Re: Guidelines for scrolling vs. paging, max. number of ele ments on screen

This is pretty much in line with our results as well. For form based pages,
excluding transaction-based forms, we've found that keeping the fields on
one page vs. paginating gets better results. Both real results, and
perceived results from users.

Much of this has to do with the satisficing model - users tend to forget
information from one screen to the next. So, if you break it into pages, you
might want to include a summary of information at the top of the page, which
carries over from the previous pages.

Some of our forms include long data input forms for keeping track of bird
species over the Web. These could contain some 1200+ different species that
make a page 5-7 lengths. This is quite a bit of scrolling. So, we've opted
to include some "jump" navigation where the bulk of the species groups are
listed at the top of the form. Clicking on the group name will jump the user
down to the appropriate group. To the right of the group list is a "top"
link that goes back up the the list of groups. This has received very
favorable results.

For transaction based forms, however, we've found that splitting these into
steps provides better results. The reason seems to be two fold:
1. Users prefer to digest smaller chunks of information when having to make
a choice. It tends to give them the impression that they can accomplish a
somewhat complex task via a simple method. They tend to be more accepting of
taking smaller bites, then filling their mouth with the full meal at once.

2. Many of the transactions require some filtering. So, from a technological
approach, current technologies work better and enable us to provide a better
experience if we can filter the options for the next step - don't present
options to users that they can't use.

Now, for managed lists (search results, sortable summaries, etc.) we've
found that the optimal amount of information is around 20-25 items per page
viewed in a list. This seems to be enough to let the user get a task, or set
of tasks accomplished w/o overwhelming them.

The key is to keep the user informed at all times. If it's a transaction,
show them what step they're on and how many are left. If it's paginating,
show them what page they're on and how many are left.

On 1/24/03 9:22 AM, "Lord, Ralph" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Far more important than anything has been to represent the forms
> onscreen in the same order and with the same groupings as they are used
> to seeing on their paper forms.  Even when it makes the screen seem
> cluttered, to the expert user it's more efficient.
>
> That being said, this is our experience when taking forms straight to
> the screen.  If we have the luxury of refining the workflow and
> redesigning their work a bit, some changes can be made to entry order,
> grouping, etc and it's more "acceptable".


Cheers!

Todd R. Warfel

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