COMPANY
Amazon
ROLE
Creative Director, Brand & UX Design
YEAR
2024
The endless search for answers buried in reviews, product dimensions hidden in fine print, or gift ideas scattered across countless browser tabs—these common frustrations inspired Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, built to transform the way customers discover and shop for products.
In 2023, I joined a newly formed team at Amazon tasked with designing and launching a generative AI-powered conversational shopping experience. As Creative Director, I defined the visual language of the conversational UI, developed Rufus’s visual brand identity, and led marketing and PR efforts to communicate its value. This fast-paced, iterative journey culminated in Rufus’s debut in February 2024.
Rufus integrates seamlessly into the Amazon app and website, serving as an expert shopping assistant. Trained on Amazon’s product catalog and web data, it answers questions, makes personalized recommendations, and simplifies discovery—all within the familiar Amazon shopping experience.
We began with an invite-only beta and gradually expanded access while making continuous improvements based on customer feedback. In February 2024, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy introduced Rufus during an earnings call, accompanied by a press release detailing its capabilities. The launch earned praise from top publications including Axios, Bloomberg, CNBC, and The New York Times. By late 2024, Rufus was available to all U.S. customers and launched in India and the UK, and was later showcased by Jassy at AWS re:Invent 2024.