A toggle is a type of switch that allows you to control what state something is in or what function it performs. They’re commonly used in computer hardware, mobile phones and applications, and can be very useful for enabling or disabling features as the user sees fit.
The toggle is the primary mechanism by which users interact with an application, and as such it’s important to be mindful of how you use this simple yet powerful user-interface element. When a toggle is abused it can have a negative impact on the user’s experience. To avoid this, ensure that your toggles have clear and direct labels, and make sure that users are aware of what is actually being switched on or off.
Toggles are also a great tool for supporting agile development processes, as they can be used to hide new functionality that isn’t ready to be released. This can be particularly effective when working with responsive designs, as it will enable a more responsive experience for users, based on the device or screen size they are using.
Managing toggle configuration via static files can become cumbersome at a certain scale, and in most cases it’s best to move to a more dynamic approach, where the toggle is re-configured upon every release. This can be done with a variety of tools, from very basic methods like commenting code through to more sophisticated approaches which use preprocessor features, such as #ifdef. In most cases it’s also advisable to build out some kind of admin UI which allows product managers and system operators to view and modify the configuration of Feature Flags and their associated Toggle switches.
As with all UI elements it’s important to be consistent in your use of toggles. If possible, stick to a consistent visual theme, and be clear in how the toggles are being used by the end user. For example, it’s good practice to use a standard icon for an On toggle and a X for an Off toggle, and to only show the toggle in a state where the associated behavior is active.
Finally, when deploying your toggles always test with the full range of conditions which you expect to be met in production. This will usually include a test with the current production toggles flipped Off, plus a test with the toggles you plan to release flipped On. It’s often wise to also test a “fall back” configuration, which would be the case if you were to accidentally introduce a regression in future releases.
It’s a good idea to prune old Toggle switches as soon as they are no longer needed, to keep your inventory of idle toggles to a minimum. You can do this either by adding an explicit task to your release cycle, or by building it into your process for vetting whether toggles are the right way to solve a problem. Either way, the fewer old toggles you have hanging around, the less maintenance overhead falls on your team.
