Staggered animation scheduling

The invention relates to a staggered animation scheduling. A timing function that distributes progressive start times of a series of target animations, or staggers animations, is disclosed. The timing function includes a set of selectable parameters that are used to create a customized staggering animation in the user interface. The set of selectable parameters include user interface geometries for each of the target animations. In a specific embodiment, the user interface definitions are created for target animation elements in an application frame (302), and the timing function applies an animation behavior to the target animation elements when guides the animation to run.