Think you need to be a Pro motion designer to create incredible UI animations, micro-interactions and website transitions? Think again! All you need to know are the basic principles of UI animation and motion design and the latest modern tools that make it easy for any designer to do it!

UI animations like these are eye-catching and impressive!

But more than that, adding the right animations can make for a more delightful, functional or informative user experience in our UI designs.

In this complete guide, I’ll walk you through the foundations of UI animation and micro-interaction design, show you practical examples and give you a run-down of all of the latest tools and techniques you need to know to make and implement the most incredible web and UI animations yourself!

2 Types of UI Animations

In web and UI design, there are two main types of animations:

Non-real time and Real time.

Non-realtime Animations

Non-realtime animations occur after an initial trigger, and we’re locked into watching that animation until it is complete. It has a set choreography that plays out from beginning to end.

Realtime Animations

Realtime animations(or interactive graphics) are when a user can directly interact with the animation, and it reacts to what they do. For example, this clever captcha screen that makes you catch flies before you can continue.

UI Animation Use Cases