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Animations can enhance the usability of an internet or cell interface by guiding navigation, indicating progress in duties, and offering suggestions in response to person actions. Animating UI elements specifically is a necessary—if delicate—approach to enhance the person expertise. As an example, when clicking a coronary heart icon makes it pulse and switch pink, or hovering over a button causes it to alter colour, the person receives instantaneous suggestions that cues them to transition to their subsequent process.
In my six years of UI/UX design, I’ve created a spread of animations, from animated microinteractions to complicated scrolling results. I’ve discovered that animating in Figma is useful as a result of it permits the grouping of components into elements that may be reused and modified throughout a number of tasks. I additionally depend on Figma’s “sensible animate” function, a simple instrument for automating transitions.
On this step-by-step tutorial, I present fellow designers tips on how to create three animated UI elements in Figma: a Favourite icon, a call-to-action (CTA) button, and a product card.
Animating a “Favourite” Icon
A Favourite icon permits customers to label an merchandise as essential or one thing they like, usually as a approach to put it aside for revisiting later. For instance, Gmail has a star icon customers can click on to mark their essential emails. This tutorial demonstrates tips on how to create an identical star in order that customers can click on or faucet to mark gadgets they like. The ensuing animation will likely be fairly easy—a delicate fade from white to blue—however it’s minor particulars like these that make a product extra partaking.
Begin by clicking Design file within the upper-right nook of the Figma house web page to open a brand new challenge.
Step 1: Create the Default Star
On the toolbar on the prime of the display (we’ll name this the prime toolbar), click on the form instrument—a sq. icon—on the left aspect to entry the drop-down menu. Choose the star from the menu after which click on to attract the form in your canvas. You need to now have a grey star in your canvas.
When you create the form, a panel the place you possibly can customise the factor’s angle, dimension, colour, and impact opens on the proper sidebar. Alter the settings: Click on the minus signal within the fill subject to take away the grey fill, and select the stroke colour you need for the form’s define (I set mine to blue for this tutorial). You can even alter the road’s thickness by altering the quantity subsequent to the hamburger icon (I set mine to 2).
You’ve created the star’s default look (or the way it seems to be earlier than a person clicks it).
Step 2: Flip the Star Right into a Part and Add a Variant
Click on on the star, after which click on Create part (the diamond icon) on the prime toolbar to show the star right into a part.
Subsequent, add a variant, or a duplicate of the part that you could modify. On the prime toolbar, click on the Add variant icon (a plus register a diamond).
You now have a part set with two variants of the star. Double-click the second variant (the underside star) to open the proper sidebar and alter the fill to match the stroke colour utilizing the matching instrument or by copying the colour code. The second variant is what the star will appear to be after the person clicks it.
Subsequent, let’s title the 2 variants. Choose the primary star. On the proper sidebar, verify that the Property 1 subject reads default. Then click on on the second star and alter the Property 1 subject to stuffed.
Step 3: Create the Transition Utilizing Figma’s Good Animate Characteristic
On the prime of the proper sidebar, change from design mode to prototype mode. Choose the default variant, after which hover your cursor over it till you see a small blue circle containing a plus signal on the sting of the variant.
Click on on the blue circle and drag it to the stuffed variant to create a connection. An arrow will seem between the 2 stars, and a panel with interplay settings will pop up.
Set the next properties within the pop-up settings:
- On click on: The primary setting within the pop-up is the set off for the animation. We wish the star to alter when the person clicks it, so be certain that On click on is chosen from the drop-down menu.
- Change to: Subsequent is the motion that’s triggered. On this case, the default star will Change to the stuffed star.
- Stuffed: Third is the vacation spot, or what the star will change to. The second variant ought to already be set because the vacation spot, however verify that it reads stuffed subsequent to Property 1.
- Good animate: The fourth setting is the animation. The choices are On the spot, Dissolved, and Good animate. Choose Good animate to automate a seamless transition.
- Ease out: Select the kind of transition because the star modifications from default to stuffed. Choose Ease out for the transition to begin shortly and finish slowly.
- Velocity: This ultimate setting is the pace of the transition in milliseconds. Set the pace to 200ms (0.2 seconds). This might sound quick, however the tempo aligns with person expectations. Nobody desires to sit down and watch prolonged or elaborate animations after every UI interplay.
