How To Design
Effective Buttons?
Buttons are interactive elements that drive users to take action, such as submitting forms, making purchases, or navigating web pages.
If buttons are not designed well, users will become confused, which can frustrate them. Hence, understanding the fundamentals of button design tips is crucial for creating effective designs.
Tips For Button Design
Focus On Clarity
Your button’s primary job is to communicate its function clearly to the user. The text on the button should directly state what action will occur when clicked.
For example, a button labelled “Submit” should indicate that the user is submitting information, while a button that says “Learn More” should guide users to additional information.
Avoid using ambiguous labels like “Click Here” or “Go,” which can confuse users and reduce clarity.
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Use descriptive verbs like “Download,” “Register,” or “Get Started.”
◆ Keep the label concise but clear.
◆ Ensure the text matches the action
Prioritise Visibility & Contrast
Buttons should always stand out to grab a user’s attention. This is achieved through contrast.
Contrast can be created using colours, shapes, or textures that make the button prominent compared to other elements on the screen. You can even use tools like WebAIM to check for colour contrast.
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Choose a button colour that contrasts well with the background.
◆ Use dark text on a light button or light text on a dark button for readability.
◆ Stick to a simple colour scheme to keep the design clean and focused.
Highlight Primary vs Secondary Button
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Use bold colours for primary colours to make it stand out against other elements.
◆ Use subtle colours for secondary actions as it should be less attention-grabbing.
◆ Keeping tertiary buttons minimal with no background or just an outline can create a lighter visual impact.
Bonus tips: 14 best secure coding practices in web application development.
Code The Buttons
Although graphical buttons are visually appealing, they come with their own downsides. They load slower than code-based buttons and are less accessible to users with disabilities.
For instance, a code-based button will render without any issue if you want to include email buttons. A graphical button may not even load as most users block images by default.
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Code buttons using HTML code in a file named index.html
◆ Save the CSS code in a file named styles.css in the same directory as the HTML file.
◆ Open the index.html file in a web browser to see the styled buttons.
HTML File: index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Styled Button Example</title>
<link data-optimized="1" data-asynced="1" as="style" onload="this.onload=null;this.rel='stylesheet'" rel="preload" href="https://www.redant.my/wp-content/litespeed/css/4e7bb40584b55a44f4657b188986bff4.css?ver=6bff4"><noscript><link data-optimized="1" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.redant.my/wp-content/litespeed/css/4e7bb40584b55a44f4657b188986bff4.css?ver=6bff4"></noscript>
</head>
<body>
<button class="button button-green">Green</button>
<button class="button button-blue">Blue</button>
