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Userflow Updates

Backdrop color and opacity

blog author
Sebastian Seilund

December 18, 2019

When you build flows with Modal steps or use the Backdrop feature of tooltip steps, Userflow will add a semi-transparent layer on top of your app to give extra focus to the Userflow element.

By default this layer is 40% opaque black. This works well on light UIs (since it makes your own app's UI look grayed out). It does not work well on top of very dark UIs (it just makes things slightly more dark).

Here's an example of a dar-mode app with the default backdrop (#000 at 40% opacity). See how the focused element barely stands out:

Default backdrop

You can now change both the backdrop color and opacity under Settings -> Themes. Scroll down to the Backdrop section. Choose Modal in the Preview drop-down field to see a preview of it. Opacity is a percentage number between 0% (completely transparent) and 100% (completely opaque).

For apps with dark UI, we suggest using either a light backdrop color with low opacity (e.g. 25-50%), or a dark color with high opacity (>50%).

Here is the same app from above with a black backdrop color at 65% opacity. The contrast between the background content and the focused element is a lot better!

Black high opacity backdrop

Here it is with #aaa (light gray) at 40%:

Gray backdrop

2 min 33 sec. read

blog single image
Userflow Updates

Backdrop color and opacity

blog author
Sebastian Seilund

December 18, 2019

When you build flows with Modal steps or use the Backdrop feature of tooltip steps, Userflow will add a semi-transparent layer on top of your app to give extra focus to the Userflow element.

By default this layer is 40% opaque black. This works well on light UIs (since it makes your own app's UI look grayed out). It does not work well on top of very dark UIs (it just makes things slightly more dark).

Here's an example of a dar-mode app with the default backdrop (#000 at 40% opacity). See how the focused element barely stands out:

Default backdrop

You can now change both the backdrop color and opacity under Settings -> Themes. Scroll down to the Backdrop section. Choose Modal in the Preview drop-down field to see a preview of it. Opacity is a percentage number between 0% (completely transparent) and 100% (completely opaque).

For apps with dark UI, we suggest using either a light backdrop color with low opacity (e.g. 25-50%), or a dark color with high opacity (>50%).

Here is the same app from above with a black backdrop color at 65% opacity. The contrast between the background content and the focused element is a lot better!

Black high opacity backdrop

Here it is with #aaa (light gray) at 40%:

Gray backdrop

2 min 33 sec. read

When you build flows with Modal steps or use the Backdrop feature of tooltip steps, Userflow will add a semi-transparent layer on top of your app to give extra focus to the Userflow element.

By default this layer is 40% opaque black. This works well on light UIs (since it makes your own app's UI look grayed out). It does not work well on top of very dark UIs (it just makes things slightly more dark).

Here's an example of a dar-mode app with the default backdrop (#000 at 40% opacity). See how the focused element barely stands out:

Default backdrop

You can now change both the backdrop color and opacity under Settings -> Themes. Scroll down to the Backdrop section. Choose Modal in the Preview drop-down field to see a preview of it. Opacity is a percentage number between 0% (completely transparent) and 100% (completely opaque).

For apps with dark UI, we suggest using either a light backdrop color with low opacity (e.g. 25-50%), or a dark color with high opacity (>50%).

Here is the same app from above with a black backdrop color at 65% opacity. The contrast between the background content and the focused element is a lot better!

Black high opacity backdrop

Here it is with #aaa (light gray) at 40%:

Gray backdrop

About the author

Co-Founder of Userflow

Sebastian Seilund is the co-founder and former CEO of Userflow, where he built one of the leading user onboarding platforms for SaaS companies. With experience as a software engineer at Google and having founded multiple successful software companies, including Denmark's first user-friendly accounting software, Sebastian brings deep technical expertise to discussions about product-led growth and user experience.

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