Selection Controls Skill
How this skill behaves (read first)
This is a generative skill. The default failure mode is wrong-control selection: a dropdown for 3 options, a toggle for something that needs a Submit, radio buttons restyled as squares, a slider where precision matters. The control is determined by the structure of the choice (how many options, how many selectable, immediate vs. deferred effect) — not by looks. This skill gates:
- Establish the choice structure — that mostly decides the control; styling questions come second.
- Apply the always-true core — conventional shapes, interactive labels, clear alignment, defaults.
- Surface the context-dependent decisions (dropdown alternatives, slider variants, preset ranges) with trade-offs.
Then it hands off to ux-heuristics-audit, ux-accessibility-audit, ux-aesthetics-audit, and ux-microcopy-audit for validation.
Step 0 — Establish the choice structure
Four questions essentially pick the control:
- How many options can the user select? One → radio buttons. Several (or zero) → checkboxes. Exactly on/off → toggle or standalone checkbox.
- Does the choice take effect immediately or after submit? Immediate (settings, filters that live-update) → toggle switch / slider. Deferred until a Submit/confirm → checkbox or radio.
- How many options are there? ≤5 → show them all (radio/checkboxes — visible options beat hidden ones). Long lists → dropdown with auto-suggest search, or text input.
- Is the value a point/range on a scale? Approximate feel (volume, brightness, price band) → slider. Exact value matters → text input (or slider + linked input box).
Also establish platform — mobile changes alignment (switches right, labels left), touch-target demands, and picker choice (input picker for distant dates like birthdates; calendar picker for dates within ~a year).
The always-apply core (correct for almost every case)
Keep conventional shapes — they're load-bearing
- Square = checkbox, circle = radio, rounded rectangle = switch. Restyle colors, borders, shadows freely; never the fundamental shape — users decide how to interact based on it.
- ❌ Round checkboxes "for brand consistency" ✅ Square boxes with a checkmark; circles only for radios
- Uniform control sizes within a group. Varying sizes subtly biases users toward options — guidance must stay transparent, not manipulative.
- Indeterminate state for parent checkboxes in nested lists: empty = none, horizontal line = some, checkmark = all selected. Nest sub-options indented under their parent rather than flattening everything.
Labels do the heavy lifting
- Labels are clickable/tappable — the whole label + control area activates the option (pointer cursor on desktop, comfortable touch area on mobile).
- Start with the keyword, cut the rest. No questions, no ambiguity. For switches, the label states what happens when it's on — test by reading the label aloud + "on/off": ❌ "Do you want notifications?" ✅ "Email notifications"
- ~14px label size, quieter than body text but readable; margin between control and label tight enough that pairing is never ambiguous.
Align for scanning
- Vertical, single-column, left-aligned lists — easier to follow, matches left-edge scanning. Horizontal layouts only with generous spacing so label-control pairing stays obvious.
- Controls before labels (LTR): faster successive clicking and a predictable pattern.
- Multi-line labels: align the control with the first line of text; wrapped lines align with the line above (bullet-point style).
- Subheads align with the controls, not the label text.
- Mobile switches: switch right-aligned, label left-aligned.
Defaults and states
- Required radio groups always have a default selected — prevents the "no option selected" error; base the default on the most common real choice.
- Toggles take effect immediately and always have a default value. If the action needs review + Submit, it isn't a toggle — use a checkbox.
- Standalone checkbox for a single opt-in (terms, newsletter) — never pre-checked for consent-type choices (→ dark-patterns territory).
Sliders (when the value is a range or feel)
- Anatomy: track, thumb (big enough touch target — motor disabilities, older users), filled portion, min/max labels (essential for non-obvious units like price/time), value display that a finger doesn't cover.
- Changes apply immediately — no Apply button; that's the slider's entire advantage.
- Continuous slider for by-feel values (volume, brightness); ticks + auto-snapping when only discrete values are valid; dual thumbs for ranges (price filters); add a linked text input when users may need precision.
- Recognizable thumb style and enough spacing between adjacent sliders to prevent accidental adjustments.
- RTL locales: sliders run right-to-left.
