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RE: RE: Usability study of tables sorted across vs. down
Subject:RE: RE: Usability study of tables sorted across vs. down From:"Pinkham, Jim" <Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com> To:"Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:14:16 -0500
And, while the answer may be "yes," this situation seems to make it at
least worth posing the question: Is a table this large the best way, or
even the only way, to effectively present the information?
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Gene Kim-Eng
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 12:51 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: RE: Usability study of tables sorted across vs. down
Does the entire "table" fit on one page or screen? If so, then from a
user POV I wouldn't find either way better, as long as we're talking
about an alphabetical listing of items that are not categorized in any
other way.
If this runs into a second page, however, or is large enough on the
screen to require scrolling, then I'd prefer a top-to-bottom
alphabetical sorting with no columns, so it isn't necessary to
flip/scroll in more than one direction to go through the list from
beginning to end (eyes scanning left/right across a printed page is the
equivalent of flipping/scrolling when it comes to effort and annoyance).
What would be especially irksome would be if it was necessary to
flip/scroll back and forth up/down AND left/right to read all the items
in order.
Gene Kim-Eng
------- Original Message -------
Kevin Elmore asked:
>
> I've been having a discussion about presenting a table of links.
> Since there are no borders, this looks more like two columns online,
> so the term, "table," is used on the authoring side.
>
> Right now, I have 17 links in two columns. It has always been laid out
> alphabetically from left to right. I think it would look better being
> sorted alphabetically from top to bottom instead.
>
> I wonder if there have been any usability studies on the layout of
> these types of tables (columns). I know that I personally prefer a
> table that lists everything down first and then across, but I could
> possibly be in the minority. Any ideas of these studies?
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