The Brutal Truth About Fake Buttons in UX

Every UX designer has shipped a fake button. Don’t pretend you haven’t. It’s that glossy, clickable UI element that looks ready to go — but isn’t. Maybe it launches a modal that says "Coming soon." Maybe it refreshes the page. Maybe it does absolutely nothing.

We’ve all been there. The backend’s delayed. The roadmap slipped. Product says, “Just show it, we’ll hook it up next sprint.” So you leave the button in. It looks finished. It demos well. And you tell yourself it’s harmless.

It’s Not Harmless. It’s Lazy.

That button — the one that looks like it works but doesn’t — is not a placeholder. It’s not a temporary patch. It’s a lie. And users can smell it.

Fake buttons betray trust. They teach users that your interface can’t be trusted. That the product is smoke and mirrors. That if one button is fake, maybe others are too. And that’s the real problem — not the click, but the erosion of credibility.

Why Do Designers Still Ship Them?

Because it’s easy. Because deadlines loom. Because founders want a slick walkthrough for the investor deck. Because no one wants to raise their hand and say, “This shouldn’t go live.”

But let’s stop pretending we’re doing anyone a favour. When you ship a button that doesn’t work, what you’re really doing is outsourcing confusion to the user. You’re saying: “You figure it out.”

And users do. Click one, nothing. Click two, still nothing. Click three? Now they’re angry. You’ve burned trust in three taps.

When (and Only When) It’s Acceptable

Now, let’s be real. Sometimes you have to ship the illusion of a feature. That’s startup life. But there are rules:

Label it clearly: "Coming soon," "Feature in development," or use a tooltip.
Give visual cues: greyed-out button, secondary style, or an icon that implies it’s not active yet.
Be honest in your microcopy: “Not ready yet, but we’re working on it.”
Use it to collect interest: a click that leads to a waitlist or feedback form.

If it’s clear to the user what’s happening — and why — then you’re not lying. You’re previewing.

But if you style that fake button exactly like a real one? With no context, no explanation, no function? You’re not previewing anything. You’re just hoping people won’t notice.

What Fake Buttons Really Say About Your Team

They say you value appearance over function. They say you prioritise investor optics over user experience. They say your design team is afraid to push back.

Let’s call this what it is: cowardice. Hiding behind timelines and product pressure isn’t a defense. If you’re the designer, your job is to protect the integrity of the interface — even when it’s uncomfortable.

Shipping fake buttons isn’t MVP thinking. It’s MVP theatre.

Better Options Exist

Don’t want to break the flow? Fine. There are ways to handle this:

Replace the button with an informative banner.
Use a progress tracker that shows upcoming features.
Offer a modal with a "Notify me" CTA.
Show a disabled state and explain why it’s disabled.

These are signals of progress, not signals of deception. And they do the job without insulting your users.

The Long-Term Cost

Every fake button is a debt. Not just technical debt — trust debt. The longer you leave it, the more expensive it gets.

Designers need to stop thinking their job is to "make it look good." Your job is to make it make sense. If something doesn’t work, don’t style it like it does. If it’s not ready, say so.

And if your product team doesn’t understand that? Educate them. Fight for clarity. Stand up for your users.

Bottom Line

A button is not just a rectangle. It’s a promise. If you can’t keep it, don’t make it.

Fake buttons happen — but they should never happen by accident. If you’re going to show something that doesn’t work, do it with eyes open, language clear, and conscience clean.

Your users aren’t beta testers. They’re not here to guess what’s real and what’s just UI theatre.

Design with honesty. Design with backbone. And next time someone says “Just throw the button in for now,” tell them what that really costs.

Because it’s not just a UX issue. It’s a trust issue. And trust, unlike buttons, doesn’t come with a hover state.

Read the original inspiration: https://dnsk.work/blog/this-button-does-nothing/

The Brutal Truth About Fake Buttons in UX