We have tables with data where double clicking a row switches the table with corresponding row details. Currently a user can select a row and click a button to view details as well.
Is there a way to get rid of the view details button and make it intuitive so that the user knows double clicking a row will display the details?
Answer
Is there a way to get rid of the view details button ? and make it intuitive so that user knows double clicking a row will show him details ?
Intuitive? I very seriously doubt it.
The difference between the two approaches is that the button is discoverable: it sits there, visible, ready to accept some sort of action on the part of the user. Nothing (in most cases, anyway) short of explicit mention of the possibility indicates that double-clicking will do anything in particular, let alone what it will do.
Now; left without another alternative, it's quite likely that people would try to double-click, either on the off chance that it does something useful, or because they intend to invoke some other behavior (like whole word selection in a text field). Then they would discover that double-clicking takes them to a details view. But unless there is something explicit in the user interface that indicates that double-clicking on a part of the row will even do anything, let alone lead to a details view for the row that was double-clicked, the double-click option counts as non-discoverable behavior.
Non-discoverable behavior should generally be avoided in user interface design for functionality that normal users are likely to use. It can however be used to invoke advanced functionality, or provide shortcuts (and be documented in a manual or help text). A good example of this might be Windows' tendency to use the action of holding down Shift while right-clicking to give access to more advanced options, including for example in Explorer "Open with" and a delete command that bypasses the recycle bin; this isn't something that a beginner user is likely to do at random, but it also isn't options that those same users are likely to want or need to use. Another example of discoverable versus non-discoverable behavior is that even the very early Mac OS Finder allowed you to open a file by clicking on it and choosing File -> Open through the menu; double-clicking on the file's icon was provided as a shortcut. In contrast, I don't think Microsoft ever did anything similar to this in Windows (the right-click menu introduced in Windows 95 doesn't count because right-clicking also counts as non-discoverable since there is nothing on the screen to indicate it will do anything, let alone what it will do).
If the button takes so much screen real estate as to be a problem from that perspective, I suggest considering other possibilities. For example, you might consider making it possible for the user to choose to hide the button through some sort of settings interface, once they are familiar with the double-clicking approach. Or, like Franchesca mentioned in a comment, reduce it in size and hide it after the user has used the non-discoverable behavior for some period of time (but do be careful to not pull it out from under their feet).
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