The unnecessary difficulty of telling Heroku ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about living in Italy

I once wanted to tell a friend that I did not live in Italy.

But I couldn’t just say “yes” or “no.”

I had to slide this toggle left or right. Nothing against that. But I wasn’t sure if I was saying “yes” or “no” by toggling left or right.

Toggles are like that. I find them to consistently be the most confusing UI element, and yet they stick around.

Here is what my friend Heroku was asking me when I tried to set up a new app:

For one, what does “domiciled” actually mean in a technical sense? Are you asking if I live in Italy? Or if I live in Italy for more than a few months per year? And I suppose I am an Italian customer because 23andMe tells me I am 30 percent Italian or so?

Secondly, let’s assume I am not domiciled in Italy, and I want to tell Heroku that. So I need to click the slider toward the “No” I see, right? I want to set it to “no,” so surely that toggle should be closer to the “no” I see next to it?

Nope. That “No” actually represents my current state, but I see it as a button action label.

Solving this is simple. Use radio buttons:

I also changed the text introducing the question. No doubt it needs to be clearer. Perhaps broken into two questions. People might have a home in Italy but not live there. Or they might live there and not have a home. Right.

I leave it to Heroku to figure that out. But please, everyone, make it simple to say “yes” or “no.” Or “on” or “off,” if that’s your thing.