The Curated Collection of Web

Design Techniques:
Interaction Design & Complex Animations

Copyright 2015 by UXPin Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication text may be uploaded

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Index
1. The Age of Modern Interaction Design
The Nature of Interaction Remains the Same 
Modern Interaction Design Techniques
A New Perspective on Usability
Thinking Beyond the Now
10 Free IxD Tools & Resources

2. Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

Animation & Transitions
Interactive Narrative (Webgraphics)
Micro Interactions
Layering Effects
Thinking Beyond the Present

3. Animations In Web UI Design:

The Past, Present, and Future
The Past: Roots in Traditional Animation
The Present: The Role of Animation in Web Design
The Future: Up-and-Coming Web Animation Trends
10 Additional Free Resources and Tools

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13
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27
30
33

35
36
41
48
53

4. 9 Modern Uses for Animation in Web UI Design

Galleries and slideshows
Form fields or calls to action
Navigation and menus
Page motion
Backgrounds
Loading
Scroll Animation
Hover
Animated photography
Conclusion

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Jerry Cao is a content strategist at UXPin where he gets to put

his overly active imagination to paper every day. In a past life, he
developed content strategies for clients at Brafton and worked in
traditional advertising at DDB San Francisco. In his spare time he
enjoys playing electric guitar, watching foreign horror films, and
expanding his knowledge of random facts.
Follow me on Twitter

Carrie Cousins has more than 10 years experience in the media

industry, including design, editing, and writing for print and online
publications. Carrie is also a sports fanatic and spends way too
much time planning football and basketball trips and obsessing
over stats. Follow me on Twitter.

Co-founder and head of product, Kamil previously worked as a

UX/UI Designer at Grupa Nokaut. He studied software engineering in university, but design and psychology have always been
his greatest passions. Follow me on Twitter @ziebak

Krzysztof is a graphic designer at UXPin. He is also a typography

enthusiast and a founder of the global Typeseeing Project. Since
2014, he has been an instructor at the Academy of Fine Arts in
Gdansk, where he teaches his students about design theory and
design software. In his free time, he enjoys playing and inventing
board games. Follow me on Behance

The Age of
Modern Interaction Design

As a practice of designing for the intangible, interaction design has

always been one of the most difficult UX disciplines. Gone are the
days when users were impressed by simple interactions like a bit of
unexpected animation now animations are almost required, along
with plenty of microinteractions that cant be taken for granted.
New interaction design patterns continue to arise to support new
technologies, but the fundamentals remain timeless. In this piece,
well quickly explore how interaction design has evolved in recent
years, and where it may be headed in the near future.

The Nature of Interaction Remains the Same

Interaction design is more than an anecdotal collection of best practices. In fact, Researchers at Penn State University recently found
that users are more likely to be persuaded by messages on websites
with interactive features.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

Modality interactivity persuades people because they are having

more fun browsing the website, which absorbs them, and creates
more positive attitudes toward the message as well, says Jeeyun Oh,
assistant professor of communications at Robert Morris University.
Interactivity persuades people by making users think more deeply
about the message.

Photo credit: http://styki.org.pl/#1

Photo credit: http://dubaiairportsreview.com/

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

The nature of interaction design is engagement. This remains the

same no matter what decade youre designing in the difference
is the methods available to engage your users. Interaction design
patterns evolve right alongside new functionalities supported by the
expansion of HTML5, CSS, Javascript, and jQuery. Interactive websites used to be defined by plenty of internal links or a photo gallery
while those are still popular features, youll need to be much more
clever and creative in the execution.
Regardless of technology, the five pillars of interaction design still
stand strong. Driven by human connection and emotion, these can
be aided by technology, but not changed by it:
Goal-driven design Focus on personas, user scenarios and
experience maps so that every interaction moves users closer to
completing their goal.
Usability Function must be intuitive and reliable before it can
be fun for users. Provide only as many features as users truly
need, then hone in on reducing the friction and cognitive load of
each feature.
Affordances and signifiers Form must reflect function since
vision is our dominant sense.
Learnability Interfaces that are consistent with existing designs
and across all internal assets are more predictable, which means
that they are easier to learn. Learnable interfaces, then, naturally
feel more usable since less friction is involved.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

10

Feedback and response time Interfaces must respond promptly

to users in a human (and humane) way so that the experience feels
like a real conversation. You must approach interaction design as
if it were human-to-human conversation, not as a machine that
simply responds to what users do or say.

Photo credit: http://utmanareredo.se/#

Photo credit: http://www.frankdigital.com.au/

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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Whether in the past, present, or future, these five principles will always determine how interaction design evolves and what it becomes
in any new environment.

