What gives life to the product?
Which are the surprise moments?
Who takes care of the emotional aspect of the product?
How does it impact customer perception?

One and one only... MICRO INTERACTIONS :)

Micro-interactions are full of different emotions. The connection between product and nature happens because of this. Some effects like a ripple effect, breathing animation, sliding effect, hover and many more are inspired by the nature.

Creating the next level of experiences for the users, the main contribution is through micro-interactions. How an element behaves when users tap on it, how they divert the user vision onto awesome reactions and result occurring due to that.

How micro-interactions helps in enhancing the experience?

Micro-interactions are like cherry on the cake. Small gestures, colour conversions, subtle motions while operating the digital product helps in decreasing the cognitive load of the users. This also increases the efficiency of using the particular product and also increase the recall value. They also help in establishing the brand connection and directly engage the users. It is advisable to make your micro-interactions as intuitively and predictable as possible for the users where they don’t have to spend much time in thinking.

Is medium plays a role while deciding the micro-interactions?

Yes, medium plays a very important role in ideating depending on the task performed on the screen and where all to grab the attention of the users. For eg, while using the mobile phone micro interactions can travel from one corner of the screen to another as the user eye is able to notice in less span of time. But think of the kiosk as another medium where screen size is huge. Here as a designer we should keep the balance between functional and emotional aspect. Over and above it must draw the users in, be enjoyable for them to use. Micro-interactions should enhance engagement.

Are context and environment helps in deciding the micro-interactions?

Yes, these plays a very important role. It helps us to understand where the particular product is going to be used, who all will be our target users, when and where they will be going to use the medium, what will be the situations around. All these are the deciding factors for the right choice, frequency and scalability of micro-interactions. For eg, a company launch a Food kiosk at the airport which is after check-in, so how will they going to grab the attention of customers from far. So while conceptualizing the micro-interactions, it’s time to attract the user to check on a particular product is important.

How many micro-interactions are in the particular digital product?

Wherever one thinks of applying the micro-interaction, one of the important points is its starting point, how it going to react and what it is going to convey. Staggered Time in the particular screen matters the most. The connection between two screens and its smooth transitions build an enjoyable experience through micro-interactions. It should not distract the user or create visual noise. Remember to use the same micro-interactions in the product at more than two places to create a pattern and increase the user retention value. There can be WOW movements, for that there should be a balance between the subtle and enthusiastic micro-interactions.

Once the team agrees on the concept, the designer creates the interaction guide. This is similar to a style guide in that it outlines the position, rotation, scale, and timing of the elements. We can add every detail about the animations, which will help our partners understand it clearly.

Where all to introduce the micro-interactions?

Giving instructions, some visual rewards, instant feedbacks, counting, loadings, task accomplishments, seeking attention on some components and many more. Micro-interactions can be used anywhere but while implementing, designers should keep in mind the balance between a functional and emotional experience which is delivered by any digital product.

How interaction guide plays an important role in tracking the type of micro-interactions building across brands?

Once the team filters all the concepts, the designer should create the interaction guide flow keeping in mind the user experience screens where all interactions are going to be used and how we can reuse it further. The position, rotation, scale, and timing of the elements matters a lot. On all these factors scalability of micro-interactions matters a lot. We can add every detail about the animations, which will help the users to enjoy the seamless experience.

At what stage does one decide to explore the micro-interactions while designing digital products?

Once all the User Experiences screens, concepts and frameworks for the particular features are established, Interaction design kicks in. While defining the design system, one should start defining the places where all micro animations are used and the complexity of the motions required in each animation, mapping the common animations across some elements. For eg: Like one apply the same animation after clicking on the CTA buttons. It will help the users to recollect same feedback every time with consistency in time kept between action and reaction states.

Which tool is best for defining micro-interactions?

There are tons of tools in the market to create these simple transition effects and use them in your app. But based on how simple or complex you want them to be, there are different tools:

If you want to create more detailed Interactions with simple drag and drop options:

• Principle, Adobe XD, Origami Studio, Framer and Protopie.

If you want to create detailed interactions + Animations:

• After Effects

Macro-Impact With Micro-Interactions

• Instruct users during the mobile app journey.
• Seek their attention with important information.
• Promise to get a feeling of joy on their face.
• Increase customer loyalty and trust.
• Positive vibe which enhance user experience. Even when app not working properly, certain animation holds the users on the app itself through gamification.

Thank you :)