I'm currently involved in a project that focuses on tracking the time spent by team members on various projects. We are facing a dilemma regarding whether to include the 'h' notation in the 'Work hours' column to represent hours and on various cards on dashboard. Below are wireframes illustrating examples of both approaches.
Which version makes more sense from UX standpoint? Are there any alternative solutions that might better address this case?
The suggested format of 8:30 can be confusing for durations, especially because it is also used for the start and end time.
The h is not a common addition for that format and can confuse people as well. It is normally written as 8.5 h. But some people read it as 8 hours and 50 minutes instead of 30 and it becomes even more difficult to interpret when it is precise to the minute.
If the 8:30 format is the way to go (whether or not due to technical constraints), explain the format in the header: Working duration (h:m). But this is not ideal.
I recommend using the 1 h 30 m(ins) format instead. It is the least ambiguous. To keep it readable/scannable, you may need to be clever with the design, such as playing with the font weight and size of the number or and/or unit, use a monospace font or separate hours and minutes in different columns etc.
8.5 hours * $50/hour makes far easier reading for the client). If the client only needs to see h:m then either works, but further processing of the data can mean leading to one approach or the other. In our timesheets we use both h:m plus a decimal hour column, so 1:30 is mirrored as 1.5.
2 h 31 min 45 s, as you and other(s) answer(s) write. Could not find an exact reference for that.
I think this is going to be opinion-based no matter what, so here's my standard way of doing it:
One day, two hours, three minutes, four seconds.
Omit some components as appropriate for the context - or, display the first two non-zero components and omit the rest (being sure to round down).
Spaces go after the letter and before the next number, not before the letter.
Don't display leading zeroes.
Don't use dots or colons and definitely don't put a unit after a colon ("08:20 h" makes no sense to me).
Here's your examples in this format:
Nice and readable IMO.
While I agree with Keiji that the ultimate answer is likely to be opinion-based :), there is a standards based solution i.e. ISO 8601 wiki iso.org. The relevant section is 5.5.2 Duration which begins:
5.5.2.1 General
Duration can be expressed by a combination of units — years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds — with designators. A duration expression shall begin with [“P”].
The P in the above quote is for "Period", and the T below is for "Time".
The OP's examples using ISO 8601 are:
These are, unfortunately, somewhat cryptic and so I can't really say no to Keiji's format which is a simplified and friendlier version of ISO 8601.
I mention ISO 8601 a) for completeness and b) as a reference for how to do (almost) all things relating to time and computing. See also this (somewhat) related question and answer https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51168022/what-does-pt-prefix-stand-for-in-duration which is for Java but is applicable in other contexts.
This seems that it could be more of a matter of personal preference...
Typically in tables, the units are either added in the column heading, or in every cell (as you have done for the last column).
When the latter is done, users will begin to ignore the extra characters as they become familiar with the system, so the focus becomes more about instant legibility. This is why in the last example I deliberately add extra characters for the edge-case, as it would make the cell would look noticeably different and a user would focus on it more than "usual".
In option 1 the times are quite clear, but could the leading-zero create minor confusion for some users. At a glance the final column could be misinterpreted, reading as "four minutes past two, AM) To counter this, perhaps simply removing the leading-zero could help here:
Avg. Project Duration
8:04
I find the "h" a little moot in option 2, and would likely opt more for option 1, but if option two ended up being the prevailing preference, it could be modified slightly:
Avg. Project Duration
8h 4m
Adding both "h" (hours) and "m" (minutes) could lead to a more easily extensible solution. Consider the following:
A task has taken far longer than anticipated, taking days of effort (or even time has been tracked erroneously)
Currently the UI would look like:
26:04 h
If the time is not an error and the colleague has indeed spent several days on one task then the above certainly looks strange. A user may have to work out the total time taken (if not already obvious like in the example), but if "Option 2 alt" were adopted, it could be easily extended like so:
1d 2h 4m
If this was a display going to be flashed up at people once and they were expected to understand it, then adding the clarification might help, but its not. It's a system that is going to be used by people on a regular basis over years. They will know what it means, without confusion.
Any non-stupid means of showing the duration will be fine in these particular circumstances
