4 ms·

I think the swipe-down-to-refresh UI pattern actually seems pretty discoverable. The newest things on a list are added to the top. How do you know if you're at

I think the swipe-down-to-refresh UI pattern actually seems pretty discoverable. The newest things on a list are added to the top. How do you know if you're at the very top of a list? I think this gesture eloquently addresses several issues at once. (1) The user is going to pull down on the main container to check for new items at the very top of the list, but (2) it may take a manual refresh to deliver these new items; refreshing the list when the user is attempting to pull the main container window beyond the top-most item allows the app to provide the newest content the moment the user is seeking it.

yorwba 9y ago
Yes, when you have a list sorted by recency, where the most recent entries are at the top, you can easily discover the refresh gesture by scrolling a little bit too far. But when the gesture is used in different contexts, it is less likely to be discovered. For example most chat apps add new messages at the bottom, so the refresh gesture should be scrolling in the opposite direction. Additionally, I don't tend to scroll through my message history very often, so I'm unlikely to discover this. Fortunately, most chat apps tend to be quite good at loading new messages. It gets worse when there's little reason to attempt scrolling past the boundaries. For example, it took me months to discover that Chrome on Android supports the gesture (before that, I opened the menu to refresh). That's because to scroll on a website, I just pull once and then let go. Inertial scrolling means that the motion will stop as soon as it hits the top of the page. Past that, there's a kind of resistance that needs to be overcome, which you won't do if you don't already know the gesture. My point is, good interfaces shouldn't require the user to make accidental discoveries. There should be an obvious, labeled way to do it; if necessary, it can include a hint to use the less obvious but more convenient way next time.
- pimlottc 9y ago
  Pull-down to reveal the search bar is another frustrating antipattern that is all too common.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    Or just vanishing toolbars in general. Also, i have found that swipe to refresh on web browsers to be a mixed blessing. All too easy to trigger when all i want to do is to scroll to the top of the page.

yorwba 9y ago

Yes, when you have a list sorted by recency, where the most recent entries are at the top, you can easily discover the refresh gesture by scrolling a little bit too far. But when the gesture is used in different contexts, it is less likely to be discovered. For example most chat apps add new messages at the bottom, so the refresh gesture should be scrolling in the opposite direction. Additionally, I don't tend to scroll through my message history very often, so I'm unlikely to discover this. Fortunately, most chat apps tend to be quite good at loading new messages. It gets worse when there's little reason to attempt scrolling past the boundaries. For example, it took me months to discover that Chrome on Android supports the gesture (before that, I opened the menu to refresh). That's because to scroll on a website, I just pull once and then let go. Inertial scrolling means that the motion will stop as soon as it hits the top of the page. Past that, there's a kind of resistance that needs to be overcome, which you won't do if you don't already know the gesture. My point is, good interfaces shouldn't require the user to make accidental discoveries. There should be an obvious, labeled way to do it; if necessary, it can include a hint to use the less obvious but more convenient way next time.

pimlottc 9y ago
Pull-down to reveal the search bar is another frustrating antipattern that is all too common.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  Or just vanishing toolbars in general. Also, i have found that swipe to refresh on web browsers to be a mixed blessing. All too easy to trigger when all i want to do is to scroll to the top of the page.