Skeleton loaders with styled-components: How to improve UX on loading

No one likes staring at a blank screen while waiting for data to load. When we show nothing (or just a spinner), it creates uncertainty — users wonder if something’s broken. A better solution is to use skeleton loaders: visual placeholders that mimic the final layout while content is loading. Today I'll show you how to build simple and reusable skeleton loaders using styled-components. ✅ The Problem: Empty states while loading Imagine this: You’re building a list of cards that loads from an API. During loading, the page looks like this: [ Loading... ] But what users really want is to see structure — something like: [ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ] [ ] [ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ] [ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ] Skeleton loaders give a visual cue of what’s coming and make the app feel faster.

Apr 11, 2025 - 14:16

Skeleton loaders with styled-components: How to improve UX on loading

No one likes staring at a blank screen while waiting for data to load.

When we show nothing (or just a spinner), it creates uncertainty — users wonder if something’s broken. A better solution is to use skeleton loaders: visual placeholders that mimic the final layout while content is loading.

Today I'll show you how to build simple and reusable skeleton loaders using styled-components.

✅ The Problem: Empty states while loading

Imagine this:
You’re building a list of cards that loads from an API. During loading, the page looks like this:

[ Loading... ]

But what users really want is to see structure — something like:

[ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ]
[                  ]
[ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓  ]
[ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓        ]

Skeleton loaders give a visual cue of what’s coming and make the app feel faster.