A toggle (also called a switch or rocker) is a binary control used to select between two states or options, like on and off. It’s a common element found in user interfaces to update settings, preferences, or other types of information. Ideally, toggles should be easy to understand, consistent in their visual design, and deliver immediate results when activated. In order to achieve this, it is important to use direct labels and standard visual cues when designing toggles.
A toggle is often confused with other controls such as a button or a checkbox, so it’s important to make them stand out and use clear visual cues to avoid confusion. The best way to do this is to have a unique shape that clearly distinguishes it from other controls, and to utilize an unambiguous label. In addition, the switch should move when it is activated, not stay static, as this can confuse users and lead to inaccurate choices. It is also a good idea to use color and movement to signal state change, as this can be more effective than just relying on the switch’s shape.
Toggle should be used sparingly, as it can be difficult for users to keep track of which options are active and which ones are not. This is particularly true if the toggles are small, or are designed with a low contrast between their text and background colors. Using a high-contrast color for the toggle’s on position, and a low-contrast color for the off position can help to improve visibility. In addition, a simple border around the toggle can be helpful in signaling its current state. Finally, a solid-color background for the toggle is less distracting than a patterned or gradient one.
When selecting a color for your toggles, it’s important to think about both contrast and cultural implications. For example, red can be counterintuitive for users in some cultures who associate it with stop signs or traffic lights. Additionally, embossment can be a visually distinct option, but it can be confusing if used alone as the primary visual cue. Therefore, it should be combined with a strong secondary visual cue such as font-weight or size.
It is important to consider how you will manage the configuration of your toggles once your product reaches scale. Managing configuration via static files becomes cumbersome as the number of toggles increases, and maintaining consistency across multiple environments is challenging. To mitigate this issue many teams opt to migrate their toggle configuration into a centralized store, often an existing application DB, and build out an admin UI that allows developers, testers, and product managers to view and modify the feature flag configuration.
Regardless of the mechanism chosen it’s important to remember that toggle configuration is still fiddly and can significantly impact the cycle time for validating new features. Depending on the complexity of your feature flags, re-configuration may require restarting a process or even re-deploying an artifact into a testing environment.
