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In the early days of web development, interactive websites were nonexistent. Static was the norm. However, interactivity became very popular with the rise of JavaScript in the early 2000s. As a developer, one of my favorite ways to add interactivity is through tooltips. Why? Because it allows me to show users helpful information without overwhelming them or ruining my website’s design.
Because I design my applications with user-centered design in mind, adding interactivity is the perfect form of enhancement. Visitors on interactive websites are invited to scroll, click on navigation items, view portfolio items, and participate in other ways. Not only are they personalized and playful, but they also give users control over their experience and help guide them toward the information they want with reduced complications.
In this post, I’ll share my favorite interactive websites that can inspire your own web design. Then, I’ll walk you through some actionable steps on how I make my own sites interactive.
Table of Contents
What is an interactive website?
An interactive website responds to user actions or actively guides their journey using engaging elements, such as animations, videos, and hover effects.
I particularly love how interactivity isn’t just about aesthetics — I use it to keep users engaged and make the experience feel frictionless and intentional. When done correctly, you can significantly enhance usability and make your site more memorable.
I’ve seen interactive websites that use subtle animations to make static content feel more dynamic. But the ones that really stand out are the ones that adapt based on user behavior — like changing what’s displayed depending on how someone clicks, scrolls, or hovers.
As I take you through some real-world examples, you’ll see many different ways to build interactivity into your website.
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Interactive Websites vs. Passive Websites
Now that I have explained to you what an interactive website is, let’s dive into what makes a website passive.
In the developer world, we often refer to passive websites as static sites. These sites don’t interact with users. They simply present the same fixed content to everyone, typically in a straightforward manner.
I usually choose passive websites when I just need to share information quickly, with no user input required and no need for dynamic content updates.
For example, imagine I’m building a travel website that shares tips for visiting a specific destination — like Nassau, Bahamas. Visitors would likely come to my site to:
- Find important pre-trip information like safety tips, must-pack items, and recommended excursions.
- Access destination-specific resources, including local customs, transportation options, or travel advisories.
In these situations, I don’t think I’d really need to create an engaging, interactive experience for your visitors. Instead, I just want to communicate these important details as quickly as possible with a very clean user interface design (especially because a lot of visitors will be looking to quickly access this information on their smartphones).
For example, look at the CDC Travelers’ Health website for adventure travel — it’s literally just a basic page with practical safety tips for adventurous travelers. I think this is a great example of a passive website that’s still effective at its goals.
To give you some comparison points to the passive website example above, I now want to transition to sharing some of my favorite interactive websites.
Best Interactive Websites
To build on the definition I gave you above, I think it’s useful to look at some real-world examples of interactive websites.
Here are 10 of my favorite interactive websites from around the web.
1. Spotify Wrapped
At the end of every fiscal year, I always receive a year-end review at work that recaps my KPIs and personal successes. It’s nice to be reminded of some of my best moments of the year. Well, that’s exactly what the Spotify Wrapped interactive experience feels like for users — but with their favorite music.
Spotify Wrapped personalizes each user’s listening habits and turns them into an animated journey that feels more like a social media story than a traditional web page. As users tap or click through slides, they uncover their top artists, genres, minutes listened, and even random stats like “audio aura” or “listening personality.”
What I like: I love how this experience makes data feel exciting and deeply personal. It also strengthens the emotional connection between the user and the Spotify brand — and users themselves. I know my husband and I are always excited to share our stats with each other and to relisten to our favorite songs from the year together.
2. Bragg
Bragg — short for Bragg Live Foods — is a health food company dedicated to helping individuals eat better, feel better, and enjoy a more healthful and vibrant life. Bragg takes this personalized approach to its website as well.
As users hover over different elements, they change colors or move on the page. For example, there’s an interactive timeline that invites users to learn about the major landmarks in the company’s history, starting with its founding date.
Then, there’s a product slider. If a user hovers over one of the products, more information appears thanks to the slide-in animation, including the product name, star rating, size availability, and price. The user can click on another available size, and the price will automatically change.
