Animations on web pages

Animations on websites — How many animations on a website?

Animations on websites, despite their potential visual appeal, require an extremely thorough analysis before deciding on their implementation. Properly planned, they can significantly improve the conversion level, highlight the offer or make the site visually more attractive. If, on the other hand, we design animations in places and forms that do not have a clear purpose, we can distract the user from the most important content.

The principles of web usability include putting user experience first when interacting. He should in the shortest possible way get to the place he cares about and perform the actions we want. Any element that in some way will lengthen his path or hinder the achievement of the goal can significantly reduce the conversion and the chance of reaching his consciousness with a specific content.

Use of animation on websites — The most commonly used types of animation

Although there are many animations that you can create with a qualified designer, there are a few of the most popular when building websites. They have gained popularity due to their efficiency and aesthetics, which is extremely important especially in modern services.

Slider — It is most often found on the homepage of online stores and on image sites. It allows you to prominently display the latest promotional campaign, specific products whose sales we particularly care about or highlight a specific part of the offer. Slider is, from a technical point of view, a collection of graphic materials that alternately change using the mechanism chosen by the designer and developer.

Hero image — Animation visible both on the websites of companies from the sector of small and medium enterprises, as well as on the websites of the largest corporations. This is a single banner placed most often at the top of the page. Presented at one point along with other content e.g. text, it offers the user the possibility to interact e.g. via a button (Call to Action). Most often in the form of video or 3D animation.

Animated banner — most often this form of animation is associated with advertising creations that we can find in Google ads or in affiliate networks. However, very often we use animated banners on websites to draw the attention of the user to the message and encourage him to click and go to the subpage of the service. Often this form of animation is also used on social media profiles.

Animated film — If the company's offer is complicated and it could take too much time for the user to get acquainted with it, an animated film is an excellent solution. Most often used in this way, they allow the potential consumer to familiarize themselves with the whole process in a few minutes, when otherwise it could take up to several hours. You can list many types of animated videos starting from cartoon to advanced 3D animations ending.

Animated Micro Interactions — Traffic caused most often by the user himself, when clicking, hovering the mouse over some element of the page or simply the situation when the elements of the page appear or pass into each other in a visually attractive way: they enter, penetrate, appear smoothly on the computer screen.

Animation planning in interactive products — What to look for?

There is no doubt that the planning of animation and interaction in any interactive product requires the hand of an experienced designer. Only in this way can we be sure that the use of advanced animations on the website will help the company achieve even greater financial results and increase the conversion rate. However, there are at least a few basic rules that you should pay attention to when planning an animation.

Moderation — Remember that even in a situation where the user could have fun using the designed animation, in excess it can contribute to an increase in the loading time of the page. This, in turn, causes a potential consumer to lose the ability to use the site in a friendly way with less technically advanced hardware or a slower browser. The way out of similar situations is such a layout of animations that most users from the target group can freely use the solutions even with a slower Internet connection.

Ability to pause or hide animation — A mandatory element when planning a website. Especially important in situations where our animation contains intensely flickering graphic materials. We should keep in mind both the feelings of most users and those with epilepsy.

The main thing is the content — The offer, price list, blog posts or description of services are usually the most important elements that the user should reach without any problem. When designing any type of animation and interaction, we should first set the goal of exposing the specific content that we care about the most. Only familiarization with them will allow the potential client to consider the offer and decide if it will be attractive enough for him.

Animation Software — How to Create Extraordinary Visualizations

There are many programs for creating animations that are used by experienced designers. They are usually divided into paid and free. Software such as Synfig Studio, Blender, Google Web Designer and Vectorian Giotto can be used free of charge. Paid programs, which include Adobe Animate, Adobe After Effects, 3ds Max and Autodesk Softimage, are definitely more popular among professionals.

Interesting animated effects can be obtained by building pages using no-code platforms such as Webflow. On the Webflow website, it is worth checking out what possibilities this platform offers with the use of its native animation tools.

When it comes to animations, Webflow has a dedicated animation management panel that allows you to add, edit and control the animations of elements on the page. We can create different effects such as moving, appearing, disappearing, rotating, etc. In addition, Webflow supports state-based interactions, which allows you to create more advanced animations that respond to user interactions, such as when you hover or scroll the page.

For people who are not developers but want to get advanced animation effects on their websites, Webflow can be a great design tool with interactions.

It is worth mentioning here the animations created using the HTML5 web development language. HTML5 gave developers the opportunity to use the code in creating animated elements of websites and web applications. With the help of code we can animate photos, texts, vector objects or create the aforementioned micro interactions. The advantage of using HTML5 is the lower CPU load and the relatively low weight of such animation. HTML5 used to create advertising banners is supported by Google in its Google Adwords advertising system.

Although animations can be used to enhance the attractiveness and usability of websites, remember that in digital product design, "less is often more." This means that sometimes it is worth thinking carefully about the use of each animation.

Karol Połubiński

Head of Design w Cary One

When the desire to create a “woow effect” begins to take precedence over reason, it may turn out that an excess of animated watershakes unnecessarily weighs down both the page and the user's attention. Combining aesthetics with balanced minimalism, we have a good chance of achieving better results.

Want to create a website with animations similar to the ones you saw above? Let's talk about your needs and together we achieve the set goals.