A toggle is a switch that allows you to switch between two states or options. They are commonly used in technology, computing and programming to provide users with a way to switch between different settings or modes. In everyday technology you can find toggles in things like power outlets, computers and phones that allow you to turn on or off WiFi and Bluetooth. Toggles are also used in the web to enable or disable features that are not needed at any given time such as cookies and website trackers.
With the advent of more agile development processes and software methodologies such as scrum and Kanban, feature toggles have become a popular way to support new features without interrupting a production release or creating a code branch that needs to be merged back into trunk code. This technique allows teams to work on new features without having to wait until those features are ready for full-on release and market testing. Instead they can be hidden behind a toggle and made available to a specific cohort of users until the team has enough data to determine how to proceed with that feature.
Savvy teams view their inventory of Feature Toggles as something that comes with a carrying cost, so they strive to keep that number low by being proactive about getting rid of toggles when they’re no longer needed. They do this by adding toggle removal tasks to their team’s backlog or by building a process into their management platform that flags unused toggles for removal. Some teams even go as far as to put expiration dates on their toggles, so that they will fail a test if the toggle is not removed by a set date.
Toggle labels should clearly identify the setting, view or content that the toggle controls. Ideally they should use clear visual cues such as movement and color to avoid confusion. Using toggle switches that look similar to sliders can help avoid this confusion since they are well understood by users. Toggle switches that are not accessible to people with visual disabilities can lead to frustration for users who cannot understand what they are interacting with and may feel like they are doing nothing. This is a common problem when toggle switches use the same colors (usually red and green) as color blindness indicators.
It’s important to test the toggle configuration that is expected to go live in production. That is, the toggles that will be flipped On must be tested and the fallback toggle configuration must also be tested. It’s also a good idea to test with all toggles flipped off, to ensure that existing or legacy behavior is not accidentally enabled by the addition of a toggle. This is especially relevant for toggles that have a significant impact on user experience.
