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Re: The buttons versers links debate

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From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Jan 25, 2013 1:07PM

Sarah,

I was in a meeting with several interface designers where the topic of links and buttons came up. I think it was also unclear to them exactly when to use either buttons and links. Like you, they felt quite certain about some situations, but there were others they were less certain about.

Based on the way you view the usage of links and buttons, I would think buttons would be what you want to use in both situations. Neither situation leads to the user going to another page. The first situation just is a quick side trip to complete a task which ends up leading you back to the same page. The other situation seems just to perform actions on the page. If you are using ARIA though, you may want to look over the design patterns. It is possible that your second situation may fit better with another design pattern--like accordions.

I've not seen or heard a clear concise description of when to use links or buttons. In fact, the reason the designers ended up discussing the topic is because I asked them how they made that decision.

My own opinion tends to be that , if it is unclear, that would be a great time for user testing. However, if you can't conduct user testing, another good approach is to come up with your own approach and apply it consistently across your application interface. If it turns out the approach is not quickly intuitive, it at least means that once the user figures it out one place that they will know how it works across the rest of the application. And if you can't get the data you need to make the decision now, at least you can do something to lessen the impact if the guess is wrong. Also, it means if you have to fix it later, you will find it easier to locate where you need to apply the fix.

I wish you the best of luck with your button-link dilemma. I would be interested in hearing how you decide to resolve it.

Thanks,
Tim