What I like: Bragg’s website highlights that interactive design isn’t just for portfolio websites and agencies — you can use it to enhance ecommerce shopping experiences, as well.
3. Beyonce
Beyonce.com immediately pulled me in with its cinematic visuals and smooth transitions. Instead of a regular website that showcases images and information, her site makes me feel as if I am traveling through each city of her concert tour.
Her site is full of moving visuals. When she’s in a new era, like Renaissance, the whole site reflects that theme, which is reflected right down to the typography, scroll effects, and video loops in the background. There’s no traditional menu, and honestly, I didn’t miss it. Navigating felt natural, like I was following her creative direction in real time.
What I like: I love how this site feels like an extension of Beyonce’s artistry. It’s bold, stylish, and immersive without being overcomplicated. My favorite feature is how she used the stars to organize visuals for each tour city. This helps prevent overcrowding and infinite scrolling. As someone who appreciates clean, engaging design, this site showed me how a personal brand can use interactivity to elevate the experience without saying much at all.
4. Bon Bouquet Cafe
When I visited the Bon Bouquet Café page on The Hungry Family, it honestly felt more like flipping through someone’s cozy photo journal than reading a typical restaurant review. As I scrolled, things moved gently, photos slid in, text faded in softly, and everything just felt really smooth and easy on the eyes. The warm colors and clean layout gave it this inviting, aesthetic vibe that totally matched the look of the café.
What I like: The page didn’t just tell me about the café, it made me feel like I was already there. I love how thoughtful the design is without being over the top. The interactivity made me want to visit the cafe and have a delicious treat.
5. Wonder Dynamics
Wonder Dynamics immediately gave me sci-fi movie trailer vibes in the best way possible. When I entered the site, I was met with a full-screen video, cinematic transitions, and light 3D motion that made everything feel alive.
Scrolling felt seamless, like I was being guided through the story of their product: how they’re using AI to help filmmakers easily insert CG characters into real-world footage. Instead of walls of text, the site uses dramatic visuals, clean type, and short bursts of information to keep things engaging without overwhelming.
What I like: I love how this site blends tech and storytelling in a way that actually feels exciting. It’s sleek, futuristic, and surprisingly easy to follow — even though they’re working with advanced AI. It made me curious, inspired, and very hyped about the future of video production.
6. Moooi
Exploring Moooi felt like stepping into a high-end art gallery with a twist of playful surrealism. The site used full-screen visuals, micro-interactions, and unexpected sound effects that made me feel like I was part of a personal design experience, not just browsing a furniture store.
Products appear almost like characters, introduced with motion and bold photography. I noticed little touches like hover effects that reveal detail shots, or parallax scrolls that give objects depth and drama. Even the transitions between pages felt intentional and smooth, like flipping through the pages of a beautifully designed magazine.
What I like: I love how this site doesn’t just show you furniture, it tells a visual story about lifestyle, creativity, and emotion. It made me slow down and actually enjoy browsing, which almost never happens on ecommerce sites. The whole experience felt luxurious without being stiff, which I really appreciated.
7. Gufram
When I opened Gufram’s site, I could tell right away it wasn’t a typical furniture store. The layout is super visual, and as I scrolled, each product took up the whole screen like it was the main event. Some of them zoom in or shift as you move, and hovering over items adds motion or extra details.
It made me want to keep exploring just to see what would happen next. I also like that the site gives users control. If you’re not into the scrolling effects, you can switch to a more standard grid view.
What I like: I like that the site feels fun and a little unexpected. It reflects the personality of their products without overloading me. Everything is clean, but it still has a sense of humor.
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8. BlackNegative
When I opened Blacknegative’s site, I wasn’t totally sure what I was looking at, but that’s what made me want to stay. It doesn’t use traditional navigation or layouts. Instead, you drag to explore, and the screen reacts to your movement like you’re flipping through a digital mood board. It felt more like an art experiment than a website.
