Transitions are a powerful way to communicate a change in a user interface. They can be used in apps to help offload a lot of the cognitive work into the visual cortex: they help transport users between navigational contexts, explain changes in the arrangement of elements on a screen, and reinforce element hierarchy. They are…
No matter how well-designed your user interface may be, at some point or another, people using it are going to have to wait for something to load. The loading time could harm the overall experience. Making users wait too long for your app to load can make users impatient. If users get the feeling, they’ll…
Microcopy is the little bits of text that guide users through an experience. In apps and websites, microcopy includes things like button labels, hint text, and error messages. Often an afterthought that gets quickly added at the end of the development process, microcopy actually provides a really simple way to assist users as they interact with…
“The best products do two things well: features and details. Features are what draw people to your product; details are what keep them there” says Dan Saffer. The importance of details can’t be over-emphasized. Details make users love or hate an app or website. Microinteractions are those details. They might be easily overlooked in the…
“Delight” is a word that we’re hearing and using more often to describe pleasurable moments in our products. Delight is the magic that makes us fall in love with a product. It’s a core element to strive for when designing. When it comes to providing pleasure or delight in our websites and apps, animations contribute…
Just a decade ago, user interfaces that used animations were avoided, being most often associated with websites with pop-ups and flashing ads, but this has changed in the meantime. Today details of interaction design and animation make a fundamental difference on modern websites and in modern apps. This mindset shift is clearly expressed in the…
