They aren’t purely for that, they also contribute to how an application feels to use in a creative manner.

I don't want my image editor to feel like something in a creative manner though.

I want it to rotate an image by 90° when I tap the button that does that.

See, this is exactly my point when I say that animations are no end in themselves. They serve a supporting role to better get the actual job done.

The actual job is not "feel" it is "do". For vibes, there are movies, Art, and AI hallucinations.

Of course, "feel" can greatly enhance the "do", but only if it takes the back seat, which is exactly what I just said.

__

The age-old debate "form follows function" vs "form over function", essentially.

One of them is correct tho, because in the real non-ZIRP world, correctness is defined as "achieves a tangible goal".

Which is not to say that stuff optimizing for other goals would be "incorrect" or "worthless", but it exists in a different category from "software". More like "software-adjacent Art".

The distinction being made based on "what is the primary goal we want to achieve here"

____

Related:

Also caused by ZIRP but differently, we have that problem that software trying to invoke feelings usually does so because it wants to sell you something or has any other style of goal that might not be aligned with yours.

So that adds yet another layer.

Pure utility cannot scam people into stuff they actually didn't want to do.