I think this comes down to the issues of transition animations or badly implemented ones. Animated transitions can and do add value where there is a contextual

I think this comes down to the issues of transition animations or badly implemented ones. Animated transitions can and do add value where there is a contextual reason for them. You have animations on objects appearing, disappearing or moving, all are different. - Appearing objects: If you have just clicked or taped something you already know where it is coming from, a very quick animation is what you want at most. Get it on screen quickly. - Disappearing objects: Again get it off screen quickly, thats what I asked for. However, if for example its "just of the side" (like minimising a window to the Mac Dock) then an animation gives you contextual information of where it is now, so you can bring it back. - Moving objects: This is where there is the most value in my opinion. It gives you the context of where something has moved to. On iOS safari for example when you tap the bottom right show tabs button, the animation indicates where the previously open tab in in the list, but there isn't an animation for the other tabs appearing, you see them instantly. It's subtle but very effective. I think a good general rule of thumb is to get new stuff on screen quickly, if I clicked it I know where it's coming from so it really doesn't need a "slow" animation. Moving stuff, show me where it's moved to, thats a good place for an "contextual" animation.