The context-dependent decisions (surface, don't auto-apply)
| Decision | Apply when | Avoid / adapt when | Default recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropdown vs. visible options | Long lists (countries) — saves space; add auto-suggest + frequent options on top | ≤5 options (hides choices, adds interaction cost) | Radio/checkboxes up to ~5; searchable dropdown beyond |
| Toggle vs. checkbox | Immediate-effect settings → toggle | Choices reviewed and submitted together → checkbox | Decide by effect timing, never by looks |
| Slider vs. preset ranges | Desktop / precision-tolerant users → slider | Mobile/on-the-go: tap-friendly presets ("Under $50," "$100–200") | Offer presets where popular ranges are known; slider for custom |
| Slider vs. radio/dropdown | Genuine range with many values | Few distinct options or exact values required | If options are countable on one hand, don't use a slider |
| Histogram slider | Data context helps the choice (price distribution à la Airbnb) | Data adds noise, not signal | Plain dual slider unless the distribution informs the decision |
| Picker type (mobile dates) | Input picker + mask for distant dates (birthdate); calendar picker within ~a year (booking) | Calendar pickers for birthdates (endless scrolling); nested dropdowns | Match picker to date distance |
| Default selection (radios) | Required fields; research-backed most-common option | Defaults that steer toward a paid/consent choice (→ dark-patterns) | Default to the genuinely most common option |
| Video-style sliders | Media scrubbing — preview thumbnail, clickable thumb, keyboard shortcuts | Standard form contexts | Only for timeline navigation |
Validate the result (orchestration)
Hand-offs name each lens by its installable skill
name. Invoke one only if that skill is installed; if it isn't, this skill's own core already carries these rules — proceed without it rather than blocking.
After generating or revising, hand the result to the audit lenses rather than declaring it done. These are candidate lenses — posture is set by docs/orchestration-policy.md, or route the whole thing through ux-design-review. Here, heuristics, microcopy, and dark-patterns are Tier A (auto-run); accessibility, aesthetics, and mobile-responsiveness are Tier B (offered) — under an existing design system aesthetics is suppressed and accessibility narrows to usage; mobile-responsiveness applies only on mobile. If the user invoked this skill for one specific thing, respect that scope.
ux-heuristics-audit(Tier A) — match to mental models (effect timing vs. control type), consistency, error prevention (defaults, snapping).ux-accessibility-audit(Tier B — offer; narrow under a design system) — touch-target sizes (thumbs, checkboxes), keyboard operability, label-control association, contrast of small control glyphs.ux-aesthetics-audit(Tier B — offer; suppress under a design system) — alignment rhythm, spacing, whether restyled controls stayed recognizable.ux-microcopy-audit(Tier A) — label phrasing (keyword-first, on-state wording for switches), group subheads.ux-dark-patterns-audit(Tier A) — when defaults or pre-selections steer consent, payment, or data-sharing choices: sizing bias, pre-checked opt-ins, steering defaults.ux-mobile-responsiveness-audit(Tier B — offer; applies only on mobile) — when the context is mobile: switch alignment, picker choice, thumb targets.
If the audits surface a conflict, resolve back toward the primary task: the user should grasp the choice structure at a glance and select without errors.
Common do/don't patterns
| ❌ Don't | ✅ Do |
|---|---|
| Dropdown for 3 payment methods | Radio buttons — all options visible, one tap |
| Toggle that only applies after "Save" | Checkbox + Submit; toggles = immediate effect |
| Round checkboxes / square radios for style | Conventional shapes; restyle color and borders only |
| Label as a question ("Want emails?") | Keyword-first on-state label ("Email notifications") |
| Only the tiny control square is clickable | Whole label + control activates the option |
| Required radio group with nothing selected | Research-based default pre-selected |
| Slider for choosing 1 of 4 plans | Radio buttons; sliders are for ranges/feel |
| Slider with an Apply button | Immediate effect — that's the point of a slider |
| Price filter with no min/max labels | Min/max shown; dual thumbs; presets for mobile |
| Pre-checked consent checkbox as a "default" | Unchecked consent; defaults prefill facts, not decisions (→ dark-patterns) |
| Ship without checking | Hand off to heuristics + accessibility + aesthetics + microcopy |
