Animations help new users. Motion shows what changed and makes a new interface easier to learn. But once the user knows the interface, the same animation just takes time on every action.
What if interfaces removed most of their animations after the user has learned them?
This idea has a name: progressive reduction. You start with a rich, guided interface and simplify it as the user gains experience. Games do this with tutorials: the first level explains everything, and later you just play.
Emil Kowalski made a related point recently: before choosing an easing or a duration, ask how often someone will see the animation. A command menu opened a hundred times a day shouldn’t animate at all, while onboarding can afford some delight. His axis is frequency, mine is experience - a frequent animation should never play, and a familiar one should stop taking your time.
But animations don’t only teach. They also show that something changed and where it went. Remove them all and a fast UI can feel broken: states jump around, and you’re not sure the app responded at all.
So maybe the end state isn’t zero animations, but faster ones. A 150ms fade instead of a 500ms slide. Enough to follow what happened, short enough to never wait.
I haven’t built this yet, but I keep thinking about a switch: not “reduce motion” for accessibility, but “I’ve learned this app, give me the fast version.”