When we use smartphone apps, smooth screen transitions are an expected part of the experience. But on the web, itās a different story. If developers donāt pay attention to page transitions, websites can feel jarring, with sudden screen changes every time you click, leaving users confused or, worse, making them leave the site.
An experience where the screen suddenly switches, like āteleportation,ā places a significant cognitive load on users. Ultimately, good UX should minimize this burden and create a natural flow. So, why are so many websites still overlooking this crucial aspect?
Now, mastering this will give you a competitive edge! By learning page transition techniques, youāll not only enhance your web development skills but also gain an edge in app development. Thanks to technologies like WebView, web front-end developers can easily start developing apps. If you can handle page transitions on the web, you can pretty much call yourself an app developer, right? š
Is your website still outdated?
As a web developer, Iāve always been dissatisfied with how page transitions are handled on websites. Especially when transitioning between pages, the abrupt change of screen often makes users lose track of where they are or what they just clicked. Iāve always thought that such sudden shifts severely degrade the user experience. While smooth transitions are standard in apps, the web often still feels like āteleportationā when changing pages.
To solve this, I initially tried simple CSS tricks to add smoother transitions. However, I quickly realized their limitations. While the transitions themselves became smoother, the issue of completely new screens appearing with every page load remained. I thought that to reduce usersā cognitive fatigue on the web, we needed transitions that not only flowed smoothly but also preserved the overall context.
So, I present to you, SSGOI!!
As I became more frustrated with page transitions, I naturally began thinking about solutions. Abrupt transitions are too common on the web. When the screen changes suddenly, users often find it hard to orient themselves, leading to a loss of focus. This experience made me realize the need for smoother, more intuitive transitions on the web as well.
Thatās when I decided to create SSGOI, a library designed to provide seamless, app-like page transitions for the web. SSGOI offers various animation effects and ensures users can clearly understand where theyāre navigating.
The biggest advantages of this library are:
- Various transition effects: With several built-in animation options, developers can easily implement smooth page transitions.
- Customizable transitions: Dynamic transitions based on runtime conditions allow for a tailored user experience.
- Browser compatibility: Designed to work consistently across different browsers, SSGOI leverages the latest browser APIs while still supporting smooth transitions in browsers with limitations.
Want to know the secret to smooth transitions like Pinterest?
Implementing Pinterest-like transitions with SSGOI wasnāt just about visual delight; it was about offering a more intuitive user experience. In image-centric layouts like Pinterest, itās crucial that when a user clicks on an image, the context is maintained while the screen transitions smoothly.
My goal was to have the clicked image smoothly enlarge to the center of the screen, while the rest of the elements naturally fade away. This ensures that users stay focused on their selected content, and the page transitions without the common ādisconnectā often felt on the web. It was also vital to ensure that during the imageās resizing, context is maintained, so users clearly understand where theyāre navigating.
However, implementing this transition was no easy task. I had to carefully calculate how the imageās size and position would change across various screen sizes during the transition. Especially when the URL actually changes between pages, there was a lot of mathematical work involved in maintaining a smooth transition.
In the end, I was able to overcome the complex calculations and deliver a seamless experience, as if using an app right on the web.
My vision for the future.
There are clear limitations in todayās web UX, especially with browser API restrictions and cross-browser compatibility. While smooth, intuitive page transitions are expected in apps, on the web, we still experience sudden screen changes and loss of context. This is because web browsers donāt yet provide all the necessary APIs to handle transitions smoothly. This makes it difficult for developers to easily implement a variety of page transition effects, and cross-browser compatibility adds to the challenge.
This is where libraries like SSGOI come in. SSGOI bridges the gap, helping to provide an app-like, smooth user experience even on the web. By maintaining context and handling transitions smoothly, it reduces the cognitive load on users during page navigation. This allows developers to offer a better user experience without writing complex code.
The future of web UX will only improve. With new browser APIs and standards emerging, implementing page transitions will become much easier. Furthermore, as technologies like AI become more integrated into the development process, complex tasks will be handled by AI, allowing developers to focus more on the creative aspects.
Want to implement smooth transitions on the web? Check out SSGOI!
Creating smooth, app-like transitions on the web is now a crucial task. Since user experience has a significant impact on the success of a website, itās important not to overlook even small details like page transitions.
The SSGOI library was designed to address these issues. With this library, you can implement smooth and natural page transitions without writing complex code. Built with cross-browser compatibility in mind, it ensures a consistent user experience across various environments.
If youāre interested, visit the SSGOI GitHub repository! š If you find it useful, donāt forget to leave a Star! ā Your feedback and participation will help improve web UX for everyone.
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