Client told me my hover effects were 'too aggressive' and I was mad until I saw it

I was proud of this big red button that shook and grew 50% on hover for a small business site. The client said it felt like the page was yelling at them, haha. After I toned it down to just a subtle color shift and a 2px shadow, she said it actually felt professional. Anyone else get feedback that made you realize you were overdoing the animations?

2 comments

2 Comments

max3884d ago

Haha "the page was yelling at them" is such a good way to put it though. I had a similar thing with a slider that was way too bouncy and the client said it made them feel carsick. It's weird because as devs we just want the thing to feel alive and fun, but people actually using the site just want it to work without being distracted. These days I start with the subtle version and only add more if the client asks for it. Saves a ton of back and forth.

the_eric4d ago

The thing nobody mentions is that sometimes the client is right about their own audience in ways we can't predict. I had a music site where I made everything super subtle and clean, and the label came back saying it felt "dead" and their fans actually wanted the chaotic flashy stuff. Turns out their demographic was teenagers who literally got bored if they weren't visually overwhelmed. So now I ask about the actual users first, not just the client's taste. Saved me from stripping down a gaming site last month that genuinely needed to feel loud and obnoxious to match the community vibe.