Clario

Clario started as a character for Clarity Labs and became the way this site answers questions. Ask it about a project and it points you to the section it read. If something isn't on the site, it says so instead of guessing.

Right now its answers are scripted. Answering from these pages comes next. Press / anywhere on the site to try it.

Three sticky notes. They fan out while Clario thinks and square up when it has an answer. Every state is a pose, and every pose comes with words.

Why sticky notes? Most research starts as a wall of them before it makes sense, and my desk is always buried in them. Clario is three notes that haven't quite settled yet.

• A state is a pose, never a recolor. Clario looks the same everywhere. Only how it holds itself changes.
• Every state comes with words. Color and motion never carry meaning on their own.
• It shows its sources. Answers point to where they came from, so you can check them.
• It doesn't fake work. Clario is never a loading spinner for something it isn't doing.
• It tells you what it keeps. Questions are saved anonymously, with no name, IP address or browser details, so Ben can see what the site doesn't answer yet. They're deleted after 90 days.
• It respects reduced motion. Poses snap instead of animating.

The same shape and face, chosen by where Clario appears and what's behind it, never by mood.

I'm still exploring Clario: what it should do and where it's actually useful. It may show up in other things I build, or it may stay here. Wherever it ends up, it keeps the same shape, the same states and the same rules.

The design is done: the Stack, seven states, three variants and how it moves. On this site it answers from scripted replies. Answering from the site's own pages is next, and voice is designed but not built.