Choosing from a long list, speeding up the process correctly
The mini article is devoted to a small optimization of long lists in forms, and is written from personal experience of using and refining interfaces.
Quite often, one has to face the need to give the user a choice from a large list of options, especially when filling out different forms. For example, the user must specify their country. The list of countries may consist of 100 or more pieces (194 according to the US Department of State), how to locate them?
The usual solution is in alphabetical order. This solution has its own disadvantage - in order to get to, say, Ukraine, you need to scroll through about two thirds of the list. How to optimize it? Taking into account the fact that the resource is Russian-speaking, one can single out the main geography of the site visitors and put a dozen of the most frequent countries to the top of the list.
But here the problem arises - many will open the list out of habit and will not look at the beginning, because they have long been used to flipping it down to the first letter of their country, and this letter is not “A”. At the usual place they will not find the country any more (I faced this problem several times).
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Then there are three options for the development of events:
How can we satisfy these three, avoid a possible scandal and speed up the work of those who are looking at the top of the list? We must act simply: any changes at the beginning or at the end of the list should not violate it, but should go on an additional principle. That is, the list begins with points Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other most frequent countries, and then there is a list in alphabetical order, where all these countries are again.
This is, in principle, a good rule when improving interfaces - by adding a new way of working, do not remove the old one until users are completely unstuck from it.
Quite often, one has to face the need to give the user a choice from a large list of options, especially when filling out different forms. For example, the user must specify their country. The list of countries may consist of 100 or more pieces (194 according to the US Department of State), how to locate them?
The usual solution is in alphabetical order. This solution has its own disadvantage - in order to get to, say, Ukraine, you need to scroll through about two thirds of the list. How to optimize it? Taking into account the fact that the resource is Russian-speaking, one can single out the main geography of the site visitors and put a dozen of the most frequent countries to the top of the list.
But here the problem arises - many will open the list out of habit and will not look at the beginning, because they have long been used to flipping it down to the first letter of their country, and this letter is not “A”. At the usual place they will not find the country any more (I faced this problem several times).
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Then there are three options for the development of events:
- an experienced user will check the top of the list;
- a non-user simply selects a country at random;
- The principal user may be offended, considering it a provocation (especially if the country is not recognized by all states or is in the stage of the struggle for independence).
How can we satisfy these three, avoid a possible scandal and speed up the work of those who are looking at the top of the list? We must act simply: any changes at the beginning or at the end of the list should not violate it, but should go on an additional principle. That is, the list begins with points Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other most frequent countries, and then there is a list in alphabetical order, where all these countries are again.
This is, in principle, a good rule when improving interfaces - by adding a new way of working, do not remove the old one until users are completely unstuck from it.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/111670/
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