Web Design – Strategically Using Animation – Part 2

Animation also leads to longer download times. Animated GIFs, Flash, Dynamic HTML, Video, etc all have large file sizes that will take time to download. A common mistake for web designers is to load up their home page with as much animation as possible, in the hopes of making a statement as soon as the web user arrives. If the home page takes too long to load, it’s highly possible the web user will either leave the site immediately, never to return, or the web user will venture deeper into the website and bookmark another page, so that they never have to return to the home page again. 

There are many animation-related pitfalls that budding website designers come across. Many will design their web pages using large animations with monstrous file sizes, only to reduce the height and width when it comes time to code the page. This may visually reduce the size of the image that is presented to the web user, but it does nothing to reduce the actual file size and in some cases it distorts the animation. Distorted animations that take a long time to load will most certainly act as a deterrent to any web user. Proper software like Macromedia Fireworks should be used to reduce both the size and quality accordingly.  

If you have created large animations with massive file sizes that cannot be reduced in any way and you really want the web user to see them, then it’s a good idea to link the web user to the animation and provide them with a warning that the page may take a long time to load. If the web user is properly educated before making such a decision and they still proceed, the web user will patiently wait for the page to load and consume the animation completely.  

Finally, a lot of web designers use animation simply because they can. Web designers often see animation on other sites and either copy the code or try to replicate it, in some instances they might even try to go one step further by adding even more animation. Animation should not be used for the sake of it, but rather because it serves some direct purpose. Every single piece of animation used in web design should be based on the overall website strategy. Avoid irrelevant animations like scrolling text, clocks and anything that seems ‘cool’ at the time.