Here's an example of an appropriate use of animation:
Let's say you're designing a list of items (an item including a picture, a price and whatnot), and users can delete from or add to the vertical list.
Obviously, the list starts at the top. But let's say the user deletes the top element…what should happen? Should all the elements of the list simply be shifted?
Here, animating the shifting makes sense, to make it obvious that 1) the format remains the same, but 2) the items have shifted places.
The alternative is to leave the user confused: did I make a change? Is the list the same, or different?
