Settings & preferences
Guidelines for writing clear, user-friendly labels and descriptions for settings and preferences.
Write labels in the affirmative
Preferences and settings should always be written in the affirmative—even if the preference is meant to disable a feature. When a user checks a feature preference, they should be getting that feature.
Don't
Do
Use descriptions to explain
Descriptions are optional and can supplement a label in a few ways:
- Further define a label
- Explain how the input will be used
- Show an example of a valid input
Avoid using tooltips.
Don't
Do
Don’t rely on placeholder text
Placeholder text can be used to show an example of a valid input.
Placeholder text disappears once a character is typed in the input, so the user should be able to complete their task without placeholder text always visible.