can't measure it, you can't defend it. Motion designers need to be fluent in analytics tools.

03

Balancing B2B (Fluid) and B2C priorities

Constantly torn between shipping Fluid landing page work and supporting B2C app/content needs. Both teams wanted my time. How I adapted: Ruthless prioritization based on revenue impact. Mapped out what would move the needle most (Fluid landing page = direct pipeline, B2C onboarding = retention, content = brand awareness). Shipped Fluid first, then B2C experiments, then content in batches. What I learned: As a solo designer, you can't do everything. You have to say no to good ideas to make room for great ones.

What shipped

Fluid B2B Landing Page Shipped with Interactive Rive Animations

Launched the Fluid landing page in under 3 months with interactive Rive animations that visually communicated product value to enterprise buyers. The page became the primary sales asset for the B2B team.

3-month ship timeline

Enabled sales team to close enterprise deals with a visual storytelling asset that didn't exist before

Tracked via GA4

Interactive animations held user attention longer than static pages

20% Increase in User Engagement Through Lottie/Rive App Animations

Implemented Lottie JSON and Rive animations across B2C app onboarding flows, in-product messaging, and micro-interactions. Animations reduced friction and guided user attention to key actions.

+20%

Onboarding completion rate increased

Tracked via app analytics

User retention improved due to reduced cognitive load in key flows

YouTube Growth from 5K to 27K Subscribers Through Content-Led Campaigns

Directed production of trend-driven YouTube content—destination guides, customer stories, product explainers. Focused on high-retention formats and SEO-optimized titles. Tracked performance via PowerBI.

5K → 27K

YouTube subscribers grew

600K+

YouTube impressions

200K

YouTube views

15% Conversion Rate Lift Through Performance Marketing Video Campaigns

Collaborated with marketing team to optimize video content delivery for performance marketing campaigns. Created short-form video ads for Instagram and YouTube, tested messaging variations, tracked conversion via GA4.

+15%

Conversion rates increased through optimized video content delivery

Tracked via PowerBI

Lead generation increased via growth-focused video campaigns

Outcome

What shipped and what it proved

+20%

User Engagement Increase

In-app Lottie/Rive animations drove measurable engagement lift

+15%

Conversion Rate Lift

Performance marketing video campaigns increased conversion rates

5K → 27K

YouTube Subscribers

Content-led growth strategy scaled YouTube audience

180K → 225K

Instagram Followers

Motion-first social media strategy grew Instagram reach

600K+

YouTube Impressions

Video content reached 600K impressions

200K

YouTube Views

High-retention content drove 200K views

4M

Instagram Reach

Reels and motion graphics content reached 4M users

6M

Instagram Views

Short-form video content drove 6M views

100+

Internal Training Videos

Produced over 100 training videos for Sales & CX teams

17 videos in 48h

PYT Journeys — Award-Winning Turnaround

Internal "People Who Inspired Us" award · Mar 2024. Also delivered 12 UI animations via Rive in 1 week, saving half a month of team bandwidth.

During my time working closely with Koushik Venkatesan, I have consistently been impressed by their quality of work. During his tenure with us, Koushik was crucial in leading the motion design function across various domains, including Performance Marketing, Social Media Marketing, App & Web Animations, and Motion design-led branding. His contributions were instrumental in enhancing the visual identity and impact of our brand across multiple platforms. Key Responsibilities: • Lead the motion design function within the design team at Pickyourtrail. • Hired and mentored intern and junior designer, fostered growth and development within the team. • Collaborate closely with stakeholders, including marketers and fellow designers, to ensure alignment and successful project outcomes. Performance Overview: Koushik consistently demonstrated excellent performance throughout his time with us. He exhibited extreme ownership and leadership capabilities, often going above and beyond to ensure the success of his projects. His curiosity and technical skills allowed him to stay at the forefront of new design technologies, which greatly benefited the team and the company. Koushik's collaboration skills were exemplary, enabling him to work effectively with both marketers and fellow designers. His ability to understand and meet the needs of stakeholders contributed significantly to the overall success of our design initiatives. We are highly satisfied with Koushik's partnership and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

More from the team

AB
Annet Babu

Product Designer, PickYourTrail· July 2023

Koushik is a smart, charming and heavily talented motion designer with whom I have had the pleasure of working with. He is extremely passionate about learning and always looks for ways to raise the bar. He questions the normals and thinks of elevating the work not just by his own skills but also by incorporating new workflows and adapting new technology. He is also a team player and bonds well with his team members. Anyone can approach him for his design views and he points us in a good direction. He hustles to get things done and is a man of many talents! Overall, I believe that Koushik is meant to reach great heights and that he is going to be an irreplaceable asset for any company that hires him! Kudos Koushik!

AG
Anushyaa Gopalakrishnan

Assistant Manager - Design, PickYourTrail· July 2023

Having worked closely with Koushik for a year, I can confidently say that he is a talented and exceptional professional. He has consistently displayed a remarkable ability to bring ideas to life through captivating visual storytelling. His keen eye for aesthetics, attention to detail and proficiency in various design software helped us create stunning and engaging motion graphics that surpassed our expectations.

AC
Amit Choudhary

Illustrator / Motion Designer, PickYourTrail· July 2023

Koushik is talented and flexible with his tasks and he is always ready to adapt the new skill if required, I really enjoyed working with him. Koushik is a problem solver and would be an asset to any team, rarely you will find people who follow processes where he always starts with the process and ends with excellent output.

AR
Aditi Reddy

Marketing, PickYourTrail· August 2023

When it comes to his work, he has a unique artistic eye that shines through in his editing work. I have personally observed his innate ability to take raw footage and transform it into captivating visual content that always aligned with our marketing team's objectives and brand identity. Throughout our time working together, I've noticed Koushik excels in collaborating with colleagues across different departments. He has always actively sought input, incorporated feedback, and ensured that the final product resonates with the entire team's vision.

What came next

The work at Pickyourtrail laid the foundation for a motion-first design culture. The Lottie/Rive workflow is now the standard for the design team. The Fluid landing page continues to drive enterprise pipeline. The content-led growth playbook (YouTube, Instagram, performance marketing) is now a core part of the company's acquisition strategy. Key learnings carried forward: - Motion design is a growth lever, not just a visual polish layer - Lightweight animation tools (Lottie, Rive) > complex After Effects files - If you can't measure it, you can't defend it—analytics fluency is non-negotiable - As a solo designer, ruthless prioritization based on impact is the only way to survive

2026 — Kelashik.