Transition Animations Support Orientation in Mobile Interfaces Without Increased User Effort

Some animations in mobile user interfaces aim at supporting user orientation by facilitating users to build a mental model of the UI's structure. Possible drawbacks are that animations are time-consuming and that complex and distracting animations may increase users' mental workload. These effects of orientation animations are investigated in an empirical study. Participants either used an animated or a non-animated version of a mobile movie recommender app. The results imply that animations can support users in building more accurate mental models of the app's structure and enhance gesture-based interaction. No additional costs in terms of time or mental workload were incurred when using the animations. Thus, lightweight orientation animations can have large potential benefits at little cost.