How to design and style better tooltips?

Make this UI element work well for your users.

Tooltips are small UI elements that users encounter on a web page or application when they hover over other elements on the page. As the name suggests, Tooltips provide suggestions about an item or process on apps or web pages.

In other words, Tooltips are text boxes that display a brief explanation of the elements of an application or web page.

When thinking about an optimal UX, a good tooltip design can have a big influence on which users understand your features and end up being successful. Conversely, poor tooltip design presents tooltips as irritating and loses all credibility.

Image by Adam Silver

The problem with tooltips

While they allow you to squeeze additional information onto the screen, they have a number of issues.

#1. They are difficult to spot: Some users won’t notice a clue, which means there is a high risk that they will never see the content on it.

#2. They obscure the screen: You cannot read the hint and use the rest of the screen at the same time.