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Re: Actionable roles vs behaviors

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From: Ajay Sharma
Date: Jun 20, 2017 12:34PM

Hi,
>
As there is very fine line between links and buttons, but recently came across a paradigm that will help to figure out the right control for a specific purpose.

every action on a site falls under two different categories:
1Actions where users affect the website's back-end or front-end
2Actions where users won't affect the website at all
Actions where users affect the website itself is where you use a button. For example, sign-up and purchase actions are often buttons. The user in these situations are creating a new account and completing a monetary transaction, which are actions that affect the website's back-end. Creating new posts or making comments are actions that change a website's content and what the user sees. These actions affect the website's front-end. Whenever there's a change in the website's back or front-end is when you use a button.
Actions where users won't affect the website are where you use a link. These are actions that take users from one page to another without changing anything on the website's back or front-end. The user is basically a spectator browsing through content. They aren't doing any actions that require more effort than clicking and viewing. The back-end and front-end of the website remains the same. It's these situations when you should use a link over a button.


So, based on above assertion if it is a button then its better to code it as button and same goes out to links as well, to make sure that the control is actually what it appears visually.


Anyways, its just one more point to this never ending discussion :)

Cheers,
Ajay