Every section transitions with full-screen visuals, layered animations, and unexpected interactions that made me slow down and figure things out. It’s not trying to guide you. It wants you to explore on your own.
What I like: I like that this site doesn’t follow any rules. It forces you to engage with it differently, and that actually made me pay more attention. It feels more like a digital experience than a website, and I think that’s the point.
9. Bahama Bucks
The Bahama Buck’s site immediately gave me that fun, tropical energy that reminds me of summer vibes. The homepage has bright colors, playful animations, and interactive buttons that feel more like a game than a menu.
As I scrolled, I noticed hover effects and animated elements that kept things light and energetic, like the brand itself. One minor but cool feature I noticed is when you explore the menu, each flavor or item has a clean, swipeable card layout that’s mobile-friendly and easy to interact with. The whole site feels super polished without being too serious.
What I like: I like that this site matches the vibe of the brand — it’s colorful, upbeat, and easy to use. It made me want to scroll through every flavor just for fun. It’s a good example of how small interactive details can make a big difference in how a brand feels online.
10. Miss A
When I visited ShopMissA.com, I was surprised by how smooth and responsive everything felt, especially for a budget beauty site. Each product acts like its own mini-carousel: You can click through different angles and variations right from the main grid without opening a new page. That made it super easy to browse quickly and still get all the info I needed.
Hovering over items gives you a quick-add button, and the filters update instantly without refreshing the page. Everything is designed to keep you moving fast, which I really appreciated.
What I like: I like that this site is built for quick decisions. The product carousels, real-time filters, and clean layout made it easy to explore without getting stuck in a bunch of clicks. It’s a smart setup that makes shopping feel fast but still intentional.
How to Make Interactive Websites
Now that we’ve been inspired by some examples, I’ll share different elements you can add to your website to make it interactive.
1. Create a loading animation.
Loading animations are a simple but powerful way to keep users engaged while a page is loading. They immediately signal that something is happening, which builds trust and reduces the chance of users bouncing. Well-designed animations can also reflect your brand’s personality by turning wait times into a moment of delight.
I’ve seen the most effective ones include progress indicators or small cues about how long the load will take, which helps manage expectations and makes the wait feel shorter. When done thoughtfully, they show attention to user experience and make your site feel more polished and professional.
Below is a simple and effective example.
2. Make scrolling fun.
Scrolling patterns are one of my favorite techniques to incorporate to make browsing more fun for my users.
Here are some of the different scrolling patterns that I think could be worth including on your site:
- Horizontal scrolling. This scrolling pattern allows the user to scroll left and right to reveal content from the sides of the window or container — instead of up and down, which is a more traditional orientation.
- Infinite scroll. With this type of long scrolling, content continually loads once a user reaches the bottom of the page. Pinterest is one of — if not the — most well-known sites for using this scrolling pattern.
- Parallax scrolling. This scrolling pattern creates an illusion of depth. Basically, some elements are either fixed in place or set to scroll slower while other elements on the page scroll normally. This makes it look like some elements are moving in front of others, which simulates 3D movement.
Here’s an example of dynamic scrolling on a portfolio site:
3. Leverage hover animations.
From what I’ve seen in my own work, hover animations are a simple yet effective way to add interactivity to a website. When a user hovers over an element — like a button — it can shift color, scale, rotate, or pulse depending on how it’s styled. These faint movements give immediate feedback, reassuring visitors that the site is responsive and functioning as expected.
They also add a layer of delight that keeps users engaged. I often add animations using CSS to create these effects because it’s lightweight and doesn’t impact performance.
Here’s a great example where a hover animation makes the primary call-to-action feel more clickable and inviting.
4. Incorporate video.
Users are naturally more likely to engage with videos than plain text. They’ll watch, share, and often stay on the page longer. I’ve also seen video boost conversions, making it a win–win for both engagement and results.
