When and How to Use Animations to Improve User Experience Animations, when used thoughtfully, can make user interfaces feel more predictable, faster, and enjoyable. However, poor use of animations can make interfaces feel slow, annoying, and untrustworthy. --- Purposeful Animations Always define the purpose of an animation before implementing it. Example: Linear’s marketing animation for Product Intelligence is purposeful because it visually explains the feature’s functionality right in the viewport, aiding user understanding. Small purposeful animations, like a subtle scale down on button press, add responsiveness and liveliness to the interface. Sonner’s toast notifications animate to avoid sudden appearance, creating spatial consistency and making swipe gestures feel intuitive. Delightful Animations Some animations aim to bring delight and make the experience memorable. Example: Morphing feedback buttons surprise users when used infrequently but can become annoying if overused. Frequency of user interaction with animated components is crucial in deciding whether to animate or not. --- Frequency of Use Frequently used UI elements should avoid animations to prevent annoyance. Example: Raycast, used hundreds of times daily, deliberately lacks animations when opening menus for optimal speed and frictionless use. Hover effects and keyboard-initiated actions often repeat many times daily and should generally not be animated to maintain immediacy and responsiveness. Users expect a direct and fast response without delays caused by animations during frequent actions. --- Perception of Speed Animations must be fast, especially in regular UI components (under ~300ms) to improve perceived performance. Faster animations (like a quicker spinner or dropdown) make the interface feel more responsive, even if the actual load time remains unchanged. Tooltip behavior example: Should have a slight initial delay to avoid accidental triggers. Once open, switching between tooltips should be instantaneous with no animation to feel faster and less annoying. --- Building Great Interfaces The goal is not to animate for the sake of animating but to craft interfaces users want to use daily. Some workflows benefit from animations; others benefit from none. Knowing when to animate is just part of successful UI animation design. For those interested, a comprehensive course on animation theory and practice is available: Animations on the Web. --- Summary Key Points Always give animations a clear purpose (inform, delight, give feedback). Consider how often users will see the animation; frequent animations should be minimal or absent. Keep animations fast and responsive to improve perceived speed. Use animation strategically to build interfaces users find enjoyable and efficient, not distracting. --- This approach balances usability, aesthetics, and performance by tailoring animation use to user goals and interaction patterns.