How can you best filter table data: sliders, text input, or a combination of both?

Question

I am designing a data web page (where most people viewing that page is looking up the data) for a game fansite and one part of it looks like this

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

The table show stats for a character at different levels. The max and min level rows are always shown. The level for 2nd and 4th rows can be selected by the two-handle slider on the left or directly typing into the textbox.

I am wondering if the UI can be improved, mostly regarding the slider. Due to space restrictions, most sliders would have a 2-pixel sensitivity: sliding 2 pixels in/decrease the level by 1.

For users look for data for a specific level (e.g. the level they are on), the slider is almost useless. For users who is comparing between levels or looking for the minimum level needed for a stat to be greater than some value, the slider saves them from entering values repeatedly. However, its usefulness is slightly hindered by its high sensitivity.

This part of the UI just begun internal testing and I will be getting feedback from testers, but I want to ask if there are other solutions to this.

Answer 1

The issue with using sliders is that it is slower than simply inputting the level number in a text field. With a slider, user need to fine tune the slider to match the desired level. This could be tricky and is it unnecessary in my opinion.

I would remove the slider and simply ask the user the level or range of level they wish to see using a text input field on top of the table.

So you would display the default max and min level plus the range (or just one level) stipulated by the user.

To make it clear to the user how to find a level. Add a short description under the input field.

I would also change the order you display the levels to Min. to Max.

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