Re: A really basic web animation question

[Richard Danca <rdanca -at- UIE -dot- COM>]

Sorry to get into this late, but I've been on vacation.

Really basic web animation answer: Don't do it!

In nearly all the web-site usability testing we've done (a lot!) animation
is one of the most consistent sources of user complaints.

Users were most frustrated by animations that they couldn't scroll off
the page. We saw at least one user cover the animation with her hand!

Another user totally missed the answer to the task we'd assigned him
when he masked the animated banner that would lead him to the
answer.

Other strictly ornamental graphics -- animated or static -- also seem
to bother users. Users will wait a long time for graphics that they
believe will be valuable to them but often get angry at graphics they
perceive as useless.

Given the limited amount of time/effort/money available for producing
a site, we're not sure that spending it on decorative graphics is worth
it, especially if the end result is unhappy users. Intranet users may
suffer in silence, but internet users may bail out and never return.

==================
Richard A. Danca                        User Interface Engineering
mailto:richard -dot- danca -at- uie -dot- com            800 Turnpike St., Suite 101
978-975-4343                            North Andover, MA 01845
978-975-5353 (fax)                      USA
http://www.uie.com
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