Modern Interaction Design Techniques

New functionalities deliver new methods of interaction which is
to say, new ways to entertain users as well. Today, users have grown
accustomed to the delightful designs made possible through responsive and adaptive systems, which creates a self-perpetuating cycle
where more designers are incorporating such designs to satisfy their
users, who grow more accustomed...
For example, the following handful of design techniques arent just
standalone trends they are all part of a much larger push for interactivity in this age of responsive and adaptive design:
Parallax scrolling and effects
Card-style layouts
Video & animation as described in Interaction Design Best Practices
Design elements that require physical actions such as swipes or
clicks
Micro interactions, which are distinct moments that happen while
using a website or app (think of an alarm bell or deleting an email)

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

12

Push notifications and reminders from websites or apps

Personalization and location tools so that every app or website
feels like it was designed specifically for that user, creating memorable contextual experiences (for example, Waze automatically
asks if youre driving home at 6PM based on your usage patterns).
Quickly show or hide content with clicks or swipes
Hover effects and actions for secondary content
Transitions and loop functions between elements

Photo credit: http://mixpl.us/withoutyou

Lets examine MixPlus, designed by Net+, as a clever example of the

art of interaction design.
The website is a series of mixtapes created for users. Click to choose
a style, then scroll for a playlist and to start the tracks. The animation is fun and life-like and helps guide the user from the top of the
screen to bottom. In the footer, users can continue for an even lon-

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

13

ger playlist or to go back to the Net+ site. And with multiple tapes to
choose from, users are encouraged to interact and go back to start
over with a new option.
The interaction on the page is actually quite limited, but the execution
is smooth. First, you rotate through the tapes in a familiar left-right
scroll motion. Then, as you scroll down the page to learn about the
songs, the interface provides visual feedback of impending action by
trailing the tape behind. Through tasteful skeuomorphism, the site
communicates function without needing to explain.
Alternatively, the designer could have decided to present each song
as a card design that transforms to a play button upon hover, but the
effect wouldnt be nearly as delightful and captivating.

A New Perspective on Usability

Mobile considerations force us to rethink the entire web experience
not just how it plays out on specific devices.
It was not long ago that the design community was focused on above
the scroll. That idea has changed dramatically with small screen
design and the reemergence of the scroll as a dominant and important design tool. In fact, the Apple Watchs Digital Crown is further
reshaping navigation interaction by making it a winding (rather than
pinching or vertically swiping) motion.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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Photo credit: http://vaalentin.github.io/2015/

The idea that scrolling kills engagement is one of the biggest UX myths,
and it can be a difficult one to overcome. But we can reassure ourselves with some of the data presented by the excellent site UX Myths:
Chartbeat, a data analytics provider, analyzed data from 2 billion
visits and found that 66% of attention on a normal media page is
spent below the fold.
Usability expert Jakob Nielsens eye-tracking studies show that
while attention is focused above the fold, people do scroll down,
especially if the page is designed to encourage scrolling.
Look at the responsive site above: the on-screen Hello is the only
above-the-scroll message, but the arrow at the bottom of the screen
instantly encourages users to move deeper into the site. The scrolling action is accomplished through a physical scroll tool by clicking
the mouse to showcase a series of neat animations that guide users
through the content.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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Photo credit: http://vaalentin.github.io/2015/

Even though the site is certainly influenced by the mobile-first philosophy, you find that its still quite a pleasant experience even on
desktop.
When it comes to scrolling as an interaction, weve found that long
scrolls arent really a usability issue provided that each content
section (and overall narrative) remains compelling. The abundance
of single-page site designs proves that interaction design can take a
chapter from literature (quite literally) to present memorable experiences in a linear format.
One of the great frontiers of interaction design, mobile design is full
of fresh patterns that redefine the relationship between users and
technology.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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Consider the tap on mobile devices versus the click of websites. As

little as two years ago, users fumbled to navigate mobile websites
because a great number of sites still required an almost click-style
action or use of website tools such as scroll bars. Now, common actions include swiping, tapping and zooming to get greater access to
information on the small screen (all thanks to interaction design).
Given the rise of responsive and adaptive design, every website must
not only work perfectly on a desktop resolution, but also feel like an
app-like website on a smaller devices (including wearables). Each of
these devices requires a different set of interactions that impact how,
and if, users visit a website.
Users access websites through multiple device entry points. A bad
experience at any time can turn a user away permanently, making
interaction design the key discipline to ensuring a consistent device-agnostic experience.
Think of interface design and interaction design as the right and left
hand for designing adaptive and responsive experiences. As we revisit how content must be prioritized (and repositioned) on the screen
from a mobile-first perspective, we also must be willing to redefine
how users actually engage with that content.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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Thinking Beyond the Now

Changes in technology continue to expand the capabilities of interaction design. After all, much of what we have seen and are designing
for is mandated by the need to make unfamiliar devices feel instantly
familiar.

Photo credit: http://project360.mammut.ch/#home

You can certainly argue that wearables are the next big thing on
the horizon for interaction design. Whether thats a watch or necklace or chip in a shoe, interactions between humans and devices that
touch the skin will grow in importance and every little detail will
matter, from how the device works to how it feels on the skin for
users (remember the Fitbit recall because the device irritated some
users skin).

