Uncategorized

What is a Toggle?

Toggle is a word used to describe the act of switching between multiple settings or programs. Often this is done with a mouse click on the toggle button. Similarly, the term toggle is also used to describe switching between two screens when video chatting with friends. In code, toggles are a way to enforce a mutually exclusive state and prevent users from accidentally changing the wrong thing.

Feature Toggles are a great way to support new agile processes by allowing teams to release software even while new features are still being developed and tested. This is a lot faster than the process of creating and testing software on separate code branches as would be done in more traditional waterfall development models.

For example, an e-commerce company might use a toggle to test two different suggestion algorithms to see which one performs best for their user base. They could simply add the toggle to their production configurator and split the user population into two cohorts. Then, they could make a data-driven decision on which algorithm to roll out for all users.

When using toggles, be sure to give them clear visual signifiers to help users understand their current state. This means using high contrast colors and including state descriptors next to the toggle if needed. Additionally, be mindful of cultural and societal implications of the toggle colors you choose. For instance, red for “on” can be a cognitively unsafe color for some users who associate it with stop signs and traffic lights.