Micro-interactions
Design Processes
Small, contained moments of feedback: a toggle sliding, a heart filling, a button confirming.
In practice
Micro-interactions are the tiny responses an interface gives to a single action: a switch that slides, a field that shakes on error, a like that pulses. Each is trivial alone; together they are most of what makes a product feel alive and trustworthy. The craft is in restraint and timing: a micro-interaction should confirm, guide or delight in under a third of a second and then get out of the way.
Questions
What is Micro-interactions?
A micro-interaction is a brief, focused piece of interface behaviour triggered by a single user action, providing feedback or communicating a change of state.
Why do you use Micro-interactions?
They are how an interface acknowledges you. Without them a product feels dead; overdone, it feels needy.
How do you use/apply Micro-interactions?
Identify the trigger, decide what the feedback must communicate, design the shortest motion that does it, tune the easing, and respect reduced-motion preferences.
When do you use Micro-interactions?
At every point a person acts and needs to know it worked: toggles, submissions, saves, errors, loading.
Who uses Micro-interactions?
Interaction and motion designers, and the developers implementing them.
