If you are reading this blog it means you are one of those rare beings who actually understand the existence of action buttons and the role they play in UX design. 

Popularly known as the Call-to-Action (or CTA), buttons are a vital element in creating a positive and productive user experience. 

At their most basic, UX buttons are styled links that grab the users’ attention and help drive them in a particular direction. Buttons can link us to other pages or complete an action like submitting a form or making a purchase.

Buttons allow users to take actions, and make choices, with a single tap. Buttons communicate actions that users can take. They are typically placed throughout your website UI, and they should be easily findable and identifiable while clearly indicating the action they allow a user to complete. 

In most cases, there are 5 main types of UX buttons;

• Text, 
• Ghost, 
• Raised, 
• Toggle, and 
• Floating action buttons.

However, today, we will be discussing some of the best design practices for creating useful button designs to provide a great website experience to the users. 

So let’s dig in!

Do not make assumptions

One of the very first, and basic, things to follow when designing action buttons for your website is to ensure that the buttons look like buttons. 

Don’t assume that a user would understand what an actionable button on your web page is and what’s not. It is important to use appropriate visual signifiers (such as size, shape, color, shadow, etc.) to make the element look like a button.

Yes! You can be all creative to make custom button designs but, don’t stretch your creative juices beyond comprehensive limits. 

 

Take care of the placement

Another very crucial practice to follow with regards to the UX design is the placement of the action buttons on the webpage. 

It’s very simple! If users can’t find a button, they won’t know that it exists and you won’t achieve your conversion goals. Don’t make users hunt for buttons.

 

Differentiate primary from secondary 

It is highly likely that you may have several buttons placed all over your website’s page. However, out of all those, there would be one which holds the most important action task. That is your primary action button. 

In crux, a primary action button is one that allows the user to accomplish their most common or most important goal; such as, “Download Now”, “Submit”, “Book Now”, etc. 

Secondary action buttons could be the ones that ask for lesser important actions; such as, going to the next page by clicking on the “Next” button, or canceling a process by hitting the “Cancel” button, etc.

Be sure to give prominence to the primary action button by making the secondary action appear secondary, visually.

 

Avoid having more than one primary action button

This one goes without saying. 

Let users focus on the task at hand. You can have more actions on the page, but make sure there is only one primary. 

When you provide too many options, your users end up doing nothing. When designing pages in your app or website, think about the most important actions you want your users to take.

 

Provide proper labeling

Buttons with generic or misleading labels can be a huge source of frustration for your users. Use appropriate labeling for your buttons irrespective of how generic they may sound or read. 

Ideally, the button’s label should clearly describe its action. When an action button is meant to make the user download an e-book then, that is precisely what the label of the button should say. 

Users should clearly understand what happens when they click on a button. 

 

To conclude…

Want professional help with your website’s UX/UI design? We can help. Get in touch at support@graphicszoo.com to learn more.