The brilliance and misery of ghost buttons

[suchona.kani.z]

Where did the ghost button come from?
Ghost button gained fans especially in 2014 , in fact it was one of the biggest graphic trends. We are not surprised. It is elegant, does not spoil the aesthetics of graphics – that is probably why designers adore it so much. But it also has its limits. Many users overlook it .

Ghost button has no Czech equivalent, the English name has been adopted. It is a button that is graphically simple, transparent , and usually uses only one color, often white or black.

Examples include the Free Shipping , Magazine buttons or a button on a banner at zoot.cz.

Buttons on zoot.cz

Another version of ghost buttons

Why do users ignore buttons?
Do you know who really liked using ghost buttons? Tony Stark as Iron Man. He had ghost buttons inside his helmet and in his office. He didn't actually have a monitor, his computer projected everything directly into cash app database space in 3D, so all he had to do was swipe his finger. But not every user is Tony Stark – a genius with an astronomical IQ (after all, the technology used in the film doesn't even exist in real life yet). Most computers aren't Jarvis with artificial intelligence either. Therefore, an ordinary user will easily miss a button and be confused about where to click.

Canadian agency Unbounced tested how this works in practice . They created and tested two versions of their homepage – one with a prominent button and the other with a ghost button. Other than that, the pages were completely identical.

Classic button version Version with ghost button

Where would you click? On the page with the ghost button, users clicked the round images, which are not buttons, the most. Users then left disappointed and there was no conversion . You can clearly see the results on the heat map.

Button test results

The entire study was presented by Oli Gardner at the Marketing Festival.

Advantages of ghost buttons
They are very easy to create in Illustrator or Photoshop.
Although their production is trivial, they give the page a final graphic appearance that looks good.
Subtle and linear buttons have a modern look and give the graphic design a sense of order.
Thanks to their simplicity, they are easy to combine with other elements on the page .
Disadvantages of ghost buttons
A less prominent button can fit perfectly into a graphic design.
They can cause a decrease in page conversion rates.
They can cause readability issues. In general, black text on a white background is best read. If the background does not contrast sufficiently with the text, the user may not be able to read what is written on the button.
It cannot be said that a ghost button is a completely bad solution. It can be a great fit for a certain design , for example for architects designing modern buildings. Therefore, a web designer should carefully consider how and where to use it. Not sure if such a button is suitable for your website? Test it using user or A/B testing .