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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Photo credit: http://blossomtype.com/#

Personalization will continue to be a goal in interaction design. Geolocation tools already help create better contextual experiences, but
more sites, such as Blossom Type, are gaining popularity since they
allow users to input specific information to create a unique, shareable
experience. (Blossom Type creates a movie based on the information
entered by the user.)
Interaction design is changing almost daily with technology and user
access to new tools. While we cant predict the next big thing, we
can prepare for it by keeping a keen eye on whats happening, what
devices and tools are selling think wearables in the recent future
and how users want digital information delivered and how they
want it to work.
The subjectivity of human interactions makes it that much more fun
to imagine and design.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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10 Free IxD Tools & Resources

Youre not alone in this brave new world. Below are ten of our favorite resources and tools to help you navigate the changing terrain
of interaction design.
1. Interaction Design Basics Usability.gov outlines questions and
considerations for interaction design that are a good springboard
on the path to UI/UX design.
2. How Do You Design Interaction? A refreshing approach that
teaches you how to design interactions as conversations.
3. Smart Transitions in User Experience Design by Smashing
Magazine A look at a variety of simple and effective animations
that help guide users through website designs.
4. Interaction Design Best Practices: Mastering Words, Visual
and Space The basics of interaction design are rooted in basic
design theory; this free 115-page guide teaches you how to master
the tangible elements of IxD.
5. Interaction Design Best Practices: Mastering Time, Responsiveness and Behavior The free 106-page guide helps you
master the trickier intangible elements of IxD.
6. Origins of Famous Micro Interactions Everything from the
Youve got mail! announcement to the Facebook like is a micro
interaction. Learn more about how they came to be.

The Age of Modern Interaction Design

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7. Interaction Design Experiments How do different interactions

work? Take a look at a variety of options to help pick the best
interaction patterns for your projects.
8. Making and Breaking UX Best Practices by UX Booth The
rules for user experience devsign are changing constantly; this
guide helps you understand the roots of common practices and
tools.
9. iOS Human Interface Guidelines Apples guide outlines how
developers and designers should create for the mobile web.
10. 2015 IxD Awards The winning projects and finalists create
an inspiring set of best practices and examples of how to create
different and interesting projects.

Immersive Interaction
Design Techniques

The wheel of progress is changing what we think of as new or old,

and users can easily scorn the sites and apps they loved only a few
months ago. But for every door that technology closes, a new one is
opened.
Below weve collected some of the modern IxD techniques that users
are flocking to. Some are genuinely new, while others are just new
takes on old ideas. Either way, theyll help you stay ahead of the
curve... and the crushing wheel of progress.

1. Animation & Transitions

When it comes to interaction design, one of the most popular concepts is animation and animated effects. Animation can include
anything from a cool hover state effect to a full-screen cartoon
that plays in the background.
In fact, as you can see below from the custom animations editor
in UXPin, you can create different effects for a simple Ease-In

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

22

animation just by playing with the acceleration of elements. If

youd like to create a more complex animation, feel free to check
out our landing page.

Photo credit: UXPin

Animations may not be new to interaction design, but their popularity is really only possible thanks to developments in HTML5,
Javascript, and CSS. While they were once considered an aesthetic
luxury (Wow, the icon bounces!) during the age of Flash, they
are now becoming a functional necessity (Ugh, the icon doesnt
do anything except bounce?!).

Photo credit: http://gaetanpautler.com/

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

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Aside from the visual appeal, animations more importantly transition users between states of content. Transitions are the glue
holding together all animated effects. How does the user get from
one state to the next? What does each different state ask or tell the
user to do? A smooth transition allows the animation to unravel
in a way that communicates both points effortlessly.
When used well, animation provides context for the design by
helping users know how to interact with it. (Remember, when it
comes to interaction, some newer technologies and interaction
patterns may feel uncomfortable, unfamiliar or evolve over time.)
Animations are also a smart tactic for delightfully distracting users
during longer load times, keeping them engaged in what would
otherwise be a frustrating experience.
Animation and animated transitions can be an obvious solution
for some design frameworks. As described in Interaction Design
Best Practices, the five primary functions of animation include:
1. Animated notifications
2. Revealing information
3. Highlighting content
4. Collapsing forms and menus
5. Scrolling, especially for one-page websites

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

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When it comes to transitions, seamless film-like animation is the

key to illusion.
Users are accustomed to television-style, high definition and pixel-perfect design. Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnstons outline of the 12 principles of animation still hold true today
and should be the basis for designing all animation techniques
and transitions well into the future.

2. Interactive Narrative (Webgraphics)

While social media sharing made the popularity of infographics
skyrocket as a visual information medium, webgraphics are the
interactive design equivalent. Even though the webgraphic format isnt seen on every corner of the web, weve learned plenty
of interaction design lessons from the medium.
While both graphic formats follow the same idea, webgraphics use
tools such as HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery to deliver an interactive
experience through color, type and slick animations.

Photo credit: http://www.psd2html.com/10-years-in-review/

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

25

Webgraphics, a term that Venture Beat coined in 2013, typically

asks users to perform an action en route to getting access to the
full story. This action can be as simple as a click or more involving requests such as typing in words or touching an image on the
screen.
The real power of webgraphics lies in their effortless integration
into the user path. Unlike an infographic, you can design the
webgraphic to create a site within a site experience that has
completely immerses the user and serves up relevant links and
forms along the way for more persuasive conversion.

Photo credit: http://www.irwinmitchell.com/safety-on-the-slopes.html

For example, Safety on the Slopes (above), is just what an interactive webgraphic should be. The website combines information,
mapping, video, facts and numbers to help users understand the
dangers of winter sports in a way that might otherwise feel like
a boring lecture.

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

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Granted, theres no calls to action or subtle hints for additional

actions, but that could certainly be implemented. For example,
imagine if an outdoor sport retailer created this site as part of a
seasonal campaign you could embed a few relevant products
for potential hazards or link out to product categories.
We understand that not everyone has the resources to build a
standalone interactive infographic (whether in their site or as a
standalone URL), but you certainly apply some of its techniques
to make any website feel more immersive.

