Toggle is a simple user-interface component that allows users to update settings, preferences, and other types of information. When implemented properly, toggle switches can improve usability and accessibility. Toggle switches should always be clearly marked and deliver immediate results. Good toggle labels should also make it clear what option the switch controls as well as its current state. The best labels are short and direct; they should have one or two words, ideally nouns. Additionally, toggles should use high-contrast colors to signal changes in state. Finally, designers should evaluate the societal and cultural implications of the color choices they make for toggles.
For example, an e-commerce company may want to run an experiment on their new configurator to see which of their suggestion algorithms gives customers the best experience. To do this, they create an experiment toggle that enables them to split users into cohorts when they load the configurator. The experiment toggle sets the A algorithm as the default, but if they find that more people complete their orders using the B algorithm, they can change the default to the B algorithm by removing the experiment toggle.
Another way to use toggles is to support dev teams as they write new features. Instead of writing these features on their own branch, as they would do in more traditional waterfall development models, they can generate a release toggle in their master codebase and write that feature on the trunk, leaving the release toggle active until it’s ready for QA testing or a full release.
