Expandable table rows, some with no data. UI approach?

Question

I have an expandable table where each row may be expanded for detail. However, some rows do not have more data to expand. The expand icon is a carrot placed to the right most of each row. Is is better to:

• Disable the caret
• Remove the caret
• Let users click it to find that no data is there
• Something I haven't thought of?

I have tried researching this on my own, but keep coming up with dev articles that do not come at this problem from a usability perspective. Help and reference material would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Lets analyse the options you have, and what the user might understand:

1. Enabled button: "There is extra information".
2. Disabled button: "There is extra information".
3. No button: "There is no extra information".

Questions that arise from the options:

1. Enabled button:

   • Nothing displays: "Why is there no info if there was a button to show it?"
   • "No info" message: "Understood but the step was unnecessary"

2. Disabled button: "I'm not able to see the info. What can I do to enable it?"

3. No button: "There is no extra information."

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So in my opinion the best option is 3. No button. Otherwise you could go with 1. Enabled button with a "No content" message, which is understandable but it makes the user do an extra step.

Answer 2

Unless I'm missing something, only show the expand option when there is something to expand to and show.

Answer 3

The icon is for loading more data in your case. If the set of information doesn't contain additional rows, it is no need to display the icon. I understand you want to keep the design consistent, but a button disabled is more confusing in this case.

Answer 4

It is better to not show the expand button for rows that have no details, as shown in this Grid example.