Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Eleken.

Do you know how to improve users’ experience with appropriate animations?

Subtle animations make a content more personal and add empathy. Animation leads the users’ attention and allows noticing the results of the actions. It helps to make their experiences enjoyable and fun.

The simple design is always in trends. Relevant animation provides a user-friendly interface. It needs to be logical, that’s why you have to place animations correctly within your app. Make it fit for your audience as well.

Tab bar animation

Steven Hoober’s research emphasized that 49% of people use a one thumb to navigate the smartphones. Tab bar animation is used to make big screens more relevant. It is comfortable for users and refines the entire users’ experience.
Place all important elements at the foot of the screen. It allow users navigate through pages with one hand. For example, Facebook did valuable pieces of key functionality accessible with one tap. This helps to provide quick shifting between screens. Also, an experimental browser Opera Neon uses a vertical tab bar on the right side of the screen. This method simplifies switching between tabs as well.
The standard interface provides only a few choices. So, many companies are willing to design custom ones. Tab bar animation brings menu items unity.

Functional animation

It involves loader component, feedback and visual clues. Visual marks of progress bring users a feeling of control over the app. Functional animations lead the users to reach their goals and refine orientation. They maintain the interaction with details which develop usability and add positive emotions.

Feedback

Myroslava Verbytska, User Interface Designer at Eleken, says that interactive web product has to ensure communication with the user. Inform your customer what is going on.

Make animated response to user’s activity by increasing button or moving an image. This type of animation is called function change and enhances general user experience. The feedback presents whether an action has started. It shows the time that needed to complete and progress status.

Animation is a useful tool to reveal and solve problems. It keeps users updated about the status. Interface animation shows how long it will take as well. Waiting animations prevent becoming boring or feeling of frustration. When they start worrying, people keep clicking in order to speed up the process. So, when you show them what’s going on, you make their experience positive.

Show different parts with animations

Illustrate the content and visualize how elements connect with each other through animations. For example, if a button launches a pop-up menu, activate a menu from the button in order to present a user’s reaction. It shows the connection between a pop-up and a button.

List entries may be moved by drag & drop and the movement of the entries shows where to shift. Also, you may click on the field to move up the label and start writing.

Animations may serve to provide visual hints. It is especially important when an app has an unusual interface. Animations help to simplify navigation by showing where the things are hiding. They improve the selection process.

Animated visual hints may be applied to guide the user’s attention to a specific element. Animation allows the new user stay oriented.

A badge notification makes user’s experience interesting. A notification badge sends summary and may be numeric or a set of glyphs. For example, it may be user status or network connection status in a game, the number of unread messages and so on.

Interface

Animation helps users to notice element comes from or where it is available. Some element may also shift its position and layout by using the scrolling.

Create a natural-looking animation that simulates real movements. You need to be very attentive to notice how things work in real life to present them in animations.

Animated design brings a motivating feeling of live and dynamic flow. It promotes effective interactions, and touchable interfaces serve to set positive experience on-the-go.

Allow users moving things in ways that the human mind may easily take part in. It involves stretching, contraction and so on. Natural animation helps to achieve a certain level of realism.

Problem-solving characteristic of modern apps

Animation allows retaining users as it enables solving their problems quicker. However, you need to deeply think about its potential before creation animation. Used it meaningfully with a clear goal in mind. The greatest benefit of this is making users aware and confident.

Functional animations are very helpful for onboarding. Animation explains how to use different elements. For example, when you have limited display, add an action button. Button’s goal shifts according to the specific conditions. For instance, buttons “save” and “edit”. Functional animation explains the differences between that buttons. The same principle may be used to the switchable buttons “Play” and ”Stop”. Mac OS applies a functional animation to minimize a window. It relates the first state with the next state as well.

Animated design eliminates becoming screen a mess, and makes things organized. It allows improving interaction with different data blocks.

Simple design supports making first things first. Animated interface elements drawn somebody’s attention to the important stuff. Visual marking leads users and helps to find things in the layout.

Make your pages engaging by making movements dynamic. Original transitions breath life into the layout. For instance, moving circles capture user’s attention. Animations may add gamification to your app as well.

Branding

Animations create emotional engagement as well. The goal is to emphasize company’s benefits and maintain brand values. Also, unique style brings pleasant experience. For instance, Lo-Flo Records website uses branding animation to engage users to use apps more.

Conclusion

We need to engage the users with animations. Help them to find key things through organized design. Create a natural-looking animation. It brings an engaging feeling of live and dynamic flow. It promotes effective interactions, and touchable interfaces serve to set positive experience on-the-go.

We will share more insights with you in our next article about the animations. Stay with us and feel free to write comments.

Let’s make your product awesome together — work@eleken.co

How to encourage users with great animation was originally published in Prototyping: From UX to Front End on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to encourage users with great animation

Cool stuff, every week

More Articles