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I'm looking particularly in the context of data annotation, but any scientific sources would be helpful really.

The following options I can think of:

  1. The potential options (annotation labels) in the dropdown menu are fixed, i.e. are always at the same order. New elements might be inserted at the bottom or throughout. The assumed benefit would be that the user has an easier time memorising the layout for lengthy tasks. Might result in a lot of scrolling when many options are available.
  2. The options are ordered by usage, i.e. the most used option moves to the top. Quicker access for often needed items.
  3. A recommendation system orders the options based on the predicted likelihood of each option in the current instance. Might speed things up, but could also be frustrating for the user.

Is there any research into the qualitative and/or quantitative impact comparing these or other forms of ordering?

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  • What kind of search terms you have used for example in scholar.google.com and why the documents those search terms returned were unsuitable for your needs? Just to make sure we don't provide you with the articles you have already found. Commented Jan 22 at 6:52
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    @locationunknown I have used the following terms: user experience design dropdown study; user experience design dropdown ordering; user experience design dropdown ordering study; user experience design dropdown repeated access; user experience design dropdown annotation; Results were mostly about general practices, I didn't find anything about methods to order dropdown items, specially no user study investigating the impact on annotation or similar tasks. Suggestions for different keywords would be appreciated as well! Commented Jan 22 at 13:57

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Somewhat related research includes:

A comparison of static, adaptive, and adaptable menus https://doi.org/10.1145/985692.985704

Optimizing Feature-Access Time through Dynamic Updates to Application Menu Layout http://doi.org/10.1145/2347696.2347704

Comparing Fixed and Variable Arrangement Interfaces in AR Mobile Apps: A User Experience Analysis http://doi.org/10.47116/apjcri.2023.12.12

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You may have a too narrow point-of-view. I've often found that searching for research about certain UI elements doesn't get you far. This may be that research on button colors or dropdown option order doesn't advance the field that much. They can be used to study other things though.

That said, one useful higher level concept is called serial-position effect:

Serial-position effect is the tendency of a person to recall the first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst.

With a quick search using search terms "serial position effect" user interface in Google Scholar, for example the following article came up: Counteracting Serial Position Effects in the CHOICLA Group Decision Support Environment, where they study the affects of voting item position in the list to the results of voting.

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  • Thank you, I ended up widening my scope and reduce it to the relevant distinction between static and dynamic arrangements which was more successful Commented Jan 23 at 16:50

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