Postman Product Animation System

In 2023, I led the design direction and execution of a product-focused redesign that repositioned Postman’s visual storytelling strategy. Working across Product, DevRel, and an external agency, I guided a six-week design sprint to bring the product itself, rather than abstract illustrations, front and center. This initiative marked a turning point in how Postman communicates its value, establishing a new standard for showcasing the product through motion and interaction.

Over six weeks, we concepted, storyboarded, and designed 64 high-fidelity product animations across five key pages: Workspaces, Collections, API Client, Private API Network, and Enterprise. Each sequence captured real product workflows with precision, helping technical audiences see the Postman experience in action.

Problem

Postman’s marketing site relied heavily on illustrations that obscured the actual product experience. As the platform matured, its design sophistication and feature depth had outgrown these abstractions.

We needed a new visual system that made the product itself the hero. The challenge was to create more than sixty animations that were both editorially beautiful and technically exact, while guiding an external agency with limited product familiarity.

Goal

Design a scalable, product-accurate animation system that could:

  • Showcase Postman’s most important workflows in a visually compelling way

  • Balance creative storytelling with technical precision to maintain credibility with a developer audience

  • Establish motion and UX fidelity standards that could be applied to future web experiences

  • Elevate brand perception without departing from existing site design patterns

Results

Reframed Product Storytelling
Shifted Postman’s design philosophy from conceptual illustration to product-driven storytelling, influencing subsequent site and campaign visuals.

Defined Motion Design Standards
Established reusable motion principles such as no fade transitions, consistent cursor placement, and precise task mapping that later informed lighter in-house animation workflows.

Catalyst for In-House Capabilities
Paved the way for Postman to internalize motion creation, hiring designers and adopting Screen Studio to produce product-true dynamic demos.

High-Visibility Alignment
Secured CEO approval for the creative direction, validating the new product-first approach as the future of Postman’s marketing design.

Process and Approach

Strategic Vision and Stakeholder Alignment

Partnered with Product Managers and DevRel to define the campaign’s core narrative: showing the real Postman experience. Set parameters to evolve the brand visually without a full overhaul, ensuring new designs complemented existing site structures.

Agency Leadership and Design Direction

Vetted and hired a creative agency, then directed all aspects of the design sprint. Led weekly reviews, provided creative direction, and facilitated alignment between marketing, product, and executive stakeholders.

Product-Accurate Storyboarding

Collaborated with Product and DevRel teams to deeply understand the workflows behind each feature. Mapped every animation to a true user action or API task. Storyboarded interactions, hover states, and transitions, ensuring all UI behavior matched live product functionality.

Detailed Asset Preparation

Sourced and rebuilt product visuals from Figma files, ensuring pixel-level fidelity. Prepared animation-ready assets, managed consistent API and workspace references across sequences, and tracked cursor continuity for seamless transitions.

Motion and UX Systemization

Defined repeatable motion rules to ensure technical realism:

  • No fade transitions, since the product does not behave that way

  • Consistent start and end frames

  • Logical cursor motion between tasks

  • Reusable component timing for cohesive storytelling

Cross-Team Validation

Validated all animations against the live product, performing side-by-side interaction checks to confirm accuracy. Each motion was treated as both a design element and a UX demonstration.

Presentation and Executive Buy-In

Presented the full product animation system to the CEO and executive team, securing approval and reinforcing the vision of product-centric storytelling.

Conclusion

The Postman Product Animation System redefined how Postman showcases its platform, shifting from abstract visuals to real, product-accurate experiences. Through deep collaboration, technical precision, and design leadership, I built a framework that honored developer authenticity while elevating brand storytelling.

Although the original campaign was not launched, its creative direction and design standards fundamentally influenced Postman’s evolving marketing site and motion strategy, laying the groundwork for a unified, product-first visual identity.

PRODUCT STORYTELLING SYSTEM: MOTION, FIDELITY, AND FLOW

Early animation storyboards
Each sequence mapped a complete workflow within the Postman app, aligning product interactions with value propositions. These storyboards established the foundation for visual accuracy, cursor movement, and timing consistency across all 64 animations.

Hero animation for API Client feature
The final animation captures the elegance of Postman’s API workflow while maintaining exact interface fidelity. Cursor pacing, endpoint selection, and UI feedback were all verified side by side with the live product to achieve a true-to-experience representation.