Skip to content
Pattern by Knoveya

Skeleton Screens

Knoveya

Reserve plausible content structure while work loads without fabricating completion.

Design intent

Reserve plausible content structure while work loads without fabricating completion.

When to use

Use this pattern when its control or information directly helps the current task. Start with a real user scenario rather than adding an AI-themed affordance by default.

Example

Show stable rows while search results arrive.

This is an illustrative Knoveya scenario, not a claim about a particular shipped product.

Implementation checklist

  • Define the trigger, visible state, allowed action, and completion condition.
  • Loading has a timeout or recovery route and respects reduced motion.
  • Cover missing input, unavailable permissions, interrupted work, and partial results where they apply.
  • Keep keyboard focus, labels, and recovery behavior understandable without motion.

Trade-offs

Extra controls or explanations add reading and decision effort. Prefer the smallest presentation that exposes the relevant consequence. Do not display a guarantee, metric, or permission that the underlying system cannot enforce.

Verify

Reproduce the example with synthetic data and deliberately trigger its failure path. Loading has a timeout or recovery route and respects reduced motion.