
👋 Oi, mga repapips, Brian Dys here! I love music, photography, and creative stuff like UX design and art. This is a place where I collect my thoughts and works. Apart all these, I’m Jaycelle’s better half and Bryce’s dad. 🥰
What is the mental model of the user interface—or at least the UI buttons?
Just like with most physical buttons, if a user wants to press it, he or she touches it. The feedback comes from its look and feel (it looks like a button; it feels like it can be pressed by actually pressing it).
With UI buttons, a user could get feedback from the following:
With some techniques in Visual Design, a designer could reinforce the feeling that the button functions as expected.
Does the button budge up when hovered? Or does it budge down?
If up, then the shade becomes lighter as it moves closer to the light source—which is naturally above us (in the real world). If down, then darker.
Does the button light up when hovered?
If yes, then the shade becomes lighter—whether the light comes from the body of the button or simply around the button.
You may combine those different techniques—but basically, those are the considerations why the shade of a button would be darker or lighter when hovered.
Please note that for devices with pointing device, the mouse changing to a pointer is enough feedback for the button to feel like it is clickable.
However, for touch devices, to feel like it is clickable, a user will actually press it.