Unlocking the basic of ‘Sorting’ UX Design: A Comprehensive Guide
Let’s Learn ‘Sorting UX’ in Digital Product Design!
Imagine you have a big box of toys. Inside the box, there are different types of toys, like dolls, cars, and action figures. But they’re all mixed up together, so it’s hard to find the toy you want to play with. Sorting is a way of organizing the toys in the box so that they’re easier to find. Just like how you sort toys in the box, we use sorting on the computer or phone to make it easy to find the information we need, just like when you put all dolls together, all cars together, and all action figures together, we put similar information together so it’s easy to find.
Before understanding how ‘Sorting’ works in a real application let’s understand ‘Unsorted Data’ to get a clear picture of why we need to use sorting.
Let’s say you’re looking for a recipe to make your favorite dish on a cooking website. But when you go to the website, all the recipes are mixed together in no particular order. Some recipes are for breakfast, some are for lunch and some are for dinner, and they are all mixed up together. Without sorting, it would be very hard to find the recipe you’re looking for. Imagine you have to go through hundreds of recipes, one by one, just to find the one you want. It would take a lot of time and be very frustrating.
Sorting is like putting similar recipes together, just like how you would sort your toy collection. For example, if you could sort the recipes by meal type, all the breakfast recipes would be together, all the lunch recipes would be together, and all the dinner recipes would be together. It would be much easier to find the recipe you’re looking for and make your favorite dish.
In this example, the unsorted data would be all the recipes mixed together on the cooking website, and the sorted data would be the same recipes organized by meal type (breakfast, lunch, dinner) so that it is much easier to find the recipe the user is looking for.
As a product designer, it’s important to think about how users will use the website and make sure that the information is organized in a way that makes it easy for them to find what they’re looking for. Sorting is one of the ways to make it easier for users to find what they need quickly and efficiently.
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Concept of sorting controls, such as drop-down menus or buttons:
Let’s say you’re working on an e-commerce website that sells clothing. On the website, there is a section where users can browse through a list of clothing items. Without sorting, the items would be listed randomly and it would be difficult for users to find the specific item they’re looking for.
To solve this problem, the product designer would implement sorting controls. This can be in the form of a drop-down menu or buttons that allow users to sort the items by different criteria such as price, popularity, date added, name, or color.
For example, if a user is looking for a specific dress, they could use the sorting controls to filter the items by name. This would make it easy for the user to find the dress they’re looking for because all the dresses would be grouped together in alphabetical order. The user could also sort by price if they are looking for a specific range of prices, and so on.
This example demonstrates how sorting can be used in a real-life application to make it easy for users to find the information they need. By providing sorting controls, the product designer is allowing users to tailor the view of the data to their specific needs, making the browsing experience more efficient and user-friendly.
It’s worth noting that the product designer would also consider the different criteria available for sorting, trying to make them relevant to the product and user needs, for example adding a “size” option for sorting in a clothing store would be relevant, but not for a store that sells cars.
In summary, the product designer implements sorting controls on the e-commerce website, which allows users to sort the items by different criteria such as price, popularity, date added, name, or color. This makes it easy for users to find the specific item they’re looking for, tailoring the view of the data to their specific needs, and making the browsing experience more efficient and user-friendly.
You’ve done a brilliant job finishing reading it so far and I can assure you that you’re a thoughtful leader to gain knowledge in the UX industry. Take a gold medal 🥇 from me 😀.
Now let’s dig it more! Reading it so far can make you confused about how we can implement it in real-life applications. Read it below:
On an e-commerce website, users often need to sort products by different criteria, such as price, popularity, or date added. A clear and intuitive sorting interface will allow users to easily find the products they are looking for.
Here is an example of how to design clear and intuitive sorting controls on an e-commerce website:
- Make the sorting controls prominent and easy to find. They should be placed in a prominent location on the webpage, such as at the top of the product list.
- Provide clear labels for the sorting controls. The labels should indicate exactly what criteria the sorting is based on, such as “Sort by price: Low to High” or “Sort by date added: Newest to Oldest”
- Provide multiple sorting options. Users have different preferences and need so it’s important to provide a range of sorting options, such as sorting by price, popularity, and date added.
- Consider performance and user feedback. A website with a large number of products can cause slow performance, if that’s the case, consider providing a loading indicator while the products are being sorted. Also, it’s important to monitor and analyze how users are interacting with the sorting controls and make changes as necessary.
- Make the controls accessible. The sorting controls should be keyboard navigable and should also allow users to adjust the font size and color contrast to make them accessible for users with accessibility needs.
In summary, designing clear and intuitive sorting controls is an important aspect of the UI/UX of an e-commerce website. A well-designed sorting interface can help users quickly find the products they are looking for, while poor sorting design can lead to frustration and can cause users to leave the website.
Now we’ve learned about ‘Sorting UX’ in digital product design. It’s time to make it more accessible but how you will achieve it? Let’s understand,
From a product designer’s perspective, it’s important to ensure that sorting controls are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This means making sure that sorting controls are keyboard navigable, providing clear instructions and labels, and allowing users to adjust the font size and color contrast.
One example of a real-life application of this principle is an online calendar application. In an online calendar, users can view their events by day, week, or month. The calendar should provide sorting controls that allow users to sort events by date, category, or by priority.
In this example, from an accessibility perspective, it’s important to make sure that the sorting controls are keyboard-navigable so that users who rely on a keyboard can access them easily. The controls should also be labeled clearly so that users know what they do, and instructions should be provided to help users understand how to use them.
Additionally, it’s important to provide an option to adjust the font size and color contrast, so that users with visual impairments can read the text more easily. This can be done through a settings menu or by providing an accessibility button.
Overall, it’s important to keep in mind that accessibility is not just a “nice to have” feature but a necessary one. Accessibility should be integrated throughout the design process and not just as an afterthought.
In conclusion, sorting is a powerful tool in UX design that helps users navigate and make sense of large sets of data. Sorting organizes data in a specific order and filtering reduces the number of items displayed by selecting only the items that match certain criteria. The process of designing these controls should take into account the needs of the users, the size of the data set, and performance considerations. Additionally, it’s important to ensure that sorting and filtering controls are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
By understanding the principles of sorting and filtering and how to design them effectively, users can improve their ability to find and work with the information they need, making their experience more efficient and enjoyable. Understanding and implementing these techniques can give users a competitive edge, whether in their professional or personal life and make them better equipped to handle and analyze the data they encounter. Reading this article has added valuable knowledge that you can apply to your future endeavors, giving them a better understanding of how to design and organize data to improve their productivity and efficiency.