<script data-no-optimize="1">!function(t,e){"object"==typeof exports&&"undefined"!=typeof module?module.exports=e():"function"==typeof define&&define.amd?define(e):(t="undefined"!=typeof globalThis?globalThis:t||self).LazyLoad=e()}(this,function(){"use strict";function e(){return(e=Object.assign||function(t){for(var e=1;e<arguments.length;e++){var n,a=arguments[e];for(n in a)Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(a,n)&&(t[n]=a[n])}return t}).apply(this,arguments)}function i(t){return e({},it,t)}function o(t,e){var n,a="LazyLoad::Initialized",i=new t(e);try{n=new CustomEvent(a,{detail:{instance:i}})}catch(t){(n=document.createEvent("CustomEvent")).initCustomEvent(a,!1,!1,{instance:i})}window.dispatchEvent(n)}function l(t,e){return t.getAttribute(gt+e)}function c(t){return l(t,bt)}function s(t,e){return function(t,e,n){e=gt+e;null!==n?t.setAttribute(e,n):t.removeAttribute(e)}(t,bt,e)}function r(t){return s(t,null),0}function u(t){return null===c(t)}function d(t){return c(t)===vt}function f(t,e,n,a){t&&(void 0===a?void 0===n?t(e):t(e,n):t(e,n,a))}function _(t,e){nt?t.classList.add(e):t.className+=(t.className?" ":"")+e}function v(t,e){nt?t.classList.remove(e):t.className=t.className.replace(new RegExp("(^|\\s+)"+e+"(\\s+|$)")," ").replace(/^\s+/,"").replace(/\s+$/,"")}function g(t){return t.llTempImage}function b(t,e){!e||(e=e._observer)&&e.unobserve(t)}function p(t,e){t&&(t.loadingCount+=e)}function h(t,e){t&&(t.toLoadCount=e)}function n(t){for(var e,n=[],a=0;e=t.children[a];a+=1)"SOURCE"===e.tagName&&n.push(e);return n}function m(t,e){(t=t.parentNode)&&"PICTURE"===t.tagName&&n(t).forEach(e)}function a(t,e){n(t).forEach(e)}function E(t){return!!t[st]}function I(t){return t[st]}function y(t){return delete t[st]}function A(e,t){var n;E(e)||(n={},t.forEach(function(t){n[t]=e.getAttribute(t)}),e[st]=n)}function k(a,t){var i;E(a)&&(i=I(a),t.forEach(function(t){var e,n;e=a,(t=i[n=t])?e.setAttribute(n,t):e.removeAttribute(n)}))}function L(t,e,n){_(t,e.class_loading),s(t,ut),n&&(p(n,1),f(e.callback_loading,t,n))}function w(t,e,n){n&&t.setAttribute(e,n)}function x(t,e){w(t,ct,l(t,e.data_sizes)),w(t,rt,l(t,e.data_srcset)),w(t,ot,l(t,e.data_src))}function O(t,e,n){var a=l(t,e.data_bg_multi),i=l(t,e.data_bg_multi_hidpi);(a=at&&i?i:a)&&(t.style.backgroundImage=a,n=n,_(t=t,(e=e).class_applied),s(t,ft),n&&(e.unobserve_completed&&b(t,e),f(e.callback_applied,t,n)))}function N(t,e){!e||0<e.loadingCount||0<e.toLoadCount||f(t.callback_finish,e)}function C(t,e,n){t.addEventListener(e,n),t.llEvLisnrs[e]=n}function M(t){return!!t.llEvLisnrs}function z(t){if(M(t)){var e,n,a=t.llEvLisnrs;for(e in a){var i=a[e];n=e,i=i,t.removeEventListener(n,i)}delete t.llEvLisnrs}}function R(t,e,n){var a;delete t.llTempImage,p(n,-1),(a=n)&&--a.toLoadCount,v(t,e.class_loading),e.unobserve_completed&&b(t,n)}function T(o,r,c){var l=g(o)||o;M(l)||function(t,e,n){M(t)||(t.llEvLisnrs={});var a="VIDEO"===t.tagName?"loadeddata":"load";C(t,a,e),C(t,"error",n)}(l,function(t){var e,n,a,i;n=r,a=c,i=d(e=o),R(e,n,a),_(e,n.class_loaded),s(e,dt),f(n.callback_loaded,e,a),i||N(n,a),z(l)},function(t){var e,n,a,i;n=r,a=c,i=d(e=o),R(e,n,a),_(e,n.class_error),s(e,_t),f(n.callback_error,e,a),i||N(n,a),z(l)})}function G(t,e,n){var a,i,o,r,c;t.llTempImage=document.createElement("IMG"),T(t,e,n),E(c=t)||(c[st]={backgroundImage:c.style.backgroundImage}),o=n,r=l(a=t,(i=e).data_bg),c=l(a,i.data_bg_hidpi),(r=at&&c?c:r)&&(a.style.backgroundImage='url("'.concat(r,'")'),g(a).setAttribute(ot,r),L(a,i,o)),O(t,e,n)}function D(t,e,n){var a;T(t,e,n),a=e,e=n,(t=It[(n=t).tagName])&&(t(n,a),L(n,a,e))}function V(t,e,n){var a;a=t,(-1<yt.indexOf(a.tagName)?D:G)(t,e,n)}function F(t,e,n){var a;t.setAttribute("loading","lazy"),T(t,e,n),a=e,(e=It[(n=t).tagName])&&e(n,a),s(t,vt)}function j(t){t.removeAttribute(ot),t.removeAttribute(rt),t.removeAttribute(ct)}function P(t){m(t,function(t){k(t,Et)}),k(t,Et)}function S(t){var e;(e=At[t.tagName])?e(t):E(e=t)&&(t=I(e),e.style.backgroundImage=t.backgroundImage)}function U(t,e){var n;S(t),n=e,u(e=t)||d(e)||(v(e,n.class_entered),v(e,n.class_exited),v(e,n.class_applied),v(e,n.class_loading),v(e,n.class_loaded),v(e,n.class_error)),r(t),y(t)}function $(t,e,n,a){var i;n.cancel_on_exit&&(c(t)!