A toggle is a switch that allows users to select between two options or states. Toggles are commonly used in technology, computing, programming and communications to allow users to easily change the state of a feature.
In web development, toggles are often used to manage responsiveness. They allow developers to create layouts that can display different layouts based on screen size and device type. They also provide a simple way for users to navigate between different modes or views of a website.
When designing a toggle, it’s important to keep in mind that the control should have an intuitive label and clear visual indications of its current state. The label should describe what the control will do when the toggle is in the active position and should be specific and action oriented. A good rule of thumb is to follow the proximity principle, putting the toggle button in close proximity to its associated label. It’s also best to use a high-contrast color as this will help users differentiate between the active and inactive states of the toggle. It’s also important to consider societal and cultural differences when selecting a color for a toggle. Red, for example, may not be the most appropriate choice in many countries because it’s associated with stop signs and traffic signals.
Another important aspect of toggle design is to ensure that the switch is not hidden or obscured by surrounding elements. This is important as it can lead to confusion and misinterpretation of the control. It is also important to make sure that the toggle can be seen by users in all browsers and on all devices. In order to do this, developers should make sure that the toggle is always visible through the page’s background and is never hidden by other content or other navigation elements.
Using a toggle for A/B testing is an effective way to test new functionality with a subset of users before rolling it out to everyone. Rather than creating a separate branch of the codebase for a new feature, teams can instead create a release toggle in production that will re-configure the service instance with the new feature. This will enable the team to test how a new feature performs in the real world with a selected group of users before it is fully rolled out to the entire audience.
It is also important to test all of the possible toggle configurations, including any that the team intends to eventually release with a toggle flipped On. This will help prevent surprise regressions in the live release. To reduce the risk of accidentally releasing a bug, many teams also test the fallback configuration where all toggles are flipped Off. This helps them detect any bugs that would otherwise have been hard to find without the toggles being able to be re-configured.
