Design Haptic Feedback
Mobile · mobile, micro-interactions, status
Updated 2026-07-28
- Treat vibration as a channel with meaning, not as decoration. A device that buzzes at everything teaches the user to ignore it or to switch it off entirely.
- Reserve it for moments where touch adds information:
- A control has snapped to a position.
- A threshold has been crossed during a drag.
- A long press has registered.
- An action succeeded or failed.
- Match the intensity to the event. A light tick for a selection and a stronger pattern for an error keeps the vocabulary readable without looking at the screen.
- Fire it at the moment the system commits, not when the finger lands. Haptics that lead the actual result make the interface feel out of sync.
- Never use it as the only signal. It is unavailable on most desktops, often disabled, and absent when the phone is on a table.
- Respect the system setting. If the user has turned haptics off, that is a decision, not a default to override.
- Keep it consistent product-wide. The same pattern meaning success in one screen and warning in another is worse than silence.
- Consider the context. A shared or public setting makes vibration conspicuous, and repeated buzzing during a long drag is unpleasant rather than helpful.
Haptics work when they confirm something the user already suspects, and irritate when they announce something they did not ask about.
Related guides
UX Handbook