[nknight]

Animations? Did I miss where every startup is now a game company?

Animations are an unnecessary complexity that get in the way far more often than they enhance UX. If you're doing animation in a first-pass UI, you're doing it wrong.

[randomdata]

> If you're doing animation in a first-pass UI, you're doing it wrong.

I have to disagree. If you are slapping in some animation eye candy after the fact, you are doing it wrong.

Animation's purpose is to explain the environment to the user. An environment void of animation has to use other metaphors to explain the surroundings, leading to completely different designs. At that point it is difficult to start to incorporate animation with real purpose.

It is not necessarily bad to design an interface without animations. Some computer systems cannot easily support animations. However, animations can give you some design liberties if animations are a core feature of your design; to add them later is too late.