We are working on a shopping app and have the following display as shown below. The main idea of the app is to help users organize their shopping lists, and note when to, and when not to buy items again. This is where we are looking for a little feedback. The two columns highlighted below shows our current input system for the users to submit their purchase decisions.
What we have isn't awkward, but we're wondering if it could be improved. Keep in mind, its not just these two columns, but the readability of the table as a whole.
For instance: We could eliminate the column and row lines around "submit choice" and make the wording for the same link/action with fewer characters. IE .. "entr" or "OK" We could eliminate the "submit choice" link altogether and make the repurchase "flip switch" into a button. However, a problem with this is an errant click (or finger in the case of mobile) submits the choice all at once.
Of course, we have that problem right now in that an errant click could submit "no" by default at any time.
So to the question, any and all ideas welcome on a way to improve this interface from the vantage point of the mentioned issues. enter image description here


Thanks for all the answers. One issue with having a common 'Submit choice' link is that it makes it impossible to tell whether the user meant to select 'NO'. The user does not need to make all the selection at once. He could select 'YES' for 'Chili Powder' and submit but keep the others unchanged and not want them to be 'NO'. By default the 'repurchase' column in our database table is NULL for an item, and a 'NO' choice means something else for us.


I would eliminate the "Submit Choice" column and use checkboxes instead of switches or buttons in the "Repurchase" column, with choice submission being its own separate action.

Think of it like a real-life shopping trip: You add items one-by-one to your cart and check them off of your shopping list; when you've got everything, you go to the register and pay for your order. As you currently have it, it's sort of like you put something in your cart, go to the register and pay for it, then go back and do the same thing for each of the items on your list.

enter image description here

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Here are some improvements:

  • Keep the toggle in the repurchase column (if that is the normal representation of a checkbox on the platform your app will be published on).

  • Remove the submit choice column, and have a single button outside of the table. Give it a better caption than 'Submit choice' though - something like 'order ingredients' or 'repurchase ingredients' or possibly 'save changes'.

  • Instead of having '(+) click to see all ingredients', list the most common items, and then have a link below saying 'show more...'.

  • Same for brands.

  • 'N/A' in your columns is distracting visual noise, so just use a - instead.

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