UI design pattern tips: 'Like' functionality

Although many people are designing mobile products that are social in nature, few understand what that really means, how it works, or why it's important.

In this series for Creative Bloq, Chris Bank of UXPin, the UX design app, discusses the importance of social design patterns and details examples from some of the hottest websites and web apps today.

You can see previous posts from UXPin here. Meanwhile, for more examples of web design patterns, download UXPin's free e-book, Web UI Design Patterns 2014 and their free Web UI kit.

The problem

The user wants to rate content in a simple way without having to worry about the degrees to which they like it.

The solution

Simplify rating controls by making them binary choices - the user either likes it or dislikes it.

Pinterest lets you like or unlike other people's Pins

Pinterest lets you like or unlike other people's Pins

Eliminating the fine-grain of stars and rating scores, this makes rating things easier for users as well as interpreting them.

If I enjoyed a video, should I rate it four stars or go all the way with five stars? YouTube and almost every application lets you like (or even dislike) everything in a binary way instead.

The binary nature of 'Like' takes the stress out of rating online content

The binary nature of 'Like' takes the stress out of rating online content

A lot of web apps provide a way of showing appreciation by simply 'liking' or 'hearting' content.

Words: Chris Bank

Chris Bank is the growth lead at UXPin, a UX design app that creates responsive interactive wireframes and prototypes.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of seven full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Deals Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Digital Arts and Design Editor Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Abi Le Guilcher, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.