Motion design

Motion Design

Duration: The 100/300/500 Rule

Timing matters more than easing. These durations feel right for most UI:

Duration	Use Case	Examples
100-150ms	Instant feedback	Button press, toggle, color change
200-300ms	State changes	Menu open, tooltip, hover states
300-500ms	Layout changes	Accordion, modal, drawer
500-800ms	Entrance animations	Page load, hero reveals

Exit animations are faster than entrances—use ~75% of enter duration.

Easing: Pick the Right Curve

Don't use ease. It's a compromise that's rarely optimal. Instead:

Curve	Use For	CSS
ease-out	Elements entering	cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1)
ease-in	Elements leaving	cubic-bezier(0.7, 0, 0.84, 0)
ease-in-out	State toggles (there → back)	cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1)

For micro-interactions, use exponential curves—they feel natural because they mimic real physics (friction, deceleration):

/* Quart out - smooth, refined (recommended default) */
--ease-out-quart: cubic-bezier(0.25, 1, 0.5, 1);

/* Quint out - slightly more dramatic */
--ease-out-quint: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);

/* Expo out - snappy, confident */
--ease-out-expo: cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1);

Avoid bounce and elastic curves. They were trendy in 2015 but now feel tacky and amateurish. Real objects don't bounce when they stop—they decelerate smoothly. Overshoot effects draw attention to the animation itself rather than the content.

The Only Two Properties You Should Animate

transform and opacity only—everything else causes layout recalculation. For height animations (accordions), use grid-template-rows: 0fr → 1fr instead of animating height directly.

Staggered Animations

Use CSS custom properties for cleaner stagger: animation-delay: calc(var(--i, 0) * 50ms) with style="--i: 0" on each item. Cap total stagger time—10 items at 50ms = 500ms total. For many items, reduce per-item delay or cap staggered count.

Reduced Motion

This is not optional. Vestibular disorders affect ~35% of adults over 40.

/* Define animations normally */
.card {
  animation: slide-up 500ms ease-out;
}

/* Provide alternative for reduced motion */
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .card {
    animation: fade-in 200ms ease-out;  /* Crossfade instead of motion */
  }
}

/* Or disable entirely */
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
  }
}

What to preserve: Functional animations like progress bars, loading spinners (slowed down), and focus indicators should still work—just without spatial movement.

Perceived Performance

Nobody cares how fast your site is—just how fast it feels. Perception can be as effective as actual performance.

The 80ms threshold: Our brains buffer sensory input for ~80ms to synchronize perception. Anything under 80ms feels instant and simultaneous. This is your target for micro-interactions.

Active vs passive time: Passive waiting (staring at a spinner) feels longer than active engagement. Strategies to shift the balance:

• Preemptive start: Begin transitions immediately while loading (iOS app zoom, skeleton UI). Users perceive work happening.
• Early completion: Show content progressively—don't wait for everything. Video buffering, progressive images, streaming HTML.
• Optimistic UI: Update the interface immediately, handle failures gracefully. Instagram likes work offline—the UI updates instantly, syncs later. Use for low-stakes actions; avoid for payments or destructive operations.

Easing affects perceived duration: Ease-in (accelerating toward completion) makes tasks feel shorter because the peak-end effect weights final moments heavily. Ease-out feels satisfying for entrances, but ease-in toward a task's end compresses perceived time.

Caution: Too-fast responses can decrease perceived value. Users may distrust instant results for complex operations (search, analysis). Sometimes a brief delay signals "real work" is happening.

Performance

Don't use will-change preemptively—only when animation is imminent (:hover, .animating). For scroll-triggered animations, use Intersection Observer instead of scroll events; unobserve after animating once. Create motion tokens for consistency (durations, easings, common transitions).

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Avoid: Animating everything (animation fatigue is real). Using >500ms for UI feedback. Ignoring prefers-reduced-motion. Using animation to hide slow loading.