Design better data tables

This article presents a list of design structures, interaction patterns, and techniques to help you design better data tables.

Data is useless without the ability to visualize and act on it. Good data tables allow users to scan, analyze, compare, filter, sort, and manipulate information to derive insights and commit actions.

Good user interface design is based on human goals and behavior. The user interface in-turn affects behavior, which drives further design decisions. In subtle and unconscious ways, user experience alters how humans make decisions. What is seen, where it is presented, and how interactions are afforded influence actions. We must make design decisions that lead to a better world, one data table design at a time.