Photo credit: http://humaan.com/about/

For example, scroll-triggered animations are common in interactive infographics but are also used on sites like Humaan (above)
to reveal facts about its team in a fun and unimposing manner.

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

27

Photo credit: missing source

House of Borel (above), a luxury fashion brand, certainly feels

more like an interactive story than a traditional website. You
can see elements of interactive infographics at play here: videos
triggered by scroll, an experience that unfolds and guides you
through different chapters, and a much heavier focus on visual
narrative over hierarchical navigation. The treatment certainly
makes sense for an elegant brand that wants you to feel the lifestyle first before revealing its products.

3. Micro Interactions
A micro interaction is a momentary event that completes a single
task, such as the ding of an alarm in an iPhone to notify users.
Logging in to your online banking portal and even liking content
on a site like Facebook are just some of the micro interactions that
define the details of experience design.

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

28

Photo credit: https://www.formlets.com/

As a website and app user, you probably take part in hundreds of

daily micro interactions, all of which add up to one cohesive user
experience. Arguably the smallest interactive elements of a design, micro interactions are some of the most vital (in fact, Fastco
Design even calls it the future of design).
Consider, for instance, how quickly you would abandon a website
if you could not set a username and password in only a few clicks
or if the push notifications from your favorite news site appeared
too frequently.

Photo credit: http://surpris.es/#url

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

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Whether for a blog or a global ecommerce site, these small interactions serve a variety of core functions to almost every website:
Accomplish a task This includes simple action such as logging
in, adding a status update or setting an alarm.
Connecting elements Syncing two points creates a micro interaction between two devices or websites, whether thats from
multiplayer games/apps that sync from device to device or simple
Bluetooth earbuds for your smartphone.
Making an adjustment Any change to a website setting (such
as muting the volume on an app or turning down the volume on a
music player) and the corresponding visual (and audio) feedback
constitutes a micro action. Some of these are so small users perform many of the actions without any thought, which is why micro
interactions must be carefully designed to provide just enough
feedback without feeling intrusive.
Change in state Turning a website, or function therein, off or
on changes the state and completes a small action.
Unique data interaction This refers to getting an in-time bit of
data, such as checking the weather or traffic in your area, as result
of a direct action such as opening an app or checking a website
with location tools.
An action initiates every one of the actions above; the user does something in a website or app to start the process (even if it continues after

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

30

the initial step). This follows a pattern of call-to-action from a user,

rules for engagement as determined by the interface (what will happen
and how), feedback from the user (did it work or not) and patterns
or loops (does the action happen once or repeat on a schedule).
Every one of these tiny pieces is part of the design plan when it comes
to interaction. To learn more about micro interactions, we highly
recommend checking out the site of Dan Saffer who coined the term.

4. Layering Effects
Creating an engaging interactive experience is not about adding a
single effect to your website design. Like we described in Web UI
Design for the Human Eye, it is a planned effort that requires layered
design techniques and careful thought for user flow and habits.
By combining effects like parallax, long scroll, background video,
etc., your design is both visually intriguing and inviting to user
interaction. The trick is not to go overboard and there is a fine
line between a careful hierarchy of user interactions and a chaotic mess.
Below, well examine three sites that do a great job of layering
effects to create an immersive interactive experience.

1. AIGA 100 Years of Design

The 100 Years of Design website, designed to celebrate the history
of design as an art form, uses a variety of techniques and trends,

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

31

from scrolling actions to a hamburger menu to user-submitted

visuals. Each new screen includes information (scroll down), animation to support the concepts, and cues for moving to the next
element (whether through navigation or using on-screen cues).

Photo credit: http://celebratedesign.org/

2. Eventbrite Seat Designer

Used by event planners everywhere for ticket sales, the Eventbrite
interface offers phenomenal tools for users to create custom seating charts for specific venues or events, something that was once
unique to large venues. With a few clicks on the template, users
can easily create a custom arrangement.

Photo credit: https://www.eventbrite.com/l/reserved-seating/

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

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The interface uses an almost-flat design style with bright colors,

easy menus and smooth-loading transitions.

3. Sonorans Valley
The site features a game-like experience where users input specific information to take part in a digital journey. The site is layered with phenomenal animation and video effects while using
a standard hamburger style navigation. The main screen starts
with a minimal-style aesthetic but opens into a wide-screen video
experience. (You could play with this site for hours on end.)

Photo credit: http://sonorans-valley.com/

Immersive Interaction Design Techniques

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Thinking Beyond the Present

These may be the cutting edge practices of today, but how long before
these same groundbreaking techniques makes users roll their eyes?
One of the best ways to stay ahead is to think ahead. Looking at how
user needs are evolving, we can confidently but not assuredly
predict what will be popular in the future.
Many people consider wearables as the next Wild West of interaction design. When it comes to wearable interaction, the design
will probably shift to more subtle tactile patterns that might be less
visual. Vibrations from a watch might be the preferred method of
notification, rather than a large image or sound on the screen.

Photo credit: http://cinderellapastmidnight.tumblr.com/

Across all mediums, interaction will likely become more television-like

as storytelling remains a core aspect of digital design.

