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In this first part of a two-part article, we will analyze the characteristics of effective toggle buttons. These characteristics serve as visual cues for helping users recognize which of the button’s options is actively switched on. We have conducted a comprehensive research study with real users to evaluate the effectiveness of visual cues from a variety of categories. As part of our experiment, we assessed how the perception of visual cues changes if the user has more time to observe them.
In the second part, we discuss our results: which cues work better than others, which are the best, which are the worst, and why. Certain findings challenge some of the traditional beliefs in toggle button design. Finally, we present a list of best practices for how to create optimal toggle buttons based on our discoveries.
The problem of how to design an effective toggle button that shows the selected option clearly is a long-term open question among UI/UX designers. In this article, we discuss a study that we’ve conducted to find the final answers to the following questions: