Building Complex Animations in Figma with Smart Animate

Introduction: Motion That Feels Like Magic

Animation adds clarity, emotion, and flow to digital interfaces—but too often, designers either overdo it or avoid it altogether. Figma’s Smart Animate feature strikes a perfect balance: it’s powerful enough for complex transitions, yet intuitive enough for everyday use.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Smart Animate to create smooth, component-based animations that bring your designs to life.

What Is Smart Animate?

Smart Animate is Figma’s built-in animation engine that compares matching layers between two frames and animates the difference in:

Position
Size
Rotation
Opacity
Fill, stroke, and corner radius

If two elements have the same name and structure across frames, Smart Animate will animate the transformation automatically.

Basic Requirements

To use Smart Animate:

Both frames must share identical layer names
Layers must exist in the same hierarchy
Layers must be compatible (e.g., rectangles → rectangles)

Simple Example: Hover Animation

Let’s animate a button hover state:

Create two frames:
- Frame 1: Button with blue background
- Frame 2: Same button, but with darker blue
In Prototype mode:
- Link Frame 1 → Frame 2
- Trigger: While Hovering
- Animation: Smart Animate
- Easing: Ease Out, Duration: 200ms

✅ Result: A smooth hover transition without code.

Component-Based Animation: The Smart Way to Scale

Instead of duplicating entire frames, use interactive components with Smart Animate:

Example: Accordion Menu

Create a component with two variants: Collapsed and Expanded
Animate the change in height, icon rotation, and text opacity
In Prototype mode, link the two variants using Smart Animate

🎯 Every time you use that accordion component in your UI, it behaves the same—with no extra work.

Using Easing Curves

Easing adds realism to animations. Figma offers:

Ease In – speeds up gradually
Ease Out – slows down at the end
Ease In and Out – smooth from start to finish
Linear – constant speed (rarely recommended)

Set easing in the interaction panel for each animation trigger.

Advanced Use Cases

🌀 Animated Page Transitions

Create a multi-screen prototype and animate shared elements like navbars or headers as they slide, fade, or grow between frames.

Maintain element names across screens
Use After Delay triggers for staged animations

🔁 Looping Animations

Figma doesn’t support native looping, but you can:

Chain After Delay → Navigate back interactions between two frames
Use this for loading states, spinners, or attention grabbers

🔄 Microinteractions

Build quick, subtle movements like:

Icon rotation on hover
Badge bounce when new content arrives
Toggle switches with smooth knob transitions

🎯 Use Variants + Smart Animate in one component to handle these cleanly.

Animation with Constraints

Smart Animate respects constraints and Auto Layout, which lets you:

Animate button resizing
Animate cards expanding to full-width
Slide drawers in and out responsively

This makes your motion design responsive by default.

Best Practices for Smart Animate

Tip	Why It Matters
Use consistent layer names	Enables smooth transitions
Keep transitions short (100–300ms)	Feels snappy and natural
Combine with Auto Layout	Makes animations responsive
Test in Presentation Mode	Preview motion in context
Don’t animate everything	Use motion with purpose, not decoration

Limitations to Keep in Mind

No timeline or keyframes (unlike After Effects)
Can’t animate text changes directly
Limited support for nested animations
No built-in sound or input feedback

But for most UI motion needs, Figma’s Smart Animate is more than enough.

Conclusion: Motion That Speaks Without Words

Smart Animate helps you build modern interfaces that feel alive. With just a few clicks, you can guide users, show state changes, and elevate your UI without touching code.

Start small—buttons, icons, toggles—and build toward richer interactions. With a strong foundation in components and variants, Smart Animate becomes an elegant tool, not a burden.

Next up: “Creating Scroll-Triggered Effects and Fixed Headers in Figma” — where animation meets layout to enhance UX.