Intro: Why animation for trezor.io/start?
trezor.io/start should welcome everyone — from complete newcomers to advanced self-custody users — and animation is the fastest way to translate complex security concepts into simple, memorable moments. Thoughtful motion reduces cognitive load, highlights the correct steps to take during setup, and reassures users that they're in control of their keys. The animations described here are purposely unique to Trezor’s values: transparent, open-source, and user-empowering.
Hero Sequence — Confidence in 8 seconds
The hero animation is a short, 8–10 second sequence that establishes the page promise: secure ownership. Start with a clean line-drawn Trezor device emerging from a flat plane, rotate gently to reveal a secure element icon glowing inside. Small icons representing wallet actions (send, receive, verify) orbit once, then settle into a minimal vault symbol. The motion uses slow cubic easing and a subtle "breath" loop that is paused by default for reduced-motion preferences. This instantly communicates hardware, isolation, and user agency.
Interactive Setup Walkthrough — Hands-on, step-by-step
The setup animation is an interactive storyboard broken into three micro-sessions: connect, initialize, secure. Each step uses a short looped animation combined with a micro-interaction that responds to user input (click/keyboard). For example, when the "Create PIN" step is shown, the animated device screen displays a numeric keypad; pressing keys visually depresses buttons on the device and shows the PIN being set in a protected way (obscured dots). The "Write seed" step displays mnemonic tiles that gently shuffle and land in order; users can mimic the motion by dragging tiles to reinforce memorization and understand the order dependency of seed words.
Recovery Phrase — A Cinematic, Respectful Illustration
Recovery seed education is crucial and must never be gamified. Use an animation that treats the recovery phrase like a fragile heirloom: tiles on a textured paper background slowly revealed one row at a time, each word appearing with a soft typewriter reveal. An accompanying visual metaphor shows a small plant growing from protected soil — emphasizing that secure backups grow resilience. A "Do not share" overlay fades in with a firm tone and a lock icon that animates closed when the user toggles "I understand" to continue.
Firmware Integrity — Show the Chain of Trust
One of Trezor’s core strengths is verifiable firmware. Convert the abstract “chain of trust” into a clear motion: a signed firmware package travels along a conveyor, passes through a verifier stamp (animated checkmark), and then lights the secure element inside the device. If the firmware is altered, the stamp briefly flashes red and the device screen displays a clear error animation. This dynamic visualization helps users understand why only official, verified firmware should be installed and what a verification failure looks like in practice.
Custody Choices — Visual Contrast, Not Fear
When explaining custody models, use side-by-side animated vignettes. Custodial services are represented by a bustling exchange iconography with multiple hands passing keys; self-custody shows a single person placing a glowing key into a personal device. Motion emphasizes control (smooth, stable) vs. motion of dependency (busy, fragmented). Rather than scaring users, the animation underscores the tradeoffs with calm visuals and actionable copy.
Microinteractions — Reassure Every Click
Short, delightful microanimations confirm user choices: toggles slide with a crisp bounce when enabling passphrase support; copy-to-clipboard emits a tiny check flyout; help icons pulse once to attract attention without looping indefinitely. These microinteractions are consistent across the site and built as modular Lottie components so the same motion language can be reused in the wallet UI and support pages.
Accessibility & Reduced Motion
Animations always include accessible fallbacks. Follow prefers-reduced-motion media queries to pause non-essential motion, and provide textual transcripts and still-frame snapshots for assistive technologies. All animated components include pause/play controls and keyboard focus states. Contrast and labeling are preserved so motion enhances comprehension rather than being the only channel of information.
Performance & Progressive Enhancement
Use vector animations (SVG + CSS, or Lottie JSON) with minimal runtime scripting so motion scales on low-power devices. Lazy-load heavier clips only when they enter the viewport and provide a static SVG fallback. Animations should be optimized to keep compute bound low — no oversized bitmaps, no long-running JS loops — and measured by performance budgets integrated into the build pipeline.
Localization & Cultural Fit
Motion metaphors adapt across languages: the plant metaphor for resilience, for example, should use culturally neutral plant life or be swapped for an equally resonant symbol in specific locales. Timing and text density are adjusted by locale to avoid rapid text reveals in languages that require longer reads. Each localized animation comes with translated voiceover or closed captions so nothing is lost.
Developer Toolkit — Reusable, Open Components
Ship animations as a small, documented toolkit: Lottie JSONs, accessible HTML wrappers, and CSS utility classes. Provide example integration code and a tiny animation manager that handles reduced-motion, lazy-load, and event-based playback. This keeps implementation consistent with Trezor’s open-source ethos and makes updates safer and more auditable.
Measurement & Iteration
Measure comprehension (micro-surveys after animated explainers), conversion (setup completion rates), and support load (reduction in setup-related tickets). Run small A/B tests on pacing and microinteraction affordances to tune motion so it increases confidence and reduces support friction.
Closing: Motion That Respects Security
Animations on trezor.io/start should do one thing above all: empower users. Motion that educates, reassures, and clarifies will turn a daunting security process into an approachable routine. By prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and performance — and by packaging motion as reusable, open artifacts — Trezor can offer a unique onboarding experience that aligns with its founding principles: secure by design, transparent by default.
Want this packaged as HTML with inline Lottie placeholders and accessible play/pause controls? That can be provided next — ready to drop into your front-end build.