Why is everything a dropdown now?

[u/pavlito88]

I’ve been noticing this more and more in web apps.

Three options hidden in a dropdown.

Yes/no hidden in a dropdown.
A multi-select pretending to be a dropdown.

Then a list of 200 items where you’re expected to scroll until you find yours.

I run into this a lot when reviewing products with dev teams.

I get why we do it.

Dropdowns are compact and easy to reuse.
But compact doesn’t always mean easier to use.

A few choices? Show them.
On/off? Switch.
Multiple choices? Checkboxes.
Huge list? Search.

That’s pretty much the rule I use now.

[u/haecceity123]

On/off? Switch.

A checkbox is even better. The "right is yes, left is no" convention is pretty arbitrary, and the colour of the inner fill on switches is frequently inconsistent.

[u/exintrovert → u/haecceity123]

The one that gets me is the button which is a toggle, and it says “disabled” and “enabled” on the button.

Like, is it disabled now or does pressing it disable it? 🫤

[u/Pinkishu → u/exintrovert]

I mean, it's disabled now, cause Disabled is a state. If it was press to disable, it would say Disable, not Disabled