3 ms·

I hate toasts too. I even dislike the name of this UI element - “toast”. Unlike a hamburger menu, the toast element doesn’t even resemble toasted bread slice. O

by xyst 2y ago

I hate toasts too. I even dislike the name of this UI element - “toast”. Unlike a hamburger menu, the toast element doesn’t even resemble toasted bread slice. Or is it supposed to represent the short lived aspect of a toast between 2 parties? Some sites even have toasts on mobile which block content. Have even tapped some of those actions by accident. Also, since they are ephemeral. How does it impact a user on a screen reader? Is there an audio cue indicating a toast is on the screen?

codazoda 2y ago
I think they are called toasts because they pop up from the bottom, similar to a piece of toast popping out of a pop-up toaster oven. I used these to display errors in an internal web app once, which was a major mistake. The users almost never saw them and when they did they didn't see them long enough to be able to communicate what the message said, often trying to paraphrase. I agree they are bad UX for most things.
- JamesSwift 2y ago
  > The users almost never saw them and when they did they didn't see them long enough to be able to communicate what the message said, often trying to paraphrase. Theres an art to writing terse copy for the toast, and picking durations that make sense. I think this is likely more a poor application of the pattern rather than the pattern itself being bad.
  - codazoda 2y ago
    It’s extremely easy to get the “art” wrong. In my case, I didn’t always know what the errors were because they were returned from 3rd party API’s and many of them the application had never seen before. If there were a proper log somewhere, maybe, but toasts are very easy to use poorly.
    - JamesSwift 2y ago
      Well, its simple to not just toast a string directly from a third party you dont control : D
apeescape 2y ago
I think it's called a toast because it (usually) appears by jumping from one of the edges, like a piece of toast jumps from the toaster.

by xyst 2y ago

codazoda 2y ago

I think they are called toasts because they pop up from the bottom, similar to a piece of toast popping out of a pop-up toaster oven. I used these to display errors in an internal web app once, which was a major mistake. The users almost never saw them and when they did they didn't see them long enough to be able to communicate what the message said, often trying to paraphrase. I agree they are bad UX for most things.

JamesSwift 2y ago
> The users almost never saw them and when they did they didn't see them long enough to be able to communicate what the message said, often trying to paraphrase. Theres an art to writing terse copy for the toast, and picking durations that make sense. I think this is likely more a poor application of the pattern rather than the pattern itself being bad.
- codazoda 2y ago
  It’s extremely easy to get the “art” wrong. In my case, I didn’t always know what the errors were because they were returned from 3rd party API’s and many of them the application had never seen before. If there were a proper log somewhere, maybe, but toasts are very easy to use poorly.
  - JamesSwift 2y ago
    Well, its simple to not just toast a string directly from a third party you dont control : D

apeescape 2y ago

I think it's called a toast because it (usually) appears by jumping from one of the edges, like a piece of toast jumps from the toaster.