A toggle is a piece of hardware, software or a computer program that allows the user to switch between two functions. It is also used in everyday technology to turn on and off features or modes. This simple user-interface element has become a staple of most web and mobile applications. When properly implemented, toggles are easy to understand, have clear labels, and deliver immediate results. However, when poorly implemented, they can be confusing and frustrating to users.
Unlike checkboxes or radio buttons, toggles don’t always offer a direct way for users to update their preferences or settings. It is therefore important for developers to provide a clear explanation of the current state and what the toggle will do when it is activated. This will prevent confusion and frustration when a toggle change is not immediately applied.
Another way that toggles can cause frustration is by requiring additional clicks or steps to apply a new state. For example, a toggle switch that requires a save or confirm button to apply a change is difficult for most users to use effectively because the user must wait until the system has finished processing the toggle change before they see the results of their actions. To avoid this problem, designers should consider replacing toggle switches with other types of form elements that require less processing power and will display the user’s changes immediately.
In software development, toggles can be very useful for implementing features that are still under construction but are ready to be released to users. By using a Canary Release or Champagne Brunch process with the help of toggles, you can expose these features to a small cohort of users before releasing them broadly. This helps your team test and learn how a feature performs before you make the final decision to release it broadly.
Toggles can also be used to perform multivariate testing or A/B tests. By assigning each user to a different cohort and sending them down one or the other codepath you can track and measure the effect of your changes. This is much quicker and simpler than traditional manual A/B testing and can be used on everything from the Call to Action wording of a button to the order of elements in a page.
While a Toggle can be very effective in many situations it is important to remember that they come with a cost. When a toggle is active it is consuming resources, bandwidth and disk space that could be used for other features. Savvy teams will monitor the number of active toggles and remove them from their codebase as soon as they are no longer required. This will help to keep your codebase clean and organized. Some teams will even put “expiration dates” on their toggles to ensure that they are removed in a timely manner.
