Essential Silverlight 3

6. Animation

IN CHAPTER 5, “Input Events,” you learned how to use mouse and keyboard events to create interactive applications. Another important component to user interface design is animation. Some examples include a flashing cursor, a pulsating button, and a sliding menu of new controls. A flashing cursor in an edit box directs attention to the current insertion point more effectively than a static graphic. A pulsing button can help the user quickly find a critical action to invoke. A set of new controls sliding into view would direct attention to the new actions available in your application.

In addition to emphasizing components of a user interface, you can use animation to make your application more desirable to use. Good artistic design ...