Websites have a common goal: to attract more visitors and keep them scrolling through the pages. One of the best ways to achieve that is by creating an interactive website!
Today, more and more professional web designers are integrating animated elements and user-centered navigation styles into their creations. Hover states like preloaders, animated cursors, and other dynamic transitions are some creative ways web designers leverage to create a highly engaging website.
An interactive web design allows site visitors more control of their experience! Not only are they playful and exciting. They also give users the freedom to interact with the design (Learn more about UI/UX).
That goes without saying that creating an interactive website is no easy task. On top of the intricate development process, designers also have to balance creativity and usability to ensure a fantastic browsing experience.
Start with this list. We've collated excellent examples of interactive and engaging web designs loaded with many creative elements while maintaining a user-friendly interface to inspire you!
Table of Contents
1. Fit Design
Standout Features:
- 3D interactive hover effects
- Parallax scrolling
- Color-changing content blocks
Award-winning web design agency Fit Design creates “high-end website concepts that turn heads,” and their website is a testament to that!
Almost every part of the website is loaded with interactive elements – enough to make visitors stay for a while and scroll further.
The designers leveraged parallax scrolling to give users more control over the design. With every scroll, the site elements’ animations and transitions come into play. No two animations are the same – each movement is fluid and dynamic, keeping the users engaged the whole time.
Hover states are also a charmer on this website. The interactive content blocks, from the 3D banner to the fun cursor icons, add an extra layer of browsing excitement.
They switch colors, too! As site visitors keep scrolling, the website’s sections turn light to dark, and the content blocks change from monochromatic to colorful.
2. Olivier Guy – FPV Drone Pilot by Antoine Giry
Standout Features:
- Zoom transition
- Light-to-dark theme
- Organized showreel library
At first glance, Olivier Guy’s website, designed by Antoine Giry, seems like a minimalist online portfolio. And that’s perfectly fine (Browse tips on creating stunning portfolio websites).
A full-page white screen greets the site visitors with nothing but the drone pilot’s name written in large bold font and a short bio on the side. Simple, concise, and straightforward!
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
Keep on scrolling, and you’ll discover a gallery of the expert’s works, background, and clientele. What used to be a white screen has been pushed aside to reveal a modern, sleek, and professional dark-themed webpage.
Here, users can explore more of the drone pilot’s expertise via a showreel gallery. Arranged in framed content blocks with stunning thumbnails, users must click on a square to play the reels.
Not to forget – users can seamlessly switch between these light and dark pages just by scrolling! The fade transition into the typography also adds to the website’s fluidity and sophistication.
3. Marlene Bruhat
Standout Features:
- Gradient-painted cursor
- Clean and contemporary site layout
- Light switch and hover effects
There are portfolio websites that are so visually satisfying that the design alone can speak for the work itself. Marlene Bruhat’s website is one of them! It’s guaranteed to make visitors stick around and entice potential collaborators.
Creating engaging cursors is one of their specialties, and the one on this website is excellent proof. We’re talking about a circular cursor that casts a neon light beam.
And the best part? Hovering over the screen is simply irresistible! It leaves a trail of colorful gradient waves as you move it around.
The bold and broad typography on a clean white background is a sight. Then, the outlined text gets filled as users hover over them is such a beautiful interactive feature! The grainy texture also adds an edgy and modern character to the website.
Last but not least – the light switch. The button on top lets users switch from a light to a dark theme. Either way, the neon cursor pops, and the large text remains readable!
4. Sundo by Zoomers
Standout Features:
- Varied scrolling movements
- Loading screen animation
- 3D product mode
Sundo advocates for enhanced sun protection through SMOTspot, the world’s first smart sun cream dispenser. On their website, designed by Zoomers, people can interact with a 3D-modeled illustration of the equipment.
We must say, it’s a highly informative website element. But from a design viewpoint, it’s also incredibly satisfying!
