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I want to input some sets of data. Let's say it's like an assignment for a member on a team in some task. I want to apply several members in the task but how is the best experience to input these members.

I have 2 wireframes on the input procedure, the first one is using a searchable select option so I can only input 1 member at a time then press the 'add' button after another.

And the other is a checkbox which I can check the members from a list of the team members so I just need to press the 'add' button once.


Here's the flow I drawn for the assigned procedure.

'add' flow wireframe


TL;DR - If a team can have 40 members, but some task usually has 6-10 members assigned. Which method is the best for assigning the members?

I don't know what tags should I put, help me out...

1 Answer 1

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I suspect the answer, as is usually the case, will depend partly on your users themselves and their preferences for keyboard input vs. mouse input.

Atlassian suite (e.g., Jira) has a process sort of like your Example 1 flow, but with some important enhancements. First, when you start typing a name, a suggestion box will appear below the field to help you quickly get the user you're looking for. Second, you can autocomplete the user's name with the highlighted (top) choice in the suggestion box via keyboard or mouse action. Third, this autocompletion or selection action adds a bubble to the field with that username in it, adding the user to the list of selected users, kind of like in an email client. You can then immediately start typing another username to add a second user and repeat the process until you have selected all desired users. After that, you can Apply or Save in the modal to apply the action.

Benefits to a system like this:

  • easy to quickly add a small-to-medium number of well-known users from a large volume of options via keyboard.
  • autocomplete means fewer keystrokes and fewer input errors

Drawbacks to a system like this:

  • no clear mouse-first workflow (though in Jira, I believe the most-selected users immediately populate the suggestion box on clicking the empty user selection field)
  • time-consuming or potentially frustrating to select a large number of users (e.g., more than 10)
  • difficult to add users whose names are less well-known to the user, or to use the list itself to enhance the user's mental model for making the decision about who to select

A potential hybrid solution would add a (+) icon to the right edge of the field which would display a modal with a list of usernames with checkboxes. This would address most of the drawbacks listed above with little impact on the interface for those who prefer the keyboard mode of operation. It should also present a reasonably familiar model to users who are used to email clients which provide a similar model (e.g., Outlook).

Actually, tl;dr: just use a model like Outlook where you can type to completion, type for autocomplete selection, or click to add users through a model with a comprehensive listing.

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  • Agree with this. Allow input field offering type-ahead functionality. This is also more scalable if/when your team/company grows.
    – rubysoho
    Sep 11, 2019 at 18:49

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