Member-only story

In defence of physical buttons

I feel the need. The need for tactile feedback.

Chris Kernaghan
UX Collective
5 min readMar 26, 2021

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An old style stereo with huge, obvious buttons
Source: Pexels

Buttons seem somewhat unfashionable these days and I think that’s terribly unfair. I want to defend the honor of the humble button. Button, knob, switch, tab, doohickey. Whatever you want to call them, they’re the physical manifestation of our desire to carry out an action. Unassuming, always there. Reliable. Unfortunately, their inclusion in certain contexts has been confined to the dustbin of design. They’ve fallen out of fashion with some, and I want to set the record straight.

There are contexts and situations for which the button is still a necessity and their removal frustrates and makes for a less enjoyable user experience.

Three Google home hub minis
Source: usatoday.com

“Okay Google, play some rain noise.”

“Okay, playing Rhianna at maximum volume at 10pm. I hope your kids are heavy sleepers.”

It’s at this point I panic, Umbrella starts to play, and I try my best to turn the volume down. I do so, eventually, after what feels like an extraordinary amount of time, because my Google Home…

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Published in UX Collective

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Written by Chris Kernaghan

Designer. Owner of wearefounders.uk and feedme.design. Perpetually outdoors with the kids. Avid reader of books.

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