Description
Tooltips are small text bubbles that appear when the user hovers over an element.
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(For the purpose of this document, tooltips and infotips are the same).
Usage & Behaviour
General guidelines
Structure
Most tooltips contain plain text, which usually describes the control or element they relate to.
A tooltip may also contain a header, icons, dynamic content, actionable buttons, links, tables, and other content elements.
Examples:
Component | Regular size | Small size |
|---|---|---|
Regular |  |  |
Regular with heading |  | |
Error See Field Validation |  |  |
Warning see Field Validation |  |  |
Informative |  |  |
Help |  |  |
Additional examples (from different applications) | ||
Regular with dynamic content (Calendar | Statistics) |  | |
Regular with 2 line header (Calendar)
|  | |
Regular with structured content (Queue Analytics, Forecast) |  | |
The preferred presentation of a tooltip is with a small triangle near the cursor point, where technically feasible. Examples:
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Placement and Positioning
Tooltips should appear adjacent to the cursor. This is usually below and to the right of the cursor (except for with right-to-left (RTL) languages, where the tooltip may appear to the left instead).
The tooltip should not move with the cursor while it remains within the target area. See Interaction below.
The tooltip should not cover the element it relates to , which the user may need to interact with. For example:
Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|
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Content
When applied to Buttons, tooltips should include a short and clear description of the action the user can perform. For example:
Target area | Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|---|
 | "Generate a schedule for selected employees" Explains the main operation of the button, and what it will be applied to. | "Generate schedule" Only repeats the button text without further information, which is redundant. |
| "Search within the tree of the organisation" Explains the main operation of the element, including the information it relates to. | "Will search all trees of the organisation excluding dates or any other information not relevant to the organisation." The text is too long, and includes unnecessary information which can be understood from the element’s context. |
Interaction
Tooltip presentation
The behavior of tooltips depends on the context of the user’s interaction.
General interaction guidelines
Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
Cursor is moved into the target area within 0.1 seconds. | Display visual feedback of hover |
Cursor remains stationary within the target area for 1.5 seconds (including the loadings time of the content). | Display tooltip. The tooltip should not move with the cursor while it remains within the target area. |
Cursor leaves the target area. | Close the tooltip after 0.1 seconds. |
Cursor is moved to another target area in less than 1 second. | Remove the current tooltip. |
Cursor remains within the same target area. | For standard content, continue to show the tooltip for 12 seconds. |
Graphs and micro charts
It usually requires more quick response presenting the information.
Mouse cursor enters the target area: display visual feedback of hover within 0.1 seconds..
If cursor remains stationary within the target area for 0.7 seconds
<Continue as regular or tooltip>
For example:
Tooltips with action
Follow the same Regular tooltip interaction with the following changes
While the mouse cursor is on the target area OR tooltip area, keep displaying the tooltip
Once the cursor left the target AND tooltip area, close the tooltip after 1 seconds
Target area
The target area should include all elements to which the tooltip is pointing.
All parts of the target area should be treated as an internal target area.
A video example of incorrect behavior:
Notice how the tooltip changes position within the same component on different elements such as Icon, label, and dropdown arrow)
General
Tooltips on graphs may sometimes add additional graphical elements to help the user focus on the visual.
See example in Queue Analytics where a vertical line is added with tooltip to help maintain focus of hour:
Using "Esc" on the keyboard should hide the tooltip while the mouse cursor is still within the target area. Getting out of the target area should reset the interaction as explained above.
Best practices
Try to avoid tooltip with actions in them
Use A formatted structure is easier to read than big chunk (see in additional examples under Content)
Don’t use:
If you reach more than 250 chars, reconsider the tooltip and use a pop-over
Tooltips should not be used as the only way to accomplish a task (should not be vital for the task)
Just repeat what is already on the screen (i.e. redundant)
Transition
The tooltip should appear with an animated transition and not at once
See video:
Accessibility compliance
Focus management
We already set general guidelines described in /wiki/spaces/UX/pages/308969693
Focusing on an element with tooltip should
Display the tooltip with the same time constraints described above in Tooltips#Interaction
Clicking Esc. should dismiss the tooltip as described above in Tooltips#Interaction
Unless otherwise specified, see our general compliance information in Fundamentals - Accessibility
Design
Zeplin link | Screen thumbnail |
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