==ut||"IMG"===t.tagName&&(z(t),m(i=t,function(t){j(t)}),j(i),P(t),v(t,n.class_loading),p(a,-1),r(t),f(n.callback_cancel,t,e,a)))}function q(t,e,n,a){var i,o,r=(o=t,0<=pt.indexOf(c(o)));s(t,"entered"),_(t,n.class_entered),v(t,n.class_exited),i=t,o=a,n.unobserve_entered&&b(i,o),f(n.callback_enter,t,e,a),r||V(t,n,a)}function H(t){return t.use_native&&"loading"in HTMLImageElement.prototype}function B(t,i,o){t.forEach(function(t){return(a=t).isIntersecting||0<a.intersectionRatio?q(t.target,t,i,o):(e=t.target,n=t,a=i,t=o,void(u(e)||(_(e,a.class_exited),$(e,n,a,t),f(a.callback_exit,e,n,t))));var e,n,a})}function J(e,n){var t;et&&!H(e)&&(n._observer=new IntersectionObserver(function(t){B(t,e,n)},{root:(t=e).container===document?null:t.container,rootMargin:t.thresholds||t.threshold+"px"}))}function K(t){return Array.prototype.slice.call(t)}function Q(t){return t.container.querySelectorAll(t.elements_selector)}function W(t){return c(t)===_t}function X(t,e){return e=t||Q(e),K(e).filter(u)}function Y(e,t){var n;(n=Q(e),K(n).filter(W)).forEach(function(t){v(t,e.class_error),r(t)}),t.update()}function t(t,e){var n,a,t=i(t);this._settings=t,this.loadingCount=0,J(t,this),n=t,a=this,Z&&window.addEventListener("online",function(){Y(n,a)}),this.update(e)}var Z="undefined"!=typeof window,tt=Z&&!("onscroll"in window)||"undefined"!=typeof navigator&&/(gle|ing|ro)bot|crawl|spider/i.test(navigator.userAgent),et=Z&&"IntersectionObserver"in window,nt=Z&&"classList"in document.createElement("p"),at=Z&&1<window.devicePixelRatio,it={elements_selector:".lazy",container:tt||Z?document:null,threshold:300,thresholds:null,data_src:"src",data_srcset:"srcset",data_sizes:"sizes",data_bg:"bg",data_bg_hidpi:"bg-hidpi",data_bg_multi:"bg-multi",data_bg_multi_hidpi:"bg-multi-hidpi",data_poster:"poster",class_applied:"applied",class_loading:"litespeed-loading",class_loaded:"litespeed-loaded",class_error:"error",class_entered:"entered",class_exited:"exited",unobserve_completed:!0,unobserve_entered:!1,cancel_on_exit:!0,callback_enter:null,callback_exit:null,callback_applied:null,callback_loading:null,callback_loaded:null,callback_error:null,callback_finish:null,callback_cancel:null,use_native:!1},ot="src",rt="srcset",ct="sizes",lt="poster",st="llOriginalAttrs",ut="loading",dt="loaded",ft="applied",_t="error",vt="native",gt="data-",bt="ll-status",pt=[ut,dt,ft,_t],ht=[ot],mt=[ot,lt],Et=[ot,rt,ct],It={IMG:function(t,e){m(t,function(t){A(t,Et),x(t,e)}),A(t,Et),x(t,e)},IFRAME:function(t,e){A(t,ht),w(t,ot,l(t,e.data_src))},VIDEO:function(t,e){a(t,function(t){A(t,ht),w(t,ot,l(t,e.data_src))}),A(t,mt),w(t,lt,l(t,e.data_poster)),w(t,ot,l(t,e.data_src)),t.load()}},yt=["IMG","IFRAME","VIDEO"],At={IMG:P,IFRAME:function(t){k(t,ht)},VIDEO:function(t){a(t,function(t){k(t,ht)}),k(t,mt),t.load()}},kt=["IMG","IFRAME","VIDEO"];return t.prototype={update:function(t){var e,n,a,i=this._settings,o=X(t,i);{if(h(this,o.length),!tt&&et)return H(i)?(e=i,n=this,o.forEach(function(t){-1!