Many people may never have noticed this. Browsing the web every day has taught us that a pointing-hand cursor means, "You can click this."
That idea is a misconception, or at least a habit created by more than a decade of website UI and UX.
Buttons Without the Pointing Hand
Here are two kinds of buttons on a page with no CSS:
Native browser buttons do not use the pointing-hand cursor
Neither one triggers the pointing-hand cursor. Chrome is a native app, and its visible buttons use the default cursor too.
Now look at the native System Settings app on macOS:
Almost nothing in macOS System Settings uses the pointing-hand cursor
Its buttons, navigation links, and switches all keep the default cursor.
Why?
Because the hand was designed for hyperlinks.
The Pointing Hand Is for Hyperlinks
The W3C user interface guidelines（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) say:
The cursor is a pointer that indicates a link.
In other words, a hyperlink is the reason to change the cursor into a pointing hand.
The Wikipedia page for cursors（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) says the same thing:
When hovering over a hyperlink, a mouseover event changes the pointer into a hand with an extended index finger. Usually, an informative tooltip about the link may pop up, which disappears when the user moves the pointer away.
Again, the hand appears when the pointer is over a hyperlink.
So what counts as a hyperlink?
Modern CSS means you often cannot tell whether an interface element is a link or a button just by looking at it.
Frontend developers make buttons that do not look like buttons and links that do not look like links, so the distinction has gradually blurred.
That is why an a tag and a button tag often need the same or similar CSS to make both of them look pressable.
The Illusion of Interactivity
I no longer think a pointing-hand cursor is what tells people an element is interactive.
The button itself should respond when the mouse moves over it. A change in the border, background color, position, or opacity can tell someone that the element is interactive.
Visit Apple's website and you will notice that the buttons on its product pages（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) only gain a pointing-hand cursor:
Apple's website also uses the pointing-hand cursor
I do not think Apple handles this detail particularly well. The cursor changes, but the button itself gives no visual response.
There is no universally right treatment here. The right choice depends on the interface.
As developers and designers, we want interactions to feel clear and natural for the people using them.
Adam Pietrasiak（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) shared a similar thought on Twitter:
Don't use the pointing-hand cursor for clickable elements. The pointing-hand cursor is popular on the web, but desktop apps rarely use it. If you use a pointer cursor in a desktop app, it will feel like a website.
Adam Pietrasiak@pie6kTip for creating a desktop app with web technologies:Don't use the "pointing hand" cursor for clickable elements. Pointing hand patterns is popular only on the web. Desktop apps rarely use it.If you use a pointer cursor in a desktop app, it will feel like a website.· 130 喜欢Likes· 含视频· Contains video
Conclusion
So, do buttons really need pointer cursors?
It depends.
-
Building a website? Use them. Add
cursor: pointerto everybutton, because most people already expect that behavior. -
Building a native desktop app? You probably do not need them. A pointing-hand cursor can make the app feel less native because most desktop apps do not use one for buttons.
If you care about UI and UX details as much as Linear（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab), you can let users choose:
Linear's settings let users customize the pointing-hand cursor
Linear provides a "Use pointer cursors" switch in its preferences, so every interactive element can use either the default arrow or the pointing hand.
There is still no single correct answer, but it is an interesting interaction design detail to think about.