Going Full Screen
Going Full Screen is a UI pattern that temporarily expands a section of the interface to fill the entire viewport, focusing the user’s attention on that content. This hides unrelated UI elements and reduces distractions, letting users view details or perform a focused interaction. In design terms, this leverages progressive disclosure: advanced content is deferred to a secondary view so the primary interface stays. By taking over the screen, the expanded section becomes essentially “indistinguishable from a regular page,” hiding background content and chrome. This promotes readability and reduces cognitive load, aligning with usability goals to help users concentrate on one task at a time.
Behavior
Expands content to full screen with smooth transitions, hides background elements, and includes a clear close control for returning.
Trigger:
The user explicitly activates full-screen mode via a dedicated control. For example, an “expand” icon on a card or a tap/swipe on a bottom panel can open the content full-screen. Importantly, expansion must be an explicit action (e.g. a click), not an accidental focus change, in compliance with WCAG SC 3.2.1 (On Focus)
Transition:
The change to full screen should animate smoothly to maintain context. A common pattern is Material Design’s container transform or a fade, which visually links the original section to its full-screen counterpart. Transitions should be brief and respect user preferences.
Expanded View:
Once expanded, the content covers the entire window and is not presented as a floating panel. Underlying elements are hidden or de emphasized so the user “stays” on this view. In mobile contexts, designers often fill the whole screen to improve readability and prevent background scrolling.
Close Action:
There is an action provided in full-screen mode is a Close (commonly an “X” in the top bar) to collapse back to the original layout. Material guidelines emphasize using just the “X” for dismissing a full-screen dialog, and similarly only a close control should be visible here. Tapping the Close control restores the previous screen.
Best Practices
Use only when focus or clarity is needed, keep the view simple, provide an obvious exit, and ensure accessibility across devices.
Keep UI Simple:
Show only what’s necessary in full-screen. keep the main interface lean, and reveal the detailed content only in this secondary view. Avoid including any extra tools or navigation that aren’t directly related to the content in focus.
Maintain Context:
Even though other UI is hidden, the user should never feel lost. Use the transition animation and consistent layout to indicate that this is the same content. Upon closing, immediately restore the previous screen as if nothing was interrupted.
Testing:
Rigorously test with keyboard and screen readers. Verify that focus never escapes the full-screen region and that closing the view restores focus correctly. Also test on multiple device sizes to ensure the pattern behaves appropriately (for example, testing a bottom-sheet expansion on both phone and tablet).
Performance:
Since this UI covers the whole screen, ensure it loads and runs efficiently. Avoid heavy content or scripts that could delay rendering; users expect the full-screen view to appear quickly after the trigger action.