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When you cannot run away from using tables on mobile

Inspirational ideas to design tables you will want to bookmark

Cíntia Antunes
UX Collective
4 min readJul 27, 2021
Spreadsheet with price calculation
By Adobe Stock

Let’s be honest, the spreadsheet format sucks even seeing on a big screen. Looking at the information in a table using a mobile device is much worse.

When I need to insert tables into mobile interfaces I feel discouraged. This is a part of the work I try to postpone. I always look for another way to display the table information. Why not create an infographic to show all this information?

But in some cases, a simple table is required, so here are the solutions I’ve been mostly using to accommodate the information in the best way possible.

1. A horizontal table can become vertical

A horizontal table on mobile doesn’t fit well since the vertical position is the most used for this type of device. Even though it’s possible to rotate the screen, it can be annoying since it is not typical behavior. And being a small screen probably the scroll will continue being necessary creating an uncomfortable use.

Two mobile devices showing how non-adapted tables are bad for usability.
A table in a desktop format viewed in mobile.

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Published in UX Collective

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Written by Cíntia Antunes

Brazilian designer living in Europe with long experience working remotely | Top Writer in Design | Let's chat: cintiantunes@gmail.com

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