Hi
I found the sliding list component really cool, but I ask myself if end users really get it respectively will understand that the list has the sliding effect which reveal functionalities.
Do anyone has got some metrics or has run some usabilities tests, which prove that end users get, or don’t get, it?
Or anyone could share a tricks or an approach to let the users know, that the lists used in the app are sliding lists?
Thx in advance for sharing your experience and thoughts
I’ve seen apps that create a toast saying “Hey! You can do this and that!”, which you must dismiss yourself by clicking “OK”. Only show this once of course. Personally, I really think that is the best approach of doing it, especially instead of doing nothing.
Some other apps keep the buttons as “quick actions” (E.g. default Mail app on iOS), so that there is another way of performing the action, maybe via some dropdown menu after opening the details for the item. The dropdown is more obvious to the normal user, whereas the ones with more knowledge of what they’re doing will eventually figure out the sliding list is there. Keyword: eventually.
Another option is to implement an animation that reveals the fact that items can be slid, as seen here:
This is will likely be the option I will be going with myself, as I like the idea of showing the user what they can do.
Finally I decided not to use sliding items right now, but I’m agree with both solutions from @mich356c and @SigmundFroyd respectively user tend not to know that items are sliding without being noticed
I just saw another way of doing it today or yesterday which I didn’t think of last time: To quickly do a brief animation of it, like the first time you view a list and it has items, they move it slightly to either site to show the user that they can do that. I don’t know if majority of users will realize what it means though.