55Animation

Animation is the best way to make a project look expensive. And the best way to ruin it.

It works well when the animation answers an action: you press and the button responds, you hover and something lights up, something opens and fades in smoothly. Those make an interface feel alive and legible.

It works badly when the animation stands between a person and what they came for. Text that appears as you scroll. A list that loads with a delay for the effect. A splash screen before the home page.

The rule I settled on after a few rebuilds: never hide data behind an animation. A nice effect on a decorative element - fine. The same effect on a table of numbers - not fine, because the person came for the numbers, not the effect.

And remember people who feel physically unwell from movement. There's a system setting for reduced motion - ask the AI to respect it, it's one line.