Table of contents / Vol. 01
05 / Motion tool 01

Find the right curve.

Shape acceleration and deceleration with four control points. Preview the movement, then take the CSS into your interface.

600 ms transition. Reduced-motion preference keeps the preview still.

Read the curve

The horizontal axis is time; the vertical axis is progress. The curve starts at (0, 0) and ends at (1, 1). Its two middle control points determine how quickly the animated value accelerates and settles.

X control points stay between 0 and 1 so the function remains valid CSS. Y control points can move beyond that range to create overshoot. Use overshoot sparingly for functional controls and keep important content readable throughout the transition.

Apply it to a real interaction

Paste the output onto the element whose transform changes. A curve alone does not create movement: define an initial transform and a different transform for the active state. The tool previews a deliberately initiated transition rather than an endless loop.

Explore interactive UI motion