==kt.indexOf(t.tagName)&&F(t,e,n)}),void h(n,0)):(t=this._observer,i=o,t.disconnect(),a=t,void i.forEach(function(t){a.observe(t)}));this.loadAll(o)}},destroy:function(){this._observer&&this._observer.disconnect(),Q(this._settings).forEach(function(t){y(t)}),delete this._observer,delete this._settings,delete this.loadingCount,delete this.toLoadCount},loadAll:function(t){var e=this,n=this._settings;X(t,n).forEach(function(t){b(t,e),V(t,n,e)})},restoreAll:function(){var e=this._settings;Q(e).forEach(function(t){U(t,e)})}},t.load=function(t,e){e=i(e);V(t,e)},t.resetStatus=function(t){r(t)},Z&&function(t,e){if(e)if(e.length)for(var n,a=0;n=e[a];a+=1)o(t,n);else o(t,e)}(t,window.lazyLoadOptions),t});!function(e,t){"use strict";function a(){t.body.classList.add("litespeed_lazyloaded")}function n(){console.log("[LiteSpeed] Start Lazy Load Images"),d=new LazyLoad({elements_selector:"[data-lazyloaded]",callback_finish:a}),o=function(){d.update()},e.MutationObserver&&new MutationObserver(o).observe(t.documentElement,{childList:!0,subtree:!0,attributes:!0})}var d,o;e.addEventListener?e.addEventListener("load",n,!1):e.attachEvent("onload",n)}(window,document);</script></body>
</html>
CSS File: styles.css
/* Basic Button Styling */
.button {
border: none;
color: white;
padding: 15px 32px;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
display: inline-block;
font-size: 16px;
margin: 4px 2px;
cursor: pointer;
border-radius: 4px; /* Optional: Adds rounded corners */
}
/* Green Button */
.button-green {
background-color: #04AA6D; /* Green */
}
/* Blue Button */
.button-blue {
background-color: #008CBA; /* Blue */
}
Use Consistent Styles
Consistency in design builds familiarity, which enhances user experience. Stick to a consistent style for buttons across your platform to avoid confusing users.
This includes keeping the same shape, color scheme, and text style for similar actions. For example, all primary buttons might be blue, while secondary buttons are grey.
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Establish a consistent button style and stick to them throughout your designs.
◆ Maintain button shape.
◆ Use the same font type and size for button text throughout your app interface.
Include Visual Feedback
Users want immediate confirmation when they click a button. Adding visual feedback when clicking a button can improve user interaction and satisfaction.
This could be a slight change in the button colour, an animation, or a subtle click effect to show the user that the action is being processed.
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Use hover effects to show a change in colour or border to show it’s clickable.
◆ If the button triggers a process that takes time, like submitting a form, include a loading spinner or “Processing...” message.
◆ A smooth color or size transition when clicked can make the interaction feel more responsive.
Prioritise Strategic Button Placement
Put the buttons in places where users will expect them. Primary buttons are usually positioned near the end of the forms, at the bottom of important information, or in the centre of action areas.
Place the primary button just below the final content. This ensures it aligns with where users’ attention is focused while they are reading or entering information.
🤔 How to apply?
◆ Place primary actions at the bottom of the forms.
◆ Don’t hide your buttons, especially call-to-actions under menus or in places where users don’t expect them.
Conclusion
Buttons are essential components of effective UI design, and getting them right can significantly improve the user experience. These button design tips for beginners will give you the foundation to start crafting interactive elements that users love to click on.
Keep practising, and you’ll master the art of button design in no time!
Bonus tips: 14 best secure coding practices in web application development.
Want To Boost Engagement With Great Design & User Experience?
