Should my website have whizz bang animation?

It seems website animation is popping up everywhere these days and they are a bit like marmite for us web designers. As a website visitor we want to be entertained and as a customer we want the best looking website so a bit of animation seems a no brainer.

Most designers prefer things minimal and for good reason, the speed benefits and the ease of use far outweigh any animation in most cases as lots of clients forget that there is a large chunk of web users and silver surfers that struggle to use even the most basic navigation. So throw in a hidden top menu with a tiny icon that slides out in desktop mode and then all hell breaks loose.

We are coming to realise that us, the minimal style designer, are outnumbered by designers who like to make things animate all over the screen mainly driven by the customers who pay them to do it.

But there is a happy medium and we can always try and have a bit of the best of both worlds. Following the below guidelines will always steer us down the right path.

Everything in moderation

Less is more - it definitely is when it comes to website animation and things can actually stand out more for the visitor. If there is less that one animation on the page it becomes much more enticing and eye catching than if we have 10 things whizzing about and moving.

Don't mess with my nav!

Hey look at this animated navigation bar that is hidden and then slides out, doesn't it look cool? Well yes actually it does, well to us designers anyway. Throw that page to my dad and you can guarantee that his hand won't move for about 5 minutes while he examines the screen trying to work out why the navigation isn't there (well in the place he expects). What's the moral here? TEST TEST TEST, get a friend or someone not in the office to have a blast on the website in demo, you will sometimes be amazed at what can throw people and what you think is cool ends up with them thinking the opposite.

Visitors expect to find the navigation in the same place on every website and as it's the main method for getting around the website it's best to keep it simple.

On your marks…..Get set…Go

Website speed is still king and we always try and get the web page to load as fast as possible within reason. Depending on the project that might just be a few tweaks here and there or on a larger scale one that might be form the ground up every part being taken into consideration. All of our website are ran through Google PageSpeed Insights as part of our launch checklist to ensure it performs as best as possible.

Didn't you do that?

Hey look at this new hero area with the navigation inside it sliding around, doesn't it look cool. Well yes actually it does, well to us designers anyway. Throw that page to my dad and you can guarantee that his hand won't move for about 5 minutes while he examines the screen trying to work out why the navigation isn't there (well in the place he expects). What's the moral here? TEST TEST TEST, get a friend or someone not in the office to have a blast on the website in demo, you will sometimes be amazed at what can throw people and what you think is cool ends up with them thinking the opposite.

Conclusion

We always challenge our clients on the animation they want, explain the pit falls, potential issues on devices and then if they still want to do something we don't agree with we always try and meet a happy medium for them and their visitors.