A toggle is a simple switch or button that allows you to select between two different states or options. It is commonly used in technology, computing, and programming to enable users to change settings by pressing a button. The term can also be used to describe a feature or function that allows you to select between different modes or views of a product.

A good example of a toggle can be seen in the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys on keyboards. When pressed once they activate the function, and when pressed again they disable it. Similarly, toggles can be used in software to provide functionality that is initially hidden and then activated when it is needed.

Using toggles can allow you to implement new features on your website or app without impacting the experience of existing customers. This can be a powerful technique for improving the customer experience by making changes that would not be possible or practical to implement under more traditional development models. For example, applying a toggle might allow you to add features such as stream and map views of an event without needing to have those capabilities available to all visitors.

While toggles can be useful, it is important to use them responsibly and consider their effects on user experience and conversion. In addition, a toggle should never be used in a way that is inconsistent with other design principles. For example, a toggle should not be used in place of a checkbox or radio button which are more accessible and generally easier to understand. Inconsistency will confuse users and could lead to frustration, confusion, or even abandonment of your product.

It is also important to manage your inventory of toggles to avoid having unused ones lying around in your code. Savvy teams will take a proactive approach to pruning idle toggles from their codebase by adding a task on the team backlog when a release with a toggle is first introduced, and by building a process into their feature flag management platform to automatically remove obsolete toggles as they are deprecated. Some teams will also put expiration dates on their toggles so that they are removed automatically at a set time after they are first deployed, to prevent technical debt.

The ability to toggle features in your application can also be a useful tool for conducting A/B or multivariate tests. By using a Toggle Router you can consistently send each user of your application down one of a number of code paths, and then track the results to identify which codepaths result in the best conversion rate.

However, it is essential to only use this facility for experiments and not to make permanent changes with this approach. Doing so could cause significant issues for other sections of your site or application, and it is generally best to stick with the more traditional atomic changes model when making permanent updates to your website or application.