On the homepage, site visitors can jump to the SMOTspot simulator and explore the product’s features more. As users keep scrolling, the product shifts its perspective and displays nice looks from various angles. At the same time, product descriptions and benefits pop up with every scroll.
You see, scrolling navigation doesn’t have to be linear. It can serve many design purposes – as seen on this website!
A preloader is also integrated into the design as users jump from page to page. Displaying a loading animation is a great way to catch and retain the user’s interest!
5. Touch by Pathfinders
Standout Features:
- Scrollable entertainment galleries
- Fluid text transitions and animations
- Interactive hover effects
Brands offering digital products need to showcase that they, themselves, are tech savvies. Touch Smart Inflight Entertainment exemplifies that quality through its website, designed by Pathfinders.
So, what does Touch offer? It provides a seamless digital media workflow to select, manage, and analyze inflight content for airlines. You can get that same experience just by scrolling through their online portal!
Two sidebar panels show a gallery of entertainment options – movies, series, etc. As users scroll down, the gallery comes to life, almost like flicking through a curated selection of shows a la Netflix.
“Meet Touch,” a dedicated section showcasing a tablet integrated with the Touch interface, is an excellent simulation of the product. The animated text in the background is also a great interactive touch!
Highly engaging animations are also scattered throughout the website – from fluid text transitions to hover states. We particularly love the color-changing content blocks that switch from monochromatic to RBG frames!
6. Amirali Adib
Standout Features:
- Animated website illustrations
- CTA cursor icons
- Embedded company profile
Amirali’s digital portfolio shows how a simple yet sleek and interactive dark-themed website can elevate a brand.
The full-service digital agency used a streamlined website layout and injected animated content to show its digital strategy proficiency!
As mentioned, they used a dark theme for a more sophisticated and modern look – the perfect monochromatic background for the colorful visuals (Discover other colorful website designs). However, they also switched it up by creating a light-themed, full-screen navigation page. User-controlled animations are also integrated into the menu options and social media handles.
Geometric representations of the agency’s services and areas of specialization are also scattered throughout the website. Plus, they change their visual character when users hover over them, adding that extra artistic element.
At the bottom of the homepage, users can also view an embedded showreel video showcasing the agency’s profile and case studies.
While hovering over these elements, the cursor shifts its form from a simple circular icon to content-specific labels and CTAs that match the current view.
7. Option5
Standout Features:
- Smooth text transitions
- Informative hover states
- Interactive project gallery and visualizers
Option5 is a Belgian web development studio that masterfully showcases its craft through this highly interactive website.
Its animated elements aren’t just purely for entertainment and engagement purposes. They also serve as a learning instrument!
The hover states are the most significant vessels for UI/UX value. The agency’s collection of case studies looks like a regular image gallery in static mode. But as users hover over them, the images come to life, labeled with an animated cursor indicating the project name.
Scrolling further down, site visitors will find a tabular display of all the agency’s collaborations and clientele. Each column initially displays the client’s name, but extra details pop up every time the cursor lands on it.
But that’s not all; more images pop up as users get to the contact section. Here, the cursor displays large photos of the web designer/developer in action, trailing the user’s movement as they hover over the screen.
8. Equal by AST & Partners
Standout Features:
- 3D illustrations and icons
- User-controlled animations
- Bite-sized content with large typography
Equal is a digital agency that connects brands with influencers, celebrities, and content creators. A competitive industry if you ask us! But with their website designed by AST & Partners, they are sure to attract a flock of potential collaborators.
The secret? Eye-catching visuals and fun animations!
A mix of images, videos, icons, and illustrations are scattered throughout the website, showing just how creative and innovative the agency is. The various 3D symbols representing the brand and the dynamic and space-themed video backgrounds are amazing visual treats!
The stacked content blocks also add an extra design touch to the website. Scrolling is much more satisfying with the overlapping site elements, giving users more freedom to interact with the design.
With this much animation, it’s wise to keep the text short and sweet. Bold headers and concise subheaders offer an easier read for site visitors.
