Carousels and sliders
Carousels and sliders are interactive elements that display a collection of items in a limited space, allowing users to scroll or slide through the content horizontally. While similar, carousels typically rotate automatically and are often used for promotional content, whereas sliders are usually manually controlled and can be used for various types of content.
Benefits and Use Cases
Saves space. Carousels and sliders allow you to display multiple items in a compact area, making efficient use of screen real estate.
Example
Use a carousel on Cluster's dashboard to showcase featured projects or recently active content clusters.
Highlights multiple items. These elements can draw attention to several important pieces of content without overwhelming the user.
Example
Implement a slider in Cluster to display top-performing content pieces across different categories.
Provides interactive exploration. Users can browse through a set of related items in an engaging, interactive way.
Example
Use a slider in Cluster's template library to allow users to browse through different content templates.
Supports visual content. Carousels and sliders are particularly effective for showcasing visual content like images or videos.
Example
In Cluster's media library, use a slider to allow users to browse through thumbnails of images and videos.
Psychological Principles Supported
Curiosity. The partially hidden content in carousels and sliders can pique users' curiosity, encouraging exploration.
Example
In Cluster's featured content carousel, show a glimpse of the next item to encourage users to keep exploring.
Recency effect. By showcasing the most recent or relevant content, carousels leverage the psychological tendency to remember and prioritize the most recent information.
Example
Use a carousel on Cluster's dashboard to highlight the user's most recently edited or viewed content.
Reduced choice overload. By presenting a limited number of options at a time, carousels and sliders can prevent users from feeling overwhelmed by too many choices.
Example
In Cluster's content recommendation feature, use a slider to present a few relevant content suggestions at a time, rather than a long list.
Implementation Guidelines
DON'T
Rely on carousels for critical content or navigation
Overload carousels or sliders with too many items
Use carousels on mobile devices without ensuring they're touch-friendly
Assume users will interact with all items in a carousel
Use auto-advancing carousels for content that requires more time to comprehend
DO
Provide clear navigation controls for manual advancement
Ensure that all items in the carousel or slider are accessible via keyboard navigation
Use appropriate timing for auto-advancing carousels (if used)
Include a visual indicator of the user's position in the sequence (e.g., dots or progress bar)
Optimize the content for the carousel or slider format