16
Should a toggle button show its current state or the state to which it will change?
(ux.stackexchange.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
16 points (94.4% liked)
UI/UX
337 readers
1 users here now
Community for discussion about things related to User Interface and User Experience.
Want to share UI design? Or ask for help deciding which one would be better? You found right place.
Icon base by Delapouite under CC BY 3.0 with modifications to add a gradient
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
This is one of those things that are so easy to over think :) the Play/Pause button (I THINK - NOW I AM NOT SURE) by convention shows the Desired state because you press Play to Start but in other cases I would say it's usually the otherway around. Ie Check Box has a tick/cross etc when it's True/On/Yes/etc. I think the Play/Pause is a convention that is the exception
My rule was generally Verbs show what the button will do, an adjective/description of a state will show what is currently happening.
I thought about it for a bit but Play/Pause is weird. In modern UIs the buttons follow this (⏸ appears when playing and ▶️ appears when paused) but thinking of video and audio hardware like VCRs and DVD players, you'd commonly see "▶️PLAY" and "⏸PAUSE" on the screen after pressing the button which is just feedback to show that the button press worked, but makes it more convoluted in my mind.