Do Modern Websites Have Too Many Animations? UX or Distraction?

[Botinquiered]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been browsing a lot of new websites lately, and I can’t help but notice how heavy the use of animations has become, from scrolling effects and hover transitions to entire backgrounds that move.

While these effects can make a website look sleek and modern, I sometimes feel they slow down performance or distract users from the main goal, reading content or converting.

So I wanted to ask the community:

Where’s the balance between good UX and visual appeal?
Would love to hear your opinions, examples of sites that do this well (or poorly), and any best practices for keeping animations smooth and meaningful.

 

[hipcat]

I've noticed that too and it slows down the page loading so it looks glitchy sometimes. A little bit of animation is ok, but too much just overwhelms the page experience and takes away from the main content.

 

[Jack Liwoski]

Look it depends upon the niche. Sometime those animations play a vital role in maintaining the brand reputation. But this doesn't mean you have to insert animation in every website. You mostly see those animation that are single paged or just have 4 to 5 pages.

But, when it comes to big project or sites where you have hundered or thousands of pages, then inserting animation in this kinda websites is not sensible. Coz it can make your sites speed VERY low. And that's why vast majority of big brands keep their site simple and minimalistic.

Short answer is: it depends upon the niche you're working in. If it's small project (5 to 15 pages), then you can add those cozy and cool animation. if it's not, then keeping your site simple is a senseible approach.

 

[fabwebstudio]

Great question—this is a common UX debate.

The balance: animations should support the user, not impress them. When they guide attention (micro-interactions, subtle hover states, progress feedback), they improve UX. When they delay content, hijack scrolling, or run constantly, they hurt conversions and accessibility.

Best practices

Use animations with a clear purpose (feedback, hierarchy, guidance)

Keep them short and subtle (150–300ms is usually enough)

Prefer CSS transforms/opacity for performance

Respect reduced-motion preferences

Never block reading or core actions

 

[geekteam]

Well, it really depends on site, but in most cases users prefer something more convenient. It's great for sure If you've hired a cool designer and now you have 10 cool animations on the front page etc. etc., but those visuals sometimes might cost you clients or just ppl who don't like when things are flashy, but useless.