Button States: Communicate Interaction

Minor visual changes help users distinguish between 5 different button states: enabled, disabled, hovered, focused, pressed.


This content originally appeared on NN/g latest articles and announcements and was authored by Kelley Gordon

Summary: Minor visual changes help users distinguish between 5 different button states: enabled, disabled, hovered, focused, pressed.



Buttons are core user-interface elements that, when clicked or tapped, execute an action. When designed correctly, buttons set accurate user expectations and help them understand how to interact with the interface. In addition to clear button labels, effective signaling of button states is critical for a good design.

Button States Explained

You’ve probably experienced that annoying situation when you try to click on a button, but nothing happens. How do you know when you can click on a button versus when you can’t? Designers usually communicate that type of information through subtle visual cues that indicate to users the state of the button: whether it’s clickable or not, whether it has been pressed, whether it has been hovered on.

The most commonly used button states are:



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This content originally appeared on NN/g latest articles and announcements and was authored by Kelley Gordon


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