The times when it was enough to create useful products and nobody would notice their poor design have long since vanished. Now, if you want people to notice you, you have to deliver the best user experience and invest in creating a beautiful and intuitive user interface.
In this post, we’re going to talk about the snackbars that are often used in the design of websites and mobile applications. This little widget provides brief feedback about an operation through a message at the bottom of the screen and disappears automatically. It’s a very convenient form of user communication that is widely used in app design today.
How to Apply Snackbars
A snackbar is a toast message that appears in different parts of the interface. The main task of the element is to report on the completed action. In most cases, the block has a button for repeating the operation.
The snack bars are small but noticeable. They appear for a few seconds and during this time should inform about the completion of an action. The topic of toast messages has not been closely studied; apart from a detailed guide on developing snackbars in Material Design, there is almost no information about them.
To describe how toast messages work, we can compare them to a toaster. You put the bread inside, and when the toast is ready, they jump out. Notifications work the same way – they appear at a certain moment and provide useful information.
Toast notifications usually have a few buttons. In this example, you can undo the previous action and close the message. These messages provide useful information and suggest a solution to problems. The user does not need to restart the application or complete a lot of actions. The toast message contains all the necessary information that motivates the user to take action.
Snackbars are rarely used in the website interface, but they can be adapted to almost any scenario. Professional web design agencies implement snackbars so that they are informative, beautiful, and logical.
A snackbar consists of three parts:
- Message – A text fragment should be associated with the task being performed. You cannot display an abstract message that is not related to the process. Otherwise, the person will get confused and, with a high degree of probability, will close the site or application.
- Container – The container or block in which the elements are placed is most often made in the form of a small rectangle with a gray background. The figure must be opaque so that the text can be read easily and quickly.
- Button – The next important component is the button. It appears if the user has to take some action.
Features of Efficient Snackbars
The main features that distinguish a well-designed snackbar from a poorly made one are:
- snackbars should not interrupt the user’s actions
- time of displaying a message is limited in time
- notifications disappear without being closed
- only one block is displayed at a time
A designer who wants to learn another element of the user interface must remember the basic principles and observe them in every project. If you go beyond the usual scenarios, users may have problems using the website or mobile app.
Another feature that influences user experience is the position of the block. In most cases, snackbars are displayed at the bottom of the interface. Depending on the individual characteristics and structure of the interface, the location may vary.
Conclusion
For a successful design, designers need not only creativity but also endurance. Customers come and go, and the projects will remain in the portfolio forever. If each design benefits the audience, then the designer does not just make money but solves the users’ problems. This approach will always pay off. Learning about effective techniques and features that help communicate with the user, like snackbars, helps you expand your expertise and grow as a professional.