In the field of Web Dev, I've heard plenty of blogs and people say that users tend to ignore (or be irritated by) content which is flashy/unnecessarily animated, adversely affecting usability, but are there any studies to support that statement?
+1
A:
I found a couple that seem to be along the lines you are looking for. Unfortunately if you are not associated with a research institute you will probably have to buy a subscription to the journal to get your hands on the papers. As a general note it doesn't seem to be a huge area of research, but those papers should at least give some keywords and references to guide guide further search.
Does animation in user interfaces improve decision making?
The Usability of Multimedia Interface Based on User's Mental Models
Evaluating the Effects of Animations on Mobile Application Learnability
Animations in user interface design
UPDATE:
This one might also be useful
Multiple Usability Evaluations of a Program Animation Tool
And on a somewhat unrelated note, but since you started talking about user interfaces and usability
Matti
2010-10-26 20:58:31
Thanks! These look like they come from good source at least; I'll see if I can bark up a Uni prof's tree and _read_ them :P +1
LeguRi
2010-10-26 21:05:34
Yeah, they seem to be ok. The PARC talk is free and at least the first PDF seems to be as well. Happy reading.
Matti
2010-10-26 21:12:18