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While you always want to ensure the design helps users accomplish
their goals, its very likely that the user choices will be presented as
part of a larger narrative on the site. Its not a tactic thats appropriate
for every site (e.g., ecommerce, banking), but it will definitely play a
more prominent role in the content flow for highly visual sites. Weve
seen this already with the emergence of video backgrounds as a common web design technique. As a visual medium, the line between
screen devices TVs, computers and phones will blur even more.
Interaction design, while primarily visual when we think about websites, will continue to combine visuals with environmental factors.
Vibrations, sounds and forced actions will become more common,
especially for user-controlled elements such as websites or apps
designed for mobile or wearable devices.
While a lot of future-planning is merely guesswork, the fundamentals
of our users will, more-or-less stay the same. Users will, predictably,
always enjoy interactivity and engagement the only thing that
changes is the avenues available to offer this to them.

Animations In Web UI Design:

The Past, Present, and Future

The history of animation goes back even farther than Mickey Mouse
and steamboats, but theyve entered a completely new era of interactivity thanks to HTML5, jQuery, and Javascript.
In the beginning, animations were treated more as an aesthetic luxury
(remember all those Flash splash pages?), and its now evolved into a
powerful tool for smoothing over user interactions. And yet, when we
look at the entire scope of past, present, and future, we see that the
fundamentals remain unchanged just with better implementation
thanks to better technology.
In this chapter, well explore the practical forms and functions of
web animation, where they came from, and where theyre headed.

Animations In Web UI Design: The Past, Present, and Future

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The Past: Roots in Traditional Animation

To understand animation, we must first return to the fundamentals
that existed well before the web.
The guidebook and animation bible comes from a name that screams
animation Disney. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two Disney
animators, published the Illusion of Life: Disney Animation in 1981,
outlining the guidelines for animation as we know it. That framework
is still the standard today.
The book outlines 12 principles that dictate how to take full advantage of the magic animation can offer. Our free ebook Interaction
Design Best Practices: Mastering Time, Responsiveness and Behavior
goes into further detail about how each of these concepts works and
provides usable examples of each, but for now well summarize the
main points:

1. Squash and stretch

Give objects a feeling of physical mass and responsiveness by allowing them to contract or stretch when moved. Decide the level
of realism you want, then apply the effect accordingly.

Photo credit: UXPin inspired by Pete McGrath

Animations In Web UI Design: The Past, Present, and Future

37

2. Anticipation
The appearance of the object suggests the action. In the below
screenshot from Jelly, you can see that the card is placed at an angle to hint that the content will drop once you swipe downwards.

Photo credit: jelly.co

3. Staging
Present the action you wish to illustrate as clearly as possible.
Apply colors, contrast, and composition to focus attention on the
primary object. In the below example from Apple iOS, you can
see how the background blurs to focus the user on the search bar.

Photo credit: Apple iOS

Animations In Web UI Design: The Past, Present, and Future

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4. Straight-Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose

Straight-ahead animation conveys dynamic and complex movement, while pose-to-pose covers more predictable movement. As
you can see in this illustration, the first image shows straight-ahead,
while the second shows pose-to-pose.

5. Follow-Through and Overlapping Action

Like squash and stretch, these two effects apply principles of physics to make your animation look more realistic. As you can see in
this illustration, the cape swings for a moment after landing as a
result of momentum (follow-through). Upon landing, his legs and
cape then move at different speeds (overlapping action).

6. Slow-In and Slow-Out

Objects should accelerate and decelerate just like they do in real
life. For example, a side-swiping gallery on a mobile device should
respond according to the speed of swiping.

7. Arc
Movement that follows an arc feels more natural, while movement
along straight lines feel mechanical.

Photo credit: UXPin inspired by Tom Waterhouse

Animations In Web UI Design: The Past, Present, and Future

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8. Secondary Action
Actions trigger multiple consequences. In the below example, you
can see how the body and tail moves (primary action) which triggers a different movement of the tail (secondary action). Like Rachel
Hinman suggests in her excellent article on mobile animations,
this means that your interface should reflect a similar reciprocity:
when a submenu opens, animate the previous one closing.

9. Timing
Timing is tricky and highly subjective since different speeds convey
different feels to the interaction. Lightning fast may work well for
lighthearted and fun apps, while a steadier pace may work better
for more complex apps. Regardless, youll want to make sure the
animation gets triggered within 0.1 seconds to make users feel in
control.

10. Exaggeration
As the name suggests, pushing an object beyond the realms of reality can create a feeling of playfulness. But you should use it in
moderation, otherwise your interface might just seem tacky. As
you can see in this animation, an exaggerated wobble and squashand-stretch makes the ball bounce look more fun.

11. Solid Drawing

Objects should reflect weight and balance just like their real-life
counterparts. In this example, you can see that the person on the
right better represents the mass and behavior of human limbs.

Animations In Web UI Design: The Past, Present, and Future

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12. Appeal
Characters and objects in animation should appear lively and
interesting. Follow the best practices of emotional design.
In the modern examples below, you can see the influence of traditional animation. While the cartoony style still holds a magic that
brings out a childlike wonder in us, and while its not appropriate
for every site, the principles are certainly applicable to animation
across the board.

