what are your opinions on custom cursors?
would you say it's bad overall / depends on use case / can be tasteful / accessible?
been styling custom cursors and enjoying it but wondering if my time might be better spent on something else -- also really curious for those with clients if they enjoy the custom cursors or overall how they're received by non technical people / business owners
5 Replies
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with custom cursors as long as they fit in with the overall aesthetic and feel of the page. They can even help to solidify the theme of a site if used properly. Spending a whole lot of time on them, though? Probably not the best use of time comparatively.
Any unexpected changes to UI elements like the mouse cursor will negatively affect usability.
Imagine getting in your car and finding that someone has replaced your shifter with a mannequin arm. Because of that, something you used to do without thinking has now become a chore.
Because the main method of interacting with your site/application is with a mouse cursor, changing that experience can only work against you.
Users know what their cursor looks like and how it feels/operates. Unexpected changes to that will rarely be welcomed.
You can never know if a user is already using a replacement cursor for any number of accessibility reasons. Removing that is like kicking a cane away from an elderly.
A couple of caveats:
If your website is devoted to selling custom cursors, having it immediately change wouldn't be as unexpected as it would on any other website.
If you wanted to provide an option for replacing the cursor, that would give the user a level of choice you'd have been removing otherwise.
If you do automatically replace the cursor, you should make a very visible and accessible option for disabling it at the very least.
Users know what their cursor looks like and how it feels/operates. Unexpected changes to that will rarely be welcomed. You can never know if a user is already using a replacement cursor for any number of accessibility reasons. Removing that is like kicking a cane away from an elderly.This is a little short sighted. There are ways to know if a user is using accessibility tools and disabling custom features. It's reasonable to create a custom cursor if it fits in with the experience and as you state - users are very accustomed to how a cursor works, but that is the same even if the cursor is custom or not.
It's reasonable to create a custom cursor if it fits in with the experienceSee the caveats I took the time to think over and type.
and as you state - users are very accustomed to how a cursor worksNo, what I said was users know what their cursor looks like. Getting accustomed to alternate and/or creative cursors takes time and that's time that most users won't waste unless they have no choice. Maybe you've never used custom pointers before, but there are a lot of options and the click registration isn't always where you'd expect it to be. Use a mirrored cursor or one with the click registration in the center and you'll see exactly what I mean.
This is a little short sighted. There are ways to know if a user is using accessibility toolsIs there a way to know if a user has installed a custom pointer in windows? If the answer is no (and it is) then, as I said, you can't know for sure and if you can't know for sure then what you're doing now is called guess-work and it's as accurate and useful as it sounds. Talk about short-sighted. You know what, it's my fault. I used a poor analogy... not everyone knows how to drive or does it on a daily basis. So here's a better one: Imagine that every time you sit down to eat, the utensils you're used to are there, but each time you pick up one, it becomes something new and different. Whatever it became can still technically be used to either cut food or guide it to your mouth, but not in the way you're used to having done it thousands and thousands of times before in the exact same way. If you aren't expecting this and you're hungry, your user experience has now been diminished. Oh, and remember, just because this is 100% true doesn't mean you can't still do it. Just remember those caveats I mentioned.
You know, I think Squeemeister is right to an extent. Any drastic changes to the cursor can not only negatively affect users, it could additionally just piss them off. I was thinking about a particular kind of cursor change. After reading Squee's comments, I remembered what may currently be a trend in cursors. I've been to a few developer's websites to get ideas for my own portfolio site, and some of them have the cursor as a dot of some sort with a larger circle around it, and the cursor trails kinda slowly across the screen as you move it. I hate it. HATE it. I'm one of those people who often does go in and change the default pointer, so I can see it better. Anyway, having said that, I've been to other sites where the pointer cursor was made into like a cartoon-like hand instead of the normal hand, and it fit in very well with the aesthetic of the site and definitely improved my personal experience there.
So, I guess I still fall squarely in the "it depends" camp, but having a very visible way to get rid of ANY customer cursor is a damn good idea.