0

In the interface I'm designing we have a page with a table that shows a list of support tickets. By clicking on a row, the user is redirected to the page of that single ticket where they can see all of the details.

The problem is, the title of a ticket can sometimes be too long so I put a simple ellipsis to keep the table consistent. My stakeholder would like that the ellipsis becomes clickable so that the user can expand the text, but looking around I haven't found any reference for this kind of use.

My options would be:

1) Ellipses + read more: the user clicks on read more to expand the table line. My stakeholder wasn't enthusiast I think because it hides a bit more text/the button might seem redundant. Ellipsis+button Ellipsis+button expanded

2) Ellipsis + tooltip: the full text shows inside the tooltip with hover

3) Just make the ellipsis clickable - but I'm convinced users wouldn't notice it

What do you think is the best solution in this case? I am having some trouble argumenting my choices.

Note: I excluded the row expansion (e.g. with a plus or arrow) on the far left of the table because only some rows would need it so I'm not sure it's the best option for this case.

1 Answer 1

1

(1) Ellipses + read more This will create confusion as the entire is ideally clickable. Also, read more usually shows the full content in the current view (according to common patterns).

(2) Ellipsis + tooltip I will not advise the usage of tooltip since once users already know what it does it will become redundant having it on each column.

(3) Just make the ellipsis clickable Just as you have highlighted, there might be discoverability issues with this.

Now the main question is, what value does reading the full ticket (the very long ones) offer to the user when making the decision to click? If there is much value in actually seeing this, then I will recommend an enhanced hover popup (that shows ticket full description, and something additional of value e.g status, date) just so to achieve more consistency for one-liner descriptions and also to give users more context (I assume that's the goal here).

Check a similar example on Amazon. The clickable details page can still be hovered on.

enter image description here

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

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