iphone UI opinion - what would be the best way to link to a contact in an address book.

Question

Hi guys, slightly different type of question. I am linking from a UITableView item to a contact item. What would be the groups thoughts on the two below concepts:

1. Use of an accessory on the MainTableView to directly link to the contact page:

You Click the Blue Arrow on the RHS to goto the contact

2. Use of an icon inside a DetailTableView to link to the contact page. The detail view is brought up after clicking on the 'BD' or 'DE'. The contact is brought from the icon on the top Right side

What would you prefer?

Answer 1

I would normally say option 1 because it means show "detail", but in this case if you could make the little contact (vcard) icon round and the same size as the detail accessory in 1 it would look pretty good.

Answer 2

The arrow is the iPhone standard. I wouldn't deviate too far from it in a standard app. As long as your intent behind using the arrow is identical to Apple's, it's also the better choice for getting in the app store -- one less pedantic reason for them to reject you.

Plus the vCard icon just doesn't look quite "right" to me. I can't put my finger on why, it just ... doesn't. (Although I understand that it may be a temporary icon, a mockup, and you may finalize it later. But be careful that you don't use the generic headshot silhouette icon; that would differ in meaning and give Apple's reviewers another opportunity for rejection.)

Answer 3

According to the HIG, use #1 when selecting the row would display the same results as the disclosure control. If the two events would display different information, then you'd use a chevron.

Apple makes no comment on number two, but you could always use the vcard icon as an image view on the left, as is supported by UITableViewCellStyleDefault. As others have stated, why give a lazy App reviewer a reason to reject your App?

cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:kCellIdentifier] autorelease];