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As a UX person I really don’t get why people try so hard to ruin a good experience by adding animations. This stuff is great for ego building but terrible in terms of providing any value to a user. Other than a short burst of dopamine you might get from that “oh neat!” feeling, I just don’t see the point.

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I think it's meant to be a subtle addition to overall feel when user lands on the page. I've not seen this happen in SaaS products, however, most product marketing/landing pages have a certain "uniqueness" to create a brand/product perception by employing such effects. One of the examples I can think of is Stripe, all the mix of graphics and animations on their product landing pages adds a bit to the overall feel. One other community platform that stands out from design point of view is IndieHackers. Ofcourse, HN has its own charm.

I think there's plenty of value in a good looking loading bar, or a button that provides feedback when interacted with etc.

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