How to show better hierarchy for inter dependent fields in a table?
[Might be an existing question, couldn't find a better match]
User scenario
I have a list view that shows column headers ( fetched from a separate table )
User has the following ability to do.
Can add custom columns headers to the existing list. Hence ideally we have two sets of column headers
- Column headers fetched from the table (let's call it exiting column headers)
- Custom column headers added by the user to the list view
Can change the data type of each column header i.e data type 01 and data type 02. Once set, the user is asked to set the data value.
Problem
For existing column headers, these are the possibilities.
- Set data type or leave as it is i.e Preserve its default state
- If "data type 01 or data type 02" is selected, prompt the user to set the data value
- If the column header is of "Date type", Allow the user to show different options to format date type.
However for custom column headers,
- There is no default state involved
- The user has to select one data type ie. data type 01 or data type 02, then prompt the user to set the data value
- The date formatting option is still valid for custom columns headers.
To some extent, date formatting is possible through "data type 02" but its not intutive. Hence I want to keep it outside of it.
What have I done so far
- For existing columns headers, I am showing 3 values for the data type i.e default, data type 01 and data type 02. If selected default, communicating the user the value will remain as it is.
- For custom columns headers, however, we have only 2 options to show i.e data type 01 and data type 02 since default state is not available. Hence this can be inconsistent. Should I differentiate the custom column header vs existing column? It does not add any value though.
- Most of the time, date formatting will remain empty hence white space problems would appear.
How can I improve this experience better?
