Tell me more ×
User Experience Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for user experience researchers and experts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

I'm wondering what the preference (or what makes the most sense) is for duplicating a record in a list. I torn between copying the duplicated item right below the selected one or copying it to the end.

List of items

So for example, if Pattern #2 is selected, and I click duplicate, should the new pattern be added below Pattern #2

enter image description here

or should it be added to the end after Pattern #3

enter image description here

share|improve this question
I would have thought it all depends on what order the other patterns are listed. Are they listed in the order in which they were first added? – Matt Obee Sep 17 '12 at 15:51
@MattObee - They are not necessary in the order they were added. You could insert (and duplicate) records which could result in a different order. I might add later a move up/move down option as well. Order does matter, but it can change based on what the user wants – SwDevMan81 Sep 17 '12 at 15:54
Out of interest, where does the 'Insert' button insert a pattern? I assume either above or below the selected pattern. – Matt Obee Sep 17 '12 at 15:57
@MattObee - Yeah below the selected pattern – SwDevMan81 Sep 17 '12 at 16:03
OK. Outside the scope of your question but I wonder if people would understand the difference between 'add' and 'insert'. – Matt Obee Sep 17 '12 at 16:07
show 4 more comments

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Because the patterns aren't listed in any pre-defined order, I would insert the duplicated pattern directly after the original. I think it would be disorientating if the list were long and the duplicated pattern were to be dropped at the bottom (or indeed the top). I assume it would be given a name to differentiate it (e.g. "(copy)")

share|improve this answer
+1 Yeah I think this makes sense, and as you mentioned in the comments above, this would be consistent with what the insert does. – SwDevMan81 Sep 17 '12 at 16:08
up vote 0 down vote

I'm tempted to say the new item should appear as close to the 'duplicate' control as possible, so users see the results of their change as they click the button without relying on peripheral vision. That would mean that for your example, the new item should appear at the top of the list.

However, putting the duplicate control at the top is probably not the best method anyway - I would suggest letting users right-click to duplicate, then adding the new element below the old.

Anything's better than adding the item to the bottom, though, because with lists that exceed the size of the container, new items will either be out of view or force the entire list to scroll (these sorts of tracking animation are very distracting in peripheral vision and take more attention than a transition like this ought to).

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.