Grid v List View

[davidhunter08]

Context

As part of a discovery into building a native version of the NHS App, the team have been considering how a grid view could work on the home screen.

Examples:

Research so far

In our research rounds so far, these grid layouts have had good usability. Notes from user research have included:

• Finds the layout 'more clear' than current app
• "It looks better than the old one. I like the little pictures. Your eye's just drawn in - you don't even need the words, you can just see from the pictures what they mean"
• "loves" the options on the home screen - "how easy it is to see that"
• "Initial screen is good..." proceeds to read out grid view items

Considerations

• In trying out a grid layout for presenting content on the home screen, we should consider how this might affect the ease of reading for different users, and the order in which users read the options.
• Eye-tracking evidence from other organisations suggests users might read a text-light layout like this from left to right, top to bottom (a "z-pattern", as opposed to the "f-pattern" often seen when people scan a text-heavy web page).
• The cards in the grid give a larger touch target area for users and draw more attention than narrow card link. They mark out the top options as being potentially more important than the lower ones. This works well if we're agreed that the app top tasks are more likely to meet the needs of most app users than the general NHS information and support placed below.
• Large grids or grids with complex imagery can increase cognitive load. But the grid we are proposing here is clean and simple which should avoid that problem.

Recommendations

1. Test the grid layout with users who find reading more difficult, or who may have different reading patterns. This could include people who are not fluent in English, people with learning difficulties, and people with learning disabilities. Specialist charities may be able to help.
2. See if we can find out from the GDS team working on the gov.uk app what insights they have about using a grid layout. We've noticed they used the grid layout in an earlier version of their app, but have now changed to a list view.