Pan is a smooth, continuous gesture where the user moves their finger across the screen to shift the view or reposition content. It creates the feeling of directly steering the interface, as if physically sliding a surface beneath the glass. When executed well, pan makes navigation feel effortless and keeps the user immersed in the flow of movement.
The animation for pan should be highly responsive, with content following the finger precisely in real time. The motion can be linear for precision or slightly eased for a more natural, physical sensation. Adding small details like momentum on release or elastic edges when hitting boundaries can make the gesture feel more dynamic and engaging.
Pan is commonly used for scrolling large canvases, exploring maps, navigating image galleries, or adjusting camera angles in 3D views. It works best when the movement feels intuitive, allowing users to focus on exploring rather than controlling. The quality of the animation, how smoothly it tracks, how it responds to speed, and how it stops, determines how natural the interaction feels.
To polish the experience, visual cues such as parallax shifts, depth effects, or subtle shadows can help give a sense of space and direction. When the user reaches a limit, edge resistance or bounce-back animations provide clear feedback that the boundary has been reached. These touches reinforce the connection between the gesture and the on-screen content.
Variations include single-finger pan for standard navigation, multi-finger pan for larger or more precise control, and combined pan with pinch or rotate for advanced manipulation of content. By pairing accurate tracking with thoughtful motion design, pan gestures can make interfaces feel both fluid and responsive.
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