Animations are essential in web design as they create a feeling of motion and improve the user experience. Animations come in many forms, perhaps the most basic one is the clickable button that changes color when you hover across it with your cursor.
But also the use of animations and gif's has been on the rise in most communication forms but it is also becoming a strong website design trend. Your users might be so used to gif's now that they also expect to see them in all sorts of communication. However, it is wise to use animations sparingly as they can be distracting and unprofessional if they are designed and/or applied in the wrong way.
The use of animations can add a better look and feel to the website and might be the way to make you stand out against your competitors. You will need to work out guidelines around which type of animations would match your brand's goals and core values. Read on for more information on website animation
Know the basics of animation
You need to realize that the use of animations is a wide sphere, with varied shapes and forms of animations. Animations can be as little as a small movement of a button (call-to-action buttons) or large covering an entire background.
Animations are often used to boost user engagement. For instance, the user can get some features being revealed as he scrolls on the site. Also, the animations can be set up independent of the user's activities on the site to point to another significant component(s) on the site. As such, it is essential to understand the potentiality of animations to use them more appropriately.
Categories of animations
Micro-interactions
Micro interaction animations assist in making subtle interactions on the website, such as clicking on a button or an arrow. These animations should be quick and precise to improve user experience. The hover box effect is significant in creating micro-interaction animations on the website.
Transitions
Transition animations are used to change the overall behavior of a page. As such, they make the website navigation process smoother. This can be used for the navigation from one page to the other and from one feature to another. Hover over the links in our banner to get a simple example of a transition.
Delights
Delight animations give a decorative sense to your website layout. For instance, a parallax scrolling effect can be achieved through the use of delight animations. Delight animations add an extra interesting dimension to your website that improves the user experience. You'll find parallax effect examples in most of the hero images on our main pages.
Exercise moderation
Moderation in life is always a strength, never a weakness. And when it comes to the use of animations on your website, moderation is significant.
It is important to restrain from overloading your website with too many animations. An overdose in the use of animations can overburden the features of your site, thus inhibiting the user experience. Too many animations will distract the users from reaching their goal quickly. Moderating the use of animations will ensure that the users get a smooth experience while on the website and making sure that they are able to connect from one feature to another easily.
Perform One task at a time
It is essential to use a particular animation for one task only. Let a single animation to have a defined purpose. Ensure that a specific animation performs one task to maintain a healthy engagement with the users. For example, an animation can:
Guide the user behavior by showing them when to scroll or where to click.
Support your content by exposing other essential features, one at a time.
Break the monotonous static effect of your website with a bit of motion.
Define what you should and shouldn't animate
Not all website features or content work well with animations. So ensure that the animations used are compatible with the features that they accompany. To effectively use your animations in the right place, consider the following points:
Features that call for a certain action, for instance, the call-to-action buttons and images.
Features that point directions such as arrows.
Bars that trigger loading and scrolling.
Features for drawing attention, such as message icons, order buttons, and lightboxes.
You don't want to use animations when the animation negatively affects the quality of the website's features and its functions. For example, you cannot add animation to paragraph texts since it will make it hard to read a particular text. Also, you do not have to put animations on the areas where the users are required to put personal details such as comments as the animations will distract the users from finishing the tasks.
Ensure simplicity
To effectively use the animations in your website, ensure that they enhance the clarification and simplification of other content on your site. In this age of decreasing attention span by the users, it is essential to use animations to make the website content more intuitive to use. For instance, if you got a packaging company, you can explain the packing process using a few paragraphs or bullet points while adding a simplified animation that illustrates the process so the audience has a visual overview of how your process works.
Consider your audience and yourself
Your animations should be audience-centered. Consider your customers' aesthetic desires and needs, available software, website savviness, and their goals for visiting your website. For instance, if your audience likes monochromatic colors or you should opt for subtle animations without distracting colors.
But even if you know that your audience likes vivid colors you shouldn't go overboard as eventually it will distract them from what you want them to do.
We hope that this blog article will help you to create helpful animations that capture the full attention of your audience. Do not hesitate to reach out to our experts if you have any questions.