# Micro interactions Human Guide

## What This Is For
A micro-interaction is a moment. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for conversion optimization: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Micro interactions agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for micro interactions.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Micro interactions guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Confirms an action** — makes the result of a click, tap, or input unmistakably clear
- **Rewards a milestone** — celebrates something the user worked toward
- **Reveals something** — unfolds information in a way that aids understanding
- **Adds texture** — makes an otherwise flat moment feel physical and real
- Delays the user (animation blocks the next action)
- Repeats too often (becomes noise, not signal)
- Exists only for decoration (no information is conveyed)
- **Checkmark animation** that draws on
- **Subtle confetti** for high-value milestones (first purchase, account created, goal achieved) — use sparingly, never for routine actions
- **Green fill transition** on a progress bar completing
- **Number count-up** when a stat reaches its final value
- **Notification Badge Bloom:** When a new notification arrives, briefly scale the badge up (1.2) and settle back to 1.0.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: What Makes a Good Micro-Interaction, Natural World as Reference, Patterns, Animated Icons, Toggle / Switch, Success / Completion, Reveal and Disclosure, Button Interaction Feedback (Stability Rule), Skeleton → Content Transition, Attracting Attention to Remote Changes.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Subtle confetti** for high-value milestones (first purchase, account created, goal achieved) — use sparingly, never for routine actions
- Buttons must never change their outer dimensions or shift their position in the layout when hovered, focused, or clicked.
- When content loads, do not flash it in. Fade it over the skeleton at 150–200ms. The skeleton dissolves, the content arrives.
- **Rule:** The animation should be non-looping. Once the eye is caught, the motion must stop to avoid becoming a permanent distraction.
- Interactive elements — especially buttons — must be layout-stable.
- **No Scaling:** Never use `transform: scale()` on hover or click for buttons. It causes visual vibrating and can feel "squishy" rather than premium.
- **No Shifting:** Never use `translate` or margins that change the element's position relative to its neighbors.
- **No blocking animations** — the user must be able to continue immediately; the animation runs alongside, not instead of, the result

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Micro interactions human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the dembrandt/dembrandt-skills skill entry for `micro-interactions`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Micro-Interactions

A micro-interaction is a moment. A checkbox that draws its checkmark. A heart that pulses when liked. A toggle that eases into place with a little overshoot. A confetti burst on completing a goal. These moments are small in duration — 200–600ms — but they communicate that the product was made by people who cared.

The reference is always the natural world. Nothing in nature snaps instantly. Everything has weight, momentum, and a moment of settling.

---

## What Makes a Good Micro-Interaction

A micro-interaction earns its place when it:

1. **Confirms an action** — makes the result of a click, tap, or input unmistakably clear
2. **Rewards a milestone** — celebrates something the user worked toward
3. **Reveals something** — unfolds information in a way that aids understanding
4. **Adds texture** — makes an otherwise flat moment feel physical and real

It fails when it:
- Delays the user (animation blocks the next action)
- Repeats too often (becomes noise, not signal)
- Exists only for decoration (no information is conveyed)

---

## Natural World as Reference

Physical objects have inertia, springiness, and weight. UI that borrows these properties feels intuitive because it matches expectations built over a lifetime.

| Natural behaviour | UI equivalent |
|---|---|
| A door swinging to rest | Toggle that overshoots slightly before settling |
| Water dripping | Staggered list item reveals |
| A rubber band snapping back | Pull-to-refresh bounce |
| A leaf falling | Gentle fade + drift downward on dismiss |
| A bell ringing | Icon that briefly oscillates (shakes) on trigger |
| A stamp pressing paper | Inner element shift (e.g. icon nudge) without shifting button bounds |

The motion should feel *inevitable* — as if the element has physical properties and cannot behave any other way.

---

## Patterns

### Animated Icons

Icons that animate on trigger communicate state change more vividly than a static swap.

**Checkmark draw-on:** A checkmark that draws itself from start to end point on completion.
```css
@keyframes check-draw {
  from { stroke-dashoffset: 20; }
  to   { stroke-dashoffset: 0; }
}
.checkmark path {
  stroke-dasharray: 20;
  animation: check-draw 300ms ease-out forwards;
}
```

**Heart pulse on like:** Scale up slightly then settle back.
```css
@keyframes heart-pulse {
  0%   { transform: scale(1); }
  40%  { transform: scale(1.25); }
  100% { transform: scale(1); }
}
```

**Hamburger → close morphing:** Lines animate to form an × when a menu opens.

**Bell shake on notification:** A brief oscillating rotation.

**Loading spinner:** Rotate with easing rather than linear — a spring rotation feels alive; linear feels mechanical.

### Toggle / Switch

A toggle should feel like a physical switch, not a state change.

```css
.toggle-thumb {