Not sure whether to use a table or a list? Keep in mind:

  • Tables are meant to help people scan and compare two-dimensional data
  • Lists are meant to help people find and interact with items in a collection

Tables

Tables are meant to organize two-dimensional data, and allow users to easily scan the entries of the table across one of those dimensions.

This simplified weekly timecard is a good example:

Sun
Dec 10		 Mon
Dec 11		 Tue
Dec 12		 Wed
Dec 13		 Thu
Dec 14		 Fri
Dec 15		 Sat
Dec 16
Regular
($40.00/hr)		 — 6h 35m 5h 15m — 6h 00m 6h 45m —
Admin work
($30.00/hr)		 — 1h 25m 2h 45m — 2h 00m 1h 15m —
PTO
$40.00/hr)		 — — — 8h 00m — — —

Each data point on this timecard—an amount of hours worked—has two dimensions to it:

  1. the rate being paid for that work
  2. the date on which the work was done

Laying out this data as a table allows the user to:

  • Scan each column to find out how much time was spent working at each rate in a given day
  • Scan each row to find out how much time was spent working at a given rate throughout the week
  • Find a specific data point, using the column and row headings: the hours worked at a given rate, on a given date