Designing Interfaces, 3rd Edition

Chapter 7. Lists of Things

This chapter covers only one topic: how to display lists of items in an interactive setting. Just lists.

Why do lists merit their own chapter, you may ask?

Lists are everywhere in screen design. Consider the many types of items that we show in lists: articles, screens, photos, videos, maps, books, games, movies, TV shows, songs, products, email messages, blog entries, status updates, forum posts, comments, search results, people, events, files, documents, apps, links, URLs, tools, modes, and actions. And that list of lists goes on and on.

Practically every interface or website ever designed includes lists. This chapter will help you think about them logically and clearly, understand different design aspects, and make good trade-offs when designing interfaces that use lists.

Use Cases for Lists

Before jumping into a design, it’s useful to analyze the use cases for a list. What will people need to do with the list? Consider which of these scenarios apply:

Getting an overview

What impression will someone get from the list as a whole? In some cases, a user should be able to skim down the list and understand what it’s about. Often that requires more than just words; it might require images or carefulvisual organization to convey that impression.

Browsing item by item

Will the user peruse items randomly or in order? Do they need to click or tap items to open them? If so, it should be easy to go back to the list and find another item, or move directly ...