Bad Animations

I was viewing a rather prominent professional website (designed by professional web designers) just a few weeks ago. The site was not a problem, but they had an ad on the site that had an extremely fast flashing GIF animation. After about 10 seconds, I felt like my eyeballs would bounce right out of my head!

That animation, even though it had nothing to do with the content of the site, and even though it was so plainly an ad (which I was trying to ignore), had such an obnoxious frame rate that no matter where I looked on the page, that flashing annoyed me at a very deep level.

The primary problem with animations is the frame rate. Too fast, and it can make the ad completely ineffective for several reasons:

  1. Animations with text that are too fast will not be understood, because the frames will change too fast for anyone to be able to actually READ the message.

  2. Fast frame rates can be very annoying. They annoy at a very deep psychological level. They can even trigger seizures in epileptics (I kid you not). Annoying your potential customers is NEVER a good idea!

  3. If they are TOO obnoxious, it will make it nearly impossible for site visitors to even get through any other content you have on the site. Like a crying baby while you are trying to read a book - you simply cannot focus on the sentences or appreciate the content while this thing is flashing in your peripheral vision. It will actually drive people off your site.

Such problems are serious! They completely stop your graphic from achieving what you wanted it to achieve, and actually become a negative factor instead of a positive one.

  • Animations are good for getting attention, but if they are so distracting that people cannot even use the site, they are a harmful influence.
  • Animations are also just great for when you have a small space, and you want to put more than one message into the space. Slow down the frame rate though so it is comfortable to view, so that the visitor can actually GET the message.

For highly distracting attention getters, consider looping the animation only once or twice, then freeze it. Animation programs give you control over how fast the frames display, and how many times it loops. Loop it three, or maximum five times. Enough for visitors to see it if they missed it the first time, but then give them a rest and let them appreciate the rest of your site.

Use animations to invite, not to push. Your site visitors will appreciate you. And if you are creating animated banners for display on other sites, the owners of those sites will appreciate your consideration also.

Written by Laura Wheeler