A toggle is a button that enables users to update preferences, settings, and other types of information with the flip of a switch. Toggles provide a clear way to communicate a state change by using a well-known user interface icon, a color indicator that signals the current state, and visual cues that update based on the toggle’s current position.

When used correctly, toggles are an effective way to help users make changes quickly and easily. They are often preferred over checkboxes or radio buttons because they do not require additional clicks to use. When used poorly, toggles can cause users to misunderstand the state of a feature. It is important to ensure that the toggle is labelled properly and that there are sufficient visual indications of its current state. Additionally, it is important to avoid relying on colors alone to convey state. Toggles that rely solely on color can be cognitively challenging for users.

Toggle switches are an effective tool for A/B testing and determining which settings or features provide the best experience for your users. A large e-commerce company is testing different algorithmic approaches for suggesting products to their customers. They decide to add an experiment toggle to their configurator that splits users into two cohorts with a modulo when they load the page. When they have enough data to conclude which algorithm performs better, they will remove the toggle and deploy that algorithm for all users.

Toggles are also used to support agile development practices. Under more traditional waterfall development processes, new features would be implemented on a separate branch and then merged into trunk code before being released for testing and customer feedback. Toggle configurations allow dev teams to create a feature toggle that keeps new functionality hidden until they’re ready for release.

Whether you’re experimenting with different themes, offering users a choice of light and dark theme settings, or enabling them to toggle the display of specific article elements, toggles are a great way to give your users control over how content is displayed. Toggles can be used to enable features like article previews, subscription group containers, and hidden comments.

Toggles are a good choice for many situations, but they do not replace other user interface components that have been shown to be more effective at communicating complex concepts. For example, checkboxes and radio buttons clearly communicate their states to users compared with toggles that only have one of two states (on or off). Likewise, the proximity principle does not apply to toggles – it is still necessary to include the name of the setting or option being changed when using these UI elements.