Is the button responsive? Does the button adapt to different screen sizes?
Does the button get larger or smaller?
If the button changes size or shape, does it cause a layout shift?
Are there button links? (Buttons that take the user to another page.)
Are there link buttons? (Links that are styled like buttons.)
Is the button accessible? Can the button be interacted with a keyboard/screenreader?
Can the button be disabled? Can the button be reenabled?
What does clicking the button do? Does it open a modal, change the page, or send an API request?
If triggering the button performs an asynchronous operation, does it show a loading state?
If the button manages state, does it optimistically update? What if the update fails?
What if the user presses on the button multiple times really quickly? Will the same operation be called multiple times?
Can the button be hidden?
Can everyone see the button?
It’s a pretty classic frontend problem. SOMEONE has to solve “The Button Problem”, and that someone is the UI team.
The Other Button Problems
To help people understand the role breakdowns at a tech company, let’s go into how other people deal with buttons.
Design Director: “Let’s add themeable buttons to the design system and style guide.”
Designer: “Here’s a Figma file that showcases how buttons works.”
Product Manager: “I added buttons to the Sprint backlog.”
Scrum Master: “We estimate buttons will take 13 story points for a single developer.”
Tech Lead: “I wrote a technical design on buttons.”
Architect: “Here’s a UML diagram on scalable button architecture.”
Senior Developer: “I built the button on top of 30 dependencies.”
Junior Developer: “I need to pair with a Senior Developer to understand buttons.”
Engineering Manager: “We will resource 10 developers so buttons can be done in 4 weeks.”
QA Tester: “I clicked the button, double-clicked the button, right-clicked the button, and loaded the button on iPhone, Android, Chromebook, and Internet Explorer.”
DevOps: “CI has been set up so we can continuously release buttons”
Hiring Recruiter: “We need to source 100 candidates who have at least 15 years working with buttons.”
A/B Tester: “We set up experiments so that buttons are rendered in multiple sizes and colors to test user engagement.”
Data Analytics: “When a button is clicked, it sends a track event to our analytics service.”
Sales: “Can we add microtransactions on top of buttons?”
UX / Usability Researcher: “I found some people to do user testing with buttons to understand what issues could come up.”
Localization: “We translated buttons to every language.”
Legal: “Buttons must be accessible or else we will get sued.”
Customer Support: “A customer opened a ticket about buttons. I sent them our documentation on how to use them.”
Marketing: “We promoted buttons via social media.”
Finance: “How much do buttons cost to make?”
Technology: “We need to scale our Agile processes so we can build more buttons efficiently.”
CEO: “Buttons will be the core differentiator of our business.”
Investor: “I’m willing to invest $10 million for 1% equity in your button company.”
User: “I wasn’t aware there was a button on the screen.”
