Where Great Animations Make All the Difference

Ben Johnson of Raizlabs writes,

Animations can make a world of difference in the user experience of a mobile app. Most of the time, we don’t even notice these animations in the same way that we rarely notice the environmental sound effects (by foley artists) that are added to most motion pictures. It is important when building mobile apps to remember that animations can be a powerful tool and can often do more for a user’s experience than the interfaces they inhabit. They Inform, Enable, Welcome, and Delight us. Below are a few examples (from iOS) of great animations that fit into these four categories.

It seems obvious right? The classic instance of where animations can make all the difference could be something as simple as loading a specific splash screen before the content loads so that apps, to the user, appear as if they’re loading quickly (less of a problem nowadays). Today, with gesture driven interfaces being the norm on mobile devices, animations can guide the user through the interface or help them find their way back home. In cases like Mail, animations verify that an action took place (yes — your email was deleted). Ben goes through several examples from lots of popular apps that get it right. It’s also good for pointing out some of the more recent design trends (such as how navigation is revealed in Facebook).