The transition from default to stuffed is full—however what if the person desires to unfavorite an merchandise or unmark an e mail and revert the star to the default model?
To allow this motion, create one other transition, however this time from stuffed to default. Choose and hover over the stuffed variant after which click on and drag the blue circle with the plus signal to the default variant. Within the pop-up settings, maintain the identical properties because the final animation, besides change Property 1 to default.
Step 4: Preview the Animation
To preview the animation, you first must create a body. Begin by clicking the area instrument on the left aspect of the prime toolbar and selecting Body from the drop-down menu. Within the canvas, click on and drag to open the body, then copy and paste the default variant into the body.
On the proper aspect of the prime toolbar, click on the prototype view instrument to open a drop-down menu with the choices Current and Preview. To view the animation in a brand new window, choose Current; to view it in your present window select Preview. As soon as the preview opens, click on on the star to check that the animation modifications from default to stuffed and vice versa.
Here’s a preview of the animated icon:
A Name-to-Motion Button for Guiding Customers
Subsequent, we’ll construct on the method we simply realized to animate a CTA button. Right here once more, the animation will likely be delicate, however we’ll add one other variant to the equation with a purpose to create an oblong button with three states: default, hover, and pressed.
Step 1: Create the Default Button
Working in the identical design file that accommodates your Favourite icon, change again to design mode. Click on the form instrument within the prime toolbar and choose the rectangle. Click on and drag within the canvas to attract a rectangle. Within the proper sidebar, change the fill colour to your most well-liked colour.
Click on the textual content instrument on the prime toolbar, then add a textual content field contained in the rectangle. Sort “Learn extra” or your required textual content into the field. On the proper sidebar, alter the textual content’s dimension, font, and colour as desired. You can even customise your button—as an example, to offer the button rounded edges, alter the nook radius setting.
Step 2: Flip the Button Right into a Part and Add Two Variants
Use the choice instrument to pick out the rectangle and textual content field. Click on Create part within the prime toolbar to transform it right into a part. Subsequent, click on Add variant and a reproduction button will seem beneath the unique button.
Then, with the second variant chosen, click on on the purple plus signal that seems. A 3rd variant will seem beneath the second. You now have a part set with three variants.
Change the fill colour of the second and third variants. I like to recommend making the colours progressively darker. I modified my second variant to a darker blue and my third variant to black.
Earlier than we proceed, let’s title the three variants. Click on on the primary variant, and on the proper sidebar verify that the sector subsequent to Property 1 reads default. Choose the second variant and alter Property 1 to hovered. Lastly, choose the third variant and alter Property 1 to pressed.
Step 3: Create the Transition by Utilizing the Good Animate Characteristic
Now we create the transition from default to hovered. On the proper sidebar, change to prototype mode. Choose the default variant and hover your cursor over it till a blue circle with a plus signal seems. Drag the blue circle to the hovered variant to create a connection. An arrow will seem between the 2 variants, and a panel with interplay settings will pop up.
Set the next properties within the pop-up settings:
- Whereas hovering: We wish the button to alter colour when the person hovers over it, so change the set off to Whereas hovering within the first drop-down menu.
- Change to: The motion needs to be set to Change to.
- Hovered: The second variant ought to already be set because the vacation spot, however verify that it reads hovered subsequent to Property 1.
- Good animate: Choose Good animate from the animation choices to automate a seamless transition.
- Ease out: Set the transition to Ease out.
- Velocity: Set the pace of the transition to 200ms.
Repeat these steps for the third variant. Discover the plus signal on the hovered variant and drag it to the pressed variant. Set the set off to Whereas urgent and verify that Property 1 reads pressed. Hold the properties Good animate, Ease out, and 200ms.
Step 4: Preview the Animation
To preview the animation, create a body within the canvas. Copy the default variant into the body. Within the higher right-hand nook of the prime toolbar, click on on the prototype view instrument and select Preview to view the animation in the identical window or Current to view it in a brand new window. This may open a preview in an effort to verify that the button modifications from default to hovered to pressed.
Right here is the preview of the button animation:
A Product Card That Grabs Consideration
For the ultimate UI animation tutorial, we create and animate a product card. Playing cards are fashionable UI elements that show a snapshot of knowledge and hyperlink to a web page. The product card we create on this tutorial incorporates the Favourite and Learn Extra buttons to exhibit how elements could be reused throughout tasks. We additionally add a easy animation to the cardboard that helps entice clicks.