Photo credit: http://www.denisechandler.com/

Photo credit: http://www.whitefrontier.ch/

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Photo credit: http://en.nebo-studio.com/

To learn more about the practical application of animation in web

design, we highly recommend designer Val Heads article on A List
Apart which examines animations from a UX perspective.

The Present: The Role of Animation in Web Design

As we mentioned earlier, the core functions of animation remain the
same, but their application becomes more sophisticated as technology advances. Lets take a look at the traditional roles animation fills,
and how thats accomplished today.

1. Communicating Function
When communicating function, an animation shows the user
how something works. Regardless of the controversy, hamburger
menus are a popular use of an animated user interface tool that
opens into a bigger element.

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Photo credits: http://www.brianhoffdesign.com/

Brian Hoff Design uses a circular hamburger menu to pop out an

oversized menu box from the right side of the web page. Hover
over the icon itself and it animates to expand and changes shape
to communicate how the hamburger menu will slide out additional options.

Photo credits: http://www.brianhoffdesign.com/

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On a side note, UXPin actually allows you to create animations

(like the sliding effect above) right in your own wireframes and
prototypes.

Simply click on any element, then click the lightning bolt icon and
select Add Advanced Animation. From there, youll enter an
animations editor that lets you create any complex animation
through a series of simple step-by-step menus.

2. Revealing Information
In addition to hinting at functions, animations are also an excellent tactic for revealing secondary information. Two common
techniques are revealing upon hover and revealing upon clicking.
In the hover technique, a user mouses over content to uncover
additional options. Due to the hidden default state of hover content, you only want to use this for secondary information (nothing

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thats completely vital to navigating your site). Also, remember

that hover wont work for mobile devices.
For example, on Dribbble, hovering over each card reveals a supplementary short description.

Photo credit: Dribbble

Alternatively, you can also use click-to-reveal if youre presenting

a wealth of secondary information and dont want users to accidentally trigger it with a simple hover. For example, AirBnBs map
presents tons of interface objects (per destination), so it makes
sense to reveal the fun facts with a click rather than hover. Imagine how difficult the interface would become if mousing around
destinations kept triggering little pop ups.

Photo credit: AirBnB

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3. Distraction
Aside from interface functionality, animations serve as a great distraction as well. A neat loading trick keeps users from noticing
that a site is not fully loaded.
Duncklefeld uses a great bit of CSS in the orange polygon which
fills with color and contracts/expands as the full-screen video
background loads. Once the site loads, the orange bar relocates to
the top-left as part of the company brand a very nice subtle touch.

Photo credits: http://www.dunckelfeld.de/en/

Photo credits: http://www.dunckelfeld.de/en/

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4. Storytelling
One of the most fun ways to use animation is in storytelling.
More websites are using animations that load automatically and
loop through a simple story. The entertainment value keeps a user
engaged with the site longer and provides a more lasting impression of the experience. For example, Humaan tells an interactive
story with bits of movable and clickable copy, moving parts and
tools that visually showcase their work.

Photo credit: http://humaan.com/about/

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As you scroll down the About page, fun facts about the agency
are also revealed as part of a larger grid. Without the clever animations here, it might feel overwhelming to suddenly see a large
block of text all at once.

Photo credit: http://humaan.com/about/

5. Pacing
All animation is a representation of change in time, as we outlined
in Interaction Design Best Practices.
Time is represented by pace, responsiveness and context. While
you can play around with different durations for animations, you
generally want to trigger the animation within 0.1 seconds from
the moment of user action to make the interface feel responsive.
For example, in this preview of a project, click on the Learn more
button.

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Photo credit: UXPin

Once youve scrolled to the bottom of the screen, the signup form
transitions into view within 300 ms. In this case, we didnt set a
delay on the scroll itself since thats directly triggered by the user
action, but we added additional time to the secondary transition
animation. This subtle touch prevents a jarring effect.
As a means to control time, animation in moderation sets are more
comfortable pace for the website experience.

The Future: Up-and-Coming Web Animation Trends

The types of animation we are seeing on websites today are just the
beginning. Animated techniques will continue to evolve as designers break out of using animation for only text, shapes and drawn
elements by incorporating it into design projects that use more still
photos as well.

1. Animation for traditional business:

Youll likely start seeing companies such as financial institutions,
colleges and other visually conservative businesses feature more

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animation on their websites. Its not surprising considering how

far animation has progressed in the past few years in shedding
its cartoonish qualities (except when intentional).

Photo credit: https://www.creditkarma.com/

Credit Karma, which provides individual credit reports and suggestions, uses simple animations for each report in the user dashboard.
Animated loading effects entertain the user as information is populated, hover animations tell users what specific blocks of information
mean and a scroll animation shows user progression on the site.

Photo credit: http://avenirclinic.com/

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LAvenir Dental Clinic uses animated effects for a website in a field

where they are seldom seen medicine with the neat light bulb
over the image in the bottom corner and an impressive navigation.
The animations and generous use of white space create a sophisticated and luxurious ambiance, which makes a lot of sense considering that the clinic highlights its specialty in cosmetic dentistry.

2. Animation as a sales tool

Animation can showcase products and provide neat details in the
user experience. Think of those 360-degree angles available from
some retailers.

Photo credit: https://www.fleetfeetsports.com/

Fleet Feet Sports zooms an item from the screen to the cart in the
top right with a single click. The animation is fun and provides an
instant gratification experience for the shopper because the speed
of the animation makes the purchase feel immediate.

