/interaction-design

Interaction Design

The Eight Interactive States

Every interactive element needs these states designed:

State	When	Visual Treatment
Default	At rest	Base styling
Hover	Pointer over (not touch)	Subtle lift, color shift
Focus	Keyboard/programmatic focus	Visible ring (see below)
Active	Being pressed	Pressed in, darker
Disabled	Not interactive	Reduced opacity, no pointer
Loading	Processing	Spinner, skeleton
Error	Invalid state	Red border, icon, message
Success	Completed	Green check, confirmation

The common miss: Designing hover without focus, or vice versa. They're different. Keyboard users never see hover states.

Focus Rings: Do Them Right

Never outline: none without replacement. It's an accessibility violation. Instead, use :focus-visible to show focus only for keyboard users:

/* Hide focus ring for mouse/touch */
button:focus {
  outline: none;
}

/* Show focus ring for keyboard */
button:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid var(--color-accent);
  outline-offset: 2px;
}

Focus ring design:

• High contrast (3:1 minimum against adjacent colors)
• 2-3px thick
• Offset from element (not inside it)
• Consistent across all interactive elements

Form Design: The Non-Obvious

Placeholders aren't labels—they disappear on input. Always use visible <label> elements. Validate on blur, not on every keystroke (exception: password strength). Place errors below fields with aria-describedby connecting them.

Loading States

Optimistic updates: Show success immediately, rollback on failure. Use for low-stakes actions (likes, follows), not payments or destructive actions. Skeleton screens > spinners—they preview content shape and feel faster than generic spinners.

Modals: The Inert Approach

Focus trapping in modals used to require complex JavaScript. Now use the inert attribute:

<!-- When modal is open -->
<main inert>
  <!-- Content behind modal can't be focused or clicked -->
</main>
<dialog open>
  <h2>Modal Title</h2>
  <!-- Focus stays inside modal -->
</dialog>

Or use the native <dialog> element:

const dialog = document.querySelector('dialog');
dialog.showModal();  // Opens with focus trap, closes on Escape

The Popover API

For tooltips, dropdowns, and non-modal overlays, use native popovers:

<button popovertarget="menu">Open menu</button>
<div id="menu" popover>
  <button>Option 1</button>
  <button>Option 2</button>
</div>

Benefits: Light-dismiss (click outside closes), proper stacking, no z-index wars, accessible by default.

Dropdown & Overlay Positioning

Dropdowns rendered with position: absolute inside a container that has overflow: hidden or overflow: auto will be clipped. This is the single most common dropdown bug in generated code.

CSS Anchor Positioning

The modern solution uses the CSS Anchor Positioning API to tether an overlay to its trigger without JavaScript:

.trigger {
  anchor-name: --menu-trigger;
}

.dropdown {
  position: fixed;
  position-anchor: --menu-trigger;
  position-area: block-end span-inline-end;
  margin-top: 4px;
}

/* Flip above if no room below */
@position-try --flip-above {
  position-area: block-start span-inline-end;
  margin-bottom: 4px;
}

Because the dropdown uses position: fixed, it escapes any overflow clipping on ancestor elements. The @position-try block handles viewport edges automatically. Browser support: Chrome 125+, Edge 125+. Not yet in Firefox or Safari - use a fallback for those browsers.

Popover + Anchor Combo

Combining the Popover API with anchor positioning gives you stacking, light-dismiss, accessibility, and correct positioning in one pattern:

<button popovertarget="menu" class="trigger">Open</button>
<div id="menu" popover class="dropdown">
  <button>Option 1</button>
  <button>Option 2</button>
</div>

The popover attribute places the element in the top layer, which sits above all other content regardless of z-index or overflow. No portal needed.

Portal / Teleport Pattern

In component frameworks, render the dropdown at the document root and position it with JavaScript:

• React: createPortal(dropdown, document.body)
• Vue: <Teleport to="body">
• Svelte: Use a portal library or mount to document.body

Calculate position from the trigger's getBoundingClientRect(), then apply position: fixed with top and left values. Recalculate on scroll and resize.

Fixed Positioning Fallback

For browsers without anchor positioning support, position: fixed with manual coordinates avoids overflow clipping:

.dropdown {
  position: fixed;
  /* top/left set via JS from trigger's getBoundingClientRect() */
}

Check viewport boundaries before rendering. If the dropdown would overflow the bottom edge, flip it above the trigger. If it would overflow the right edge, align it to the trigger's right side instead.

Anti-Patterns

• position: absolute inside overflow: hidden - The dropdown will be clipped. Use position: fixed or the top layer instead.
• Arbitrary z-index values like z-index: 9999 - Use a semantic z-index scale: dropdown (100) -> sticky (200) -> modal-backdrop (300) -> modal (400) -> toast (500) -> tooltip (600).
• Rendering dropdown markup inline without an escape hatch from the parent's stacking context. Either use popover (top layer), a portal, or position: fixed.

Destructive Actions: Undo > Confirm

Undo is better than confirmation dialogs—users click through confirmations mindlessly. Remove from UI immediately, show undo toast, actually delete after toast expires. Use confirmation only for truly irreversible actions (account deletion), high-cost actions, or batch operations.

Keyboard Navigation Patterns

Roving Tabindex

For component groups (tabs, menu items, radio groups), one item is tabbable; arrow keys move within:

<div role="tablist">
  <button role="tab" tabindex="0">Tab 1</button>
  <button role="tab" tabindex="-1">Tab 2</button>
  <button role="tab" tabindex="-1">Tab 3</button>
</div>

Arrow keys move tabindex="0" between items. Tab moves to the next component entirely.

Skip Links

Provide skip links (<a href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a>) for keyboard users to jump past navigation. Hide off-screen, show on focus.

Gesture Discoverability

Swipe-to-delete and similar gestures are invisible. Hint at their existence:

• Partially reveal: Show delete button peeking from edge
• Onboarding: Coach marks on first use
• Alternative: Always provide a visible fallback (menu with "Delete")

Don't rely on gestures as the only way to perform actions.

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Avoid: Removing focus indicators without alternatives. Using placeholder text as labels. Touch targets <44x44px. Generic error messages. Custom controls without ARIA/keyboard support.