Both tooltips and popup tips have the same goal: to provide helpful, additional content. Popup TipsĪlthough tooltips are mainly limited to desktop computers and laptops, they do have a sister element that is common on touchscreen devices: popup tips. (In the future, tooltips could be initiated on eyetracking-enabled devices when the user’s gaze dwells on a GUI element for a certain duration.) Tooltips vs. ![]() They are not normally available on touchscreens. Therefore, tips that pop up on pages to inform users about new features or how to use a specific functionality are not tooltips.īecause tooltips are initiated by a hover gesture, they can be used only on devices with a mouse or keyboard. One important aspect of tooltips is that they are user-triggered. Thus, tooltips are highly contextual and specific and don’t explain the bigger picture or entire task flow. They provide descriptions or explanations for their paired element. Tooltips can be attached to any active element (icons, text links, buttons, etc.) on a page. Keyboard hover refers to maintaining the keyboard focus on the same element for a longer time.) ![]() (In case you’re wondering what keyboard hover is: to access the active elements on a page, users can usually move the mouse to them or tab through them using the keyboard. Tooltips are usually initiated in one of two ways: through a mouse-hover gesture or through a keyboard-hover gesture. Tooltips aren’t new, but they’re still misused.ĭefinition: A tooltip is a brief, informative message that appears when a user interacts with an element in a graphical user interface (GUI).
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