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3. Flat Design 2.0

Flat design 2.0, first coined by designer Ryan Allen, is the next iteration of the vibrantly colored and grid-friendly design philosophy.
As we described in Flat Design Trends Present & Future, flat design
2.0 actually embraces design elements traditionally associated
with skeuomorphism (like gradients and textures).
The tradeoff for flat designs visual maturity, however, is familiarity.
As the name suggests, flat design strips away any flourishes so that
the interface prioritizes the content. Despite the generous color
on most flat-inspired sites, the experience can feel a bit mechanical and stiff. Luckily, animations complement the experience by
adding fluid feedback.
In fact, Googles Material Design (a philosophy related to flat design)
specifications include a section devoted to animation. As more designers embrace this design philosophy, animation will be essential
to injecting liveliness into an otherwise industrial layout.

Photo credit: http://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html#

Material Design describes animation as an authentic motion in

this way: Just as the shape of an object indicates how it might

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behave, watching an object move demonstrates whether its light

or heavy, flexible or rigid, small or large. In the world of material
design, motion describes spatial relationships, functionality, and
intention with beauty and fluidity.
Animation is a design technique that is not going anywhere any
time soon. Animations add life to any design, engage users in even
the most mundane tasks, and of course make you stand out from
above the crowd. When we consider web design based upon the
hierarchy of UX needs, animations are a core component to helping your site make the emotional leap from usable to desirable.

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10 Additional Free Resources and Tools

1. 12 Principles of Animation Video: Animator Ceno Lodigiani
illustrates the principles with a GIF representing each concept.
2. CSS3 Animation Cheat Sheet: This set of preset, plug-and-play
animations is ready-made with a set of style sheets you can add to
your website and apply the premade CSS classes to the elements
you want animated.
3. Web Animation API: This document provides a unified language
for animation and how to develop it. It outlines everything from
the basics of animation to providing an API.
4. Mythbusting: CSS Animations vs. JavaScript by CSS-Tricks:
Whats the best method for creating a website animation? This
article weighs the options.
5. Web Animation at Work by A List Apart: This article looks
at how animation can be used (and overused) in a variety of
projects and that animation is just a further expansion of other
design techniques.
6. 15 Animation Tutorials by UltraLinx: Whats nice about todays web animation is that almost anyone can do it. This guide
teaches you tricks of the trade.
7. Elastic SVG Elements: Learn to create SVG shape animations for
user interfaces.

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8. Top Tools to Create Animations With: This list of 15 resources

can help you find all the tools you need to create beautiful animations.
9. Transit: Create smooth CSS transitions and transformations.
10. Material Design Animation Examples Gallery: Take a look at
what designers are envisioning for material design and glean a
little inspiration from it.

9 Modern Uses for Animation

in Web UI Design

The uses and capabilities of animation in web design are changing

every day. With the quickening development of technology, animation is less of a visual luxury and more of a functional requirement
that users expect.
Before we delve into the specifics, lets talk about the two main ways
to think about animation:
In a tiny format where almost invisible interactions requires little
input or help from the user. These minor interactions and formats
include design elements such as spinners, loading bars, counters
or hover tools.

Photo credit: Dunckelfeld

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56

As a primary interaction tool essential to the function of the website. Primary functions include interacting with a call to action or
watching a video on the screen, while primary interactions refer
to scroll-activated animations (like parallax scroll), notifications
or bringing attention to content, providing user information or
direction for how to use a site.

Photo credit: Costa Coffee

With that distinction in mind, lets examine the 9 modern uses for
animation in web design, the best way to approach each, and some
current examples.

1. Galleries and slideshows

One of the most common uses for animation is commonly done
incorrectly.
The trick is in how fast (or slow) images load and how they move
on the screen. Motion within galleries and slideshows should feel

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realistic and function in a way that mimics flipping through a photo

album. This link between reality and digital reality establishes
a logical connection for users.
It is important to note, however, that you dont need to represent
the gallery in a photorealistic fashion (skeuomorphism) it just
needs to function realistically.

Photo credit: http://geomanist.com/

2. Form fields or calls to action

Animation can make forms easier to fill out and show users how
to properly complete the desired action, whether highlighting
field-by-field or marking fields as complete. Since forms are specifically designed for user interaction, animation fits in perfectly.

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Nerisson uses a simple color animation on the Works button to

entice users to click. The design combines the ghost button trend
and animation (also note the animated background) for a layered
interactive effect in a simple package.

Photo credit: http://www.nerisson.fr/

3. Navigation and menus

While hamburger animation might be the trendy option here, there
are plenty of other ways that animation complements navigation.
From sliding options to sticky nav bars, animated effects serve as
a valuable user map on a website.
Purple Rock Scissors uses simple animations throughout the site,
beginning with a nice loading effect, but the navigation might be
their best example. The bouncy hamburger icon expands to

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a full-page navigation menu with links featuring colored hover

states. Every element is designed to engage the user and capture
his or her attention; animation further explains how to use the
site and access content.

Photo credit: http://purplerockscissors.com/

4. Page motion
While this might be one of the trickiest types of animation to work
with, simple page motions are an effective way to make content
more stimulating
From AJAX loading options to simple shakes or cartoons, full-page
motion is certainly a captivating effect. Be warned: too many
loading items can bog down a site and cause it to render slowly,
so test and plan accordingly.

