So in our last video, we went over what exactly is a micro interaction and the structure of a micro
interaction.
Now, I know that was kind of really in-depth, but it's super important for us to understand how we
can create really great micro interactions.
Making good micro interactions can really push our product over the edge.
So let's talk about why they are so important.
I think we kind of already have an understanding, but let's get into this.
So micro interactions don't usually get a lot of attention during like just a design process.
They seem like these little small details of a broader, much larger experience.
Those details have a big impact on the type of product that you are building.
Doesn't matter what type of product.
I mean, it just has a large impact and it gives your users a good impression of your product.
That's why, in a nutshell, why they're so important.
Now, in most cases, the difference between products that we really like and products that we don't
really like, I think it comes down to like just the Polish and quality of those micro interactions.
Like it's essential that we put a lot of focus on designing those small, small moments because they
really make up a lot of the app.
I know that sounds weird, but think about if Facebook didn't have those little animated reactions,
think about if we had, like, bad transitions between, like deleting cards and stuff like that and
things were happening instantaneously.
I mean, this goes way back to motion in general.
Now, it's so important that we create those really great small moments that make your app much easier
to use and much more delightful to use.
So the biggest thing is that they provide so much feedback to our users.
Now, think about it.
Your product should be intuitive no matter what.
I mean, it's no excuse.
There should be intuitive, but this is what we should always strive for.
So my interactions are something that you can achieve with this, like just providing feedback in general.
So the biggest thing to consider is like the user's journey when we're designing for, like, providing
good feedback.
Now, if a user is, you know, in the middle of, like a payment process or something like that, could
you imagine if they didn't get any feedback whatsoever, that would be pretty bad.
I mean, we need to look for places where the user might need that feedback and reassurance.
And like, this is especially a place that a user needs that think about, like sending and transferring
money, more complicated things like that.
And like like I said, if you didn't get that success or that confirmation, that would be pretty jarring
as an experience.
And I personally would be confused.
I would be a little concerned.
I would probably try and contact their customer service line.
I would really want to know where my money went and if the payment was successful.
So this is really important just in general for your product.
It cuts down a lot of costs when not having to talk to users because, you know, you're giving them
the right amount of feedback.
You're making your application much more intuitive.
They also help prevent errors.
Now, helping users deal with air states is a common practice, but it's much better when we kind of
prevent those kind of errors from happening in the first place.
So what I'm thinking here, like what happens if we kind of have, like, inline validation when we
think like this, we can create products that keep users in control of their own experience.
So when users signs up to like a new product or service, they often have to enter like a password or
username.
And generally, like once they hit submit, then they're hit with all the errors at once.
Now, that's bad UX.
What we should do is we can easily handle this with inline validation.
We talked about this within forms.
We talked about this.
It just in general.
That's just good.
You ask, so is this coming back again?
And this is a micro interaction in and of itself.
So having the inline validation while it's happening, instead of actually forcing the user to click
like submit or next, is really helpful.
But it's also helpful in the state of, like, thinking about like undo.
Sometimes you make mistakes and click things accidentally and, you know, your product should always
make it easier for users to kind of go back and undo that action that they did in the first place.
With micro interactions, they really help communicate that state within this kind of component over
here.
And it really helps to suggest that further action is kind of possible.
So let's think about what's happening here.
The user clicks that they click on the submit button and then they can undo with that line of text.
So mistakes happen all the time, and just incorporating something like that could really help.
Now let's think about seamless experiences.
Micro interaction can really make seamless interactions.
The experiences, the less after a user needs to invest in an interaction.
I mean, the better usability of the product.
Now, this is why we kind of strive for that seamless design that we always want.
We don't want users to put too much effort into doing the tasks that we want to do.
Micro interactions can really help here.
When I think about that, I think about like SWIP interactions.
We don't want you just to, like, tap on these little areas.
We want them to be able to just effortlessly slide throughout and make the app so easy to use.
Swiping allows users to easily move throughout the list instead of constantly tapping.
So like I said, it's so much more easier.
But also another example is just pulling to refresh.
This is an excellent example of a micro interaction that is triggered by the user.
I mentioned this before in the last video, but this also allows users to kind of pull down a list of
items to receive more information, whether that be like emails, more post images, you name it, anything.
It makes the experience of browsing much more smoother.
Can you imagine if we didn't have to refresh?
I couldn't really think of a design pattern that would really help you get off just like a refresh button.
But that would be kind of weird with a pull, a refresh.
You have to really do is just pull the screen down and everything just kind of happens on its own.
So making that much more easier to use.
The next is encouraging engagement now using emotion and design in general makes it possible to form
a better connection with your users.
That's just fact.
Animated feedback works really well here.
Like think about a horror animation when somebody like like something.
Or maybe like a confetti pop, what I have over here, when somebody does something like a task that
you want them to do, whether they, like, cleared their whole inbox, I know that's hard for some
people.
But also in this instance, it's something really big, like you have been chosen for the job that is
huge.
And we want to celebrate those little moments for people.
I mean, like I said, it could be something as simple as clearing your inbox to something much more
bigger and much more celebratory, like getting a job that you wanted.
So this really helps encourage engagement because it's really possible to achieve a better result when
a user achieves important goals or finished the tasks.
And these moments can really be reinforced with these micro interactions.
And by doing this, you're creating that sense of achievement and can make that little moment a bit
more special.
So that's what we're aiming for.
That's what I'm trying to get at, is you can use these little kind of micro interactions, these little
animations, to really bring users back into your product, keep them excited about your product, get
them just really loving your products overall.
Now, I'm not saying we should have confetti pops everywhere, but just choose accordingly.
And it's got to match your brand as well.
And that's the next thing you know, they can really help communicate the tone of your brand.
Big surprise.
We got Facebook reactions here again, but micro contractions should always have a purpose.
But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be able to capture your brand.
So the last slide I talked about encouraging engagement and confetti pops may not be for every single
product.
I mean, they may not be suitable for that, but we need to think about our brand and micro interactions
can really align with our brand and help even communicate it further.
So if your brand's tone is fun and colorful and joyful, it's OK to try and recreate that within your
micro interactions.
This only works if it matches your brand.
So think about these different tips about creating just better micro interactions and why they're so
important, because these kind of formed the basis of just how we make interactions in general and what
we're thinking about when we actually go and plan them out.
So in our next video, we're actually going to jump in and create some small micro interactions with
famous smart anime, and then we'll create our own animation with motion.