I'm working on an effort to introduce a grid/list toggle, and we can't decide on where to place it in the page. My vote was for the top-right, but the client wants to explore other placements.
Is there a best-practice for this toggle placement?
Answer
Best practice may not apply to a location
There may be enough examples (Google Analytics and Podio are two more) that place toggles like this to the top and right of the content to say that it's a conventional location, but I'd argue that the location of controls like this should depend on the specific application and user goals.
Examine your motivation for change
Too often the motivation for inquiries like this one is that the client "wants to explore" other options, but consider whether this is sufficient justification to mess around with this. A more reasonable approach would be to lean on design convention (put it in the top right) and test with users. If they have trouble with it, then explore other options.
Why put it in the top right?
Regardless of which scanning model you subscribe to, the top right is generally a secondary (or tertiary) area of focus on the page, so it makes a good place for non-primary actions. i.e. actions not directly related to the primary task e.g. toggling list views.
A counter example of this is the general Wordpress list view. They channel the primary actions on table items through buttons and dropdowns, and, accordingly, place these buttons in the primary focus area on the page - the top left.
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