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Every movement of the mouse makes the image for Hunger Crunch
shift on the screen. The movements mirror user actions and while
they can be somewhat jarring, the animation creates distinct interest. This effect can be very difficult to replicate, but works well
for a lighthearted site like this one.

Photo credit: http://www.hungercrunch.com/

5. Backgrounds
Typically restricted to aesthetics, an animated background can
bring attention and focus to a site, creating a strong first impression to help attract new users.
The background for the Terna site is in constant motion. Users
can watch the on-screen urban bustle for an extended period of
time, which is what makes the animated background special it
demands to be looked at.

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Photo credit: http://trasmissione-energia.terna.it/

The trick to all animated effects is simplicity. Too many animated

effects feel jarring and distracting for users. The best animated
design techniques provide simple direction (or entertainment)
without requiring the user to think about the animation itself.

6. Loading
As we described in the free ebook Interaction Design Best Practices: Mastering the Intangibles, loading animations are some of
the most popular unseen elements on the web. We call these
unseen elements because no user actions are required to trigger
the animation.

Photo credit: http://www.dogstudio.be/

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Loading animations are entertaining and provide a sophisticated

feel for an otherwise simple website, making them a popular option
for designers using flat design or minimalist styles or for sites that
offer relatively simple content, such portfolios and one-page sites.
To make the best of a loading animation, keep it simple. Dont
overwhelm the effect with other elements such as sound or flashy
techniques. The animation should match the design outline of the
site if the site is minimal, the animation should be as well.

Photo credit: http://tomcolearchitect.com/

Tom Cole Architecture has a classic and beautiful feel to the site.
The logo text loads as a smooth and beautiful animation just once,
not on a loop that embodies the trend and mirrors the feel of the
brand. The site also includes a hamburger menu with a smooth,
animated navigation bar. The effects are simple and elegant.

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7. Scroll Animation
When it comes to designing one-page websites, scrolling animation is one of the most effective design tools. The effect allows a
website to go on for an unlimited number of pages (or scrolls)
in a single-page format. Whats especially nice about this style of
animation is that it works with and at the pace of the user.

Photo credit: http://fillet.com.br/

Photo credit: http://www.kaipoche.co/

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The animated scrolling method mimics the browsing aspect of

traditional print mediums, and accomplishes three main functions,
according to Interaction Design Best Practices:
Orients the user with how much content is on the site and where
they are in relation to the rest of it.
Opens up opportunities to browse and discover new content
that page-to-page layouts sometimes lack.
Smooths jarring transitions from page-to-page.
Scrolling is also a tool in activating on-screen elements. While this
can refer to the addition of content in a one-page environment,
it also applies to how other objects on the screen behave. For example, scrolling can activate elements within an infographic, tell
a story or play a game.

Photo credit: http://www.bizbrain.org/coffee/

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Where Does Coffee Come From? is a scroll-activated infographic

filled with other touches of animation.
Moreover, the clouds move across the screen in an auto-loading
animation while scrolling helps the hand on the left side of the
screen drop and plant the coffee bean. Subsequent pages are
equally entertaining with the mix of loading and scroll-based
animations. What makes them work together is subtlety and
purposefulness. Users barely notice the background animations
on their own, while scrolling engages the user by controlling the
pace of the story.

8. Hover
Animations can indicate change as well. As described in the free
e-book Web UI Patterns, the hover state is actually one of the most
popular subtle animation patterns to show change in an interface
object. A button or image may appear one way when the website
loads, but will look another way when the user interacts with it,
such as sliding the mouse over the element. This subtle change
helps users better understand how to use a website by revealing
related actions without needing to occupy additional space.
As you can see below, Alectia uses very simple animations as the
user hovers over any block, with a simple visual that encourages
a click on that content section. In this case, the animation only
improves the interaction design since no additional content is
revealed.

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Photo credit: http://www.alectia.com/en/

On our own website, the Design Library uses hover animations

as calls to action to download our free ebooks. The treatment
provides a nice aesthetic effect while saving space to preserve
the clean cards layout.

Source: UXPin Design Library

9. Animated photography
This last use is a glimpse into the future the use of animated
photography is still young, but is growing in popularity.
Designers can animate still images and combinations of images,
shapes and text to create a more immersive experience. As the flat

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design trend continues to morph with more touches of realism,

photo animation will increase in popularity.

Photo credit: http://lookbook.bolia.com/chilling/

Bolia uses simple still photographs with parallax scrolling animation to create an experience that introduces users to their furniture.
The mix of full-screen images, scroll effects and product placement
combine for a user experience that does not push a the product
on a user but makes him or her want the items in the images.

Photo credit: http://www.sa-studio.fr/

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The site for Suspended Animations mixes multiple animated effects,

photography and scrolling in a refreshingly modern yet classic
manner. As the company name suggests, each image is suspended
on the screen as animated effects are added; the user is introduced
to the staff and learns more about the company as a whole.

Conclusion
Animation is not just fun and games.
Despite its inherent connection to childish cartoon, in UX design its
an effective tool that serves several important roles. A good designer
recognizes that animation can be a powerful problem solver... but
that doesnt mean it cant still be fun at the same time.

Create advanced interactions & animations in UXPin (free trial)