Motion Design

Motion Design

Every animation needs a purpose. If you can't name what it communicates, don't ship it.

Implementation Workflow

Step 1 — Define the motion's job

Pick one: communicate spatial change, confirm a user action, direct attention, signal system status, or express brand personality. If you can't pick one, skip the animation.

Step 2 — Choose pattern and budget

Easing defaults: ease-out for entering, ease-in for leaving, cubic-bezier(0.32, 0.72, 0, 1) for elegant transitions, spring for direct manipulation.

Step 3 — Implement

CSS micro-interaction:

.button {
  transition: transform 150ms ease-out, box-shadow 150ms ease-out;
}
.button:hover { transform: translateY(-1px); box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,.15); }
.button:active { transform: translateY(0) scale(0.98); transition-duration: 75ms; }

CSS modal state transition:

.modal-content {
  transform: translateY(16px) scale(0.96); opacity: 0;
  transition: transform 250ms cubic-bezier(0.32, 0.72, 0, 1), opacity 200ms ease-out;
}
.modal-content.open { transform: translateY(0) scale(1); opacity: 1; }

CSS skeleton shimmer:

.skeleton {
  background: linear-gradient(90deg, var(--neutral-100) 25%, var(--neutral-200) 50%, var(--neutral-100) 75%);
  background-size: 200% 100%;
  animation: shimmer 1.5s ease-in-out infinite;
}
@keyframes shimmer { 0% { background-position: 200% 0 } 100% { background-position: -200% 0 } }

Framer Motion spring:

import { motion } from 'framer-motion';
<motion.div
  whileHover={{ y: -4, scale: 1.02 }}
  whileTap={{ scale: 0.98 }}
  transition={{ type: 'spring', stiffness: 400, damping: 25 }}
/>

Framer Motion exit animations:

import { AnimatePresence, motion } from 'framer-motion';
<AnimatePresence>
  {items.map(i => (
    <motion.div key={i.id}
      initial={{ opacity: 0, height: 0, y: -10 }}
      animate={{ opacity: 1, height: 'auto', y: 0 }}
      exit={{ opacity: 0, height: 0, y: 10 }}
      transition={{ duration: 0.25, ease: 'easeOut' }}
    />
  ))}
</AnimatePresence>

Step 4 — Verify prefers-reduced-motion

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    scroll-behavior: auto !important;
  }
}

Checkpoint: Toggle OS setting (macOS: System Settings → Accessibility → Display → Reduce motion). Reload page. All animations should disappear or become instantaneous. If anything still animates, find it and gate it.

Step 5 — Profile and constrain

Chrome DevTools → Performance panel → CPU: 4× slowdown → Record interaction → verify ≥ 55fps in the FPS strip. Test on real budget Android if shipping consumer mobile.

Constraints (enforce on every animation):

• Animate only transform and opacity. Animating width/top/margin triggers layout — switch to transform.
• will-change: transform only on actively animating elements; remove after.
• Total screen transition ≤ 500ms; individual element ≤ 350ms.
• requestAnimationFrame for JS-driven animation, never setInterval.

Pass: sustained ≥ 55fps under 4× throttle. Fail: below 55fps → switch property to transform, remove drop-shadow during animation, or shorten duration.

Deep Dive References

12 Principles → UI mapping with code in references/animation-principles.md. Easing library and spring tuning in references/easing-functions.md. Scroll-driven patterns (IntersectionObserver, scroll-timeline, parallax) in references/scroll-animations.md.

Next Steps

visual-design · design-tokens · frontend-components · accessibility-audit