Backed by data, 91% of marketers now use video as a core part of their strategy, which shows how powerful it can be when done right. To take it even further, adding sound like background audio or hover-triggered effects can heighten emotion and create a more sensory experience.
A standout example is Uniqlo’s site, which uses video to highlight its main product, denim jeans, pulling visitors into the brand in a way that static content simply can’t.
5. Add carousels.
A carousel — or carousel slider — is a slideshow for presenting a series of content. When done right, a carousel slider is a great way to organize serial content or multiple, separate pieces of content, like images.
In my experience, it can also boost user engagement and provide a better experience by allowing visitors to quickly and easily navigate this content, especially on mobile.
Here’s an example of a product carousel that encourages user interaction:
6. Add tooltips.
Tooltips are an easy way to make a page feel more interactive without cluttering the design. When adding these to my sites, I can give users extra context when they hover over an icon or button, which helps them understand what something does without having to click.
I’ve used them to keep dashboards clean by hiding labels and explanations until the user actually needs them. I typically like to use an “i” icon to signal to the user that helpful information lies under the icon. I’ve found that users quickly recognize the “i” icon because it reminds them of the information stands or directories you see at the mall.
Here’s an example of information that lives inside of an “i” icon tooltip:
7. Let users control something.
In my experience, giving users control, even in small ways, makes a site feel more interactive and personal.
When searching for apartments on major multifamily sites like Cortland or ZRS, you’ll notice they let users choose how they want to browse, either by floor plans or by viewing a map of the building. Personally, I find the map a bit overwhelming and prefer searching by floor plans, so I appreciated having the option. It’s a simple feature, but it made me feel more in control of my experience.
Allowing users to adjust the layout, filters, or even animations turns them from passive viewers into active participants. It makes the site feel more dynamic and tailored to their preferences.
Here is an example of users having control over their experience:
Source
8. Incorporate lazy loading.
In my experience, lazy loading is one of those behind-the-scenes features that makes a big impact on performance and interactivity. I’ve used it to load images or components only when they’re about to enter the viewport, which keeps the initial page load fast and smooth. It feels more responsive because users aren’t waiting for everything to load at once. They get what they need, when they need it.
For example, I once built a product listing page with hundreds of items, and lazy loading helped prevent it from crashing or lagging. As users scrolled, more content loaded seamlessly, which made the experience feel continuous and interactive. It’s a smart way to keep things fast without sacrificing quality.
9. Use dynamic forms.
If your website has forms, consider making them dynamic — it’s one of the easiest ways to keep users engaged. I’ve built forms that respond in real time by showing or hiding fields based on user input, providing instant validation, or suggesting options as they type. It starts to feel less like filling out paperwork and more like having a conversation.
Platforms like Typeform do this really well. Their forms are clean and interactive and guide users one question at a time, making the experience feel more personal and less overwhelming. I’ve noticed that when forms are responsive and easy to follow, users are much more likely to complete them. Small touches like progress bars or inline error messages go a long way in making the process less daunting.
Check out the insurance company Lemonade. I remember when they first hit the scene with renters’ insurance, and what instantly stood out to me was how user-friendly their form was.
Instead of feeling like I was filling out paperwork, it felt more like having a casual conversation. The questions flowed naturally, the interface was clean, and the whole process made getting a quote feel quick and actually kind of easy.
How will your website interact with visitors?
Reflecting on these 10 interactive websites, it’s clear how intentional design and smart front-end development can completely transform a user’s experience. As a front-end developer, I don’t just admire these sites, I study them, break them down, and apply what I learn to my own projects.
My hands-on experience building interfaces has taught me that interactivity isn’t just about cool effects; it’s about making digital experiences feel intuitive, engaging, personalized, and human. By combining creativity and functionality with practical techniques like hover states, tooltips, dynamic forms, and multimedia, I aim to build sites that are not only functional but memorable. These examples continue to inspire how I approach my work, and I hope they spark ideas for you, too.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
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