Motion
Micro-interactions are just tiny arguments
Every easing curve is making a claim about how something should feel. Most interfaces make that claim by accident.
Author
Jeet Bania
Published
July 9, 2026
Read time
4 min read
The claim
A button that snaps into its hover state is arguing "this is instant and free." A button that eases in with a little overshoot is arguing "this had weight, and now it's settled." Neither is wrong — but shipping the wrong one for the action is a small, constant tax on trust.
Nobody reads your easing curve. Everybody feels it.
Rules of thumb
- Reversible, low-stakes actions (hover, toggle) — fast, linear-ish, no overshoot
- Consequential actions (delete, submit) — a beat slower, so the pause reads as weight
- Anything appearing near a cursor — should feel summoned, not teleported
The goal isn't more motion. Half the fixes I make to a rushed interface are removing animation that was arguing something the product didn't mean to say.
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