Information density
When displaying a piece of information, there are levels of information density related to that content:
- name
- summary
- details
The name identifies the item and often links to further details. Examples:
- Kim Smith - a user's name
- Annual Report.doc - a file name
Summaries typically expand with differentiating or supplementary detail. Examples:
- Kim Smith ([email protected]) - CTO, Thingcorp - the email address and title provide detail and differentiate this Kim Smith from other people with the same name.
- /2016/Annual Report.doc - a file's location can be used to distinguish it from other files with the same name.
A full details view reveals all relevant information the system contains about an item. For example the user's activitiy and access level could be revealed; or a file's modification history.
Progressive reveal
Where possible, natural language is used to reveal simple details; with a user interaction to reveal further levels of information density.
Patterns used to reveal data should be based on realistic data, but extend or change to cope with extreme data. For example if the most common range is to show 1-3 names, natural langauge will work. But if there are cases where 100 names could be shown, the pattern should adapt to cope.
Example: revealing user details
When users are linked to a piece of content, summary details are revealed by clicking their name. This pattern scales to a maximum of three names, at which point it offloads to another view such as a modal.