Step 1: Create the Default Card
Working in the identical design file that accommodates the 2 buttons, change again to design mode. Click on the form instrument positioned on the left aspect of the prime toolbar and choose the rectangle from the drop-down menu, then draw a rectangle in your canvas.
We use a picture for the background of this card. Click on the form instrument once more, choose Place picture/video from the menu, and add your required picture. Click on on the rectangle you drew, and the picture will seem inside the form.
Subsequent, add a textual content field and enter your required copy (for this instance, I wrote “UI Animation Course”). Alter the font, dimension, and placement of the textual content, copy the default variants of the Favourite and Learn Extra buttons we created within the earlier steps, and paste them onto the rectangle. In my card, I positioned the textual content field on the prime left, the Favourite icon on the prime proper, and the Learn Extra button on the backside proper.
As a mode alternative, I need a line to seem on the bottom-left nook when the person hovers over the cardboard. To create this, utilizing the form instrument, choose line and draw a brief horizontal line on the rectangle subsequent to the Learn Extra button. Customise the road utilizing the proper sidebar; I adjusted mine to a 5px width and took the layer opacity to 0% so the road wasn’t seen within the default card.
Step 2: Flip the Card Right into a Part and Add a Variant
Choose all components and convert them right into a part utilizing the Create part icon on the prime toolbar. Subsequent, click on Add variant. The second variant will seem beneath the primary. You now have a part set with two variants.
Double-click the second variant, after which click on Crop on the prime toolbar. Now you can transfer the picture contained in the rectangle so {that a} completely different portion of it seems within the card. You can even make the picture bigger or smaller. Both of these choices will create the phantasm of motion within the animation.
Click on on the horizontal line. On the proper sidebar, change its opacity to 100%, after which lengthen the road.
Title the second variant by choosing it and typing in hovered subsequent to Property 1 on the proper sidebar.
Step 3: Create the Transition Utilizing the Good Animate Characteristic
Within the proper sidebar, change to prototype mode. Choose the default variant, and hover the cursor over the cardboard till the blue circle with a plus signal seems. Drag the blue circle to the hovered variant to create a connection. An arrow will seem between the 2 variants, and a panel with interplay settings will pop up.
Set the next properties within the pop-up settings:
- Whereas hovering: We wish the cardboard to alter when the person hovers over it, so change the set off to Whereas hovering from the primary drop-down menu.
- Change to: The motion needs to be set to Change to.
- Hovered: The second variant ought to already be set because the vacation spot, however verify that it reads hovered subsequent to Property 1.
- Good animate: Choose Good animate from the animation choices to automate a seamless transition.
- Ease out: Set the transition to Ease out.
- Velocity: Since this can be a extra difficult animation with a number of elements at play, set it to a slower pace of 600 ms. This makes the transition smoother and offers the person extra time to course of the motion.
The Favourite icon and Learn Extra button will retain the animations you already created for them, so that you don’t want to regulate them additional at this step.
Step 4: Preview the Animation
To preview the animation, create a body within the canvas and duplicate the default variant into the body. Within the higher right-hand nook of the prime toolbar, click on on the prototype view instrument and choose Preview to view the animation in the identical window or Current to view it in a brand new window. This may open a preview so you possibly can verify that the cardboard works as supposed. Take a look at the animation by hovering over the cardboard to observe the road and background change. Click on on the button elements to see the preset animations.
Here’s a preview of the cardboard animation:
Elevate the Person Expertise With Figma Animation
As soon as a designer masters the animation of foundational UI elements, they’ll simply transfer on to extra complicated animations, akin to scroll-triggered animations and animated knowledge visualizations. Figma’s animation performance works finest for easy graphics and UI elements; for extra complicated animations, akin to movement graphics in a video or for 3D animations, I like to recommend utilizing Adobe’s After Results or Apple’s Movement.
The UI animations coated on this tutorial are an amazing place to start out bettering product usability. Though I’m skilled at creating extra intensive animations, I usually use these easy results in my work as a result of they’re efficient and environment friendly. Generally, elegant simplicity makes all of the distinction.
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