What is a Toggle?
Toggle is a word that describes a switch with two positions, on and off. It can also refer to the action of pressing a toggle switch, for example, as one might do when switching between video screens during a Skype call with two people at once. The word toggle has a long history in human language. In the 18th century it was used for pin passed through a hole or eye to fasten something, and in the 19th century it was a popular term for a rotary dial telephone. In web development, toggles are a simple user interface component that allows you to control the appearance of elements in your application.
Many product teams use feature toggles to enable or disable functionality in a controlled way before rolling it out broadly. Using a feature toggle can help you reduce the risk of new features not being well received by your users. This is often done as part of a continuous deployment process, and sometimes known as a Canary Release or Champagne Brunch release.
Another common use of toggles is to perform multivariate or A/B testing by changing the behavior of your product for different cohorts. This is a common technique for making data-driven optimizations to everything from the purchase flow of an ecommerce system to the Call To Action wording on a button.
When designing toggles, it’s important to remember that they don’t contain text on/off so you must rely on visual cues to communicate their state. Choose a consistent design style and use clear, descriptive labels to avoid ambiguity. Toggle switches are often used in responsive applications to adjust the appearance of navigation menus and sidebars based on screen size.