I've been wearing many hats. Sometimes I have had to make a lot of decisions, cut a lot of corners, and learn many things. One such learning is that while modern UIs look simple, they are anything but.
Buttons are a good example of this. Many of us might picture buttons as straightforward elements - you click them, and something happens. Pretty simple, yeah?
Start With the States
At its core, a button is not just one thing but several:
- Idle: Here's where the button just exists, waiting for interaction.
- Hover: The cursor graces its presence, the button changes, or offers a subtle hint of "clickability".
- Active: Click down, and the button reacts - a visual nod to the physical press of a button. This feedback loop tells you something is happening.
- Disabled: When interaction isn't possible or would lead nowhere, the button changes again, often graying out or becoming transparent, signaling "not now".
- Focus: While navigating with a keyboard, this state allows the button to be pressed with the "Enter" key.
You might think this is a lot of states, but it's actually not that bad. Wait till you see the backend sync.
Enter Backend sync
Buttons aren't just about looks; they're the bridge between user intent and server action:
- Form Submission: It's the gateway for your data to venture from the users' screen to the server. But before that journey, there's validation, state checks, and a ton of logic to make sure everything's in order.
- State Management: The button needs to be in sync with what's happening behind the scenes. If something's not ready, it might be disabled; if conditions change, it might spring to life.
- API Calls: Each click can be a trigger for larger actions - fetching data, updating content, or changing the state of the application.
Adding Optimistic UI
Optimistic UI design takes user interaction to another level by anticipating the outcome of an action: When you click a "Like" button, it might instantly show as "Liked" before the server has confirmed the action, based on the assumption that the action will succeed. If it fails, the UI must gracefully handle rolling back to the previous state. This approach reduces perceived latency, enhancing UX but adding complexity in managing potential failures.
Oh and... Accessibility
Accessibility involves ensuring buttons work with assistive tech like screen readers. This includes using ARIA attributes to describe what the button does or its current state. Ensuring buttons are large enough for touch devices, have sufficient contrast, and provide feedback for all types of users, including those with motor or cognitive impairments.
Can't Forget About Performance
- Complex button interactions might slow down page load times if not optimized, especially if they involve heavy CSS or JS for animations or state changes.
- In Single Page Applications (SPAs), where the aim is to update parts of the page without full reloads, button interactions need to be swift and seamless.
Conclusion
While buttons might seem simple, they're anything but. So the next time someone says "just make it a button", you can nod wisely and say "it's not just a button" and send them to this link.