Components - Grid lists usage and content

A grid list is best suited to presenting homogenous data, typically images, and is optimized for visual comprehension and differentiating between similar data types.

A grid list consists of a repeated pattern of cells arrayed vertically and horizontally within the grid list.

Tiles hold content and can span one or more cells vertically or horizontally.

If the text in tiles needs to be prominent enough to distinguish between primary content pieces, consider using a different container, like a list or cards, optimized for displaying text and facilitating reading comprehension.

Lists: Optimized for reading comprehension, particularly when comparing a set of data containing multiple data types.

Cards: Used for content with inconsistent formatting, such as photos with captions of variable length, or data sets with heterogeneous content, such as a mixed collection of photos and videos and books.

Content in tiles

Tile content consists of primary content and secondary content. Primary content is the main differentiating element, typically an image. Secondary content can be an action or text.

Provide a default image for tiles that lack an image for primary content.

Example of tile content with primary and secondary action

Actions in tiles

Actions on both primary and secondary content—such as play, zoom in, delete, or select—are immediate and typically do not result in a submenu of options (action overflow) within the grid list.

Actions can open a subsequent view, such as a card.

Primary actions

Fill the entire tile and therefore are not represented via icons or text.
Are consistent throughout tiles in a specific grid list. For example, the primary action for all tiles in a single grid list could be to view details for an image.

Secondary actions or content

Are represented in tiles with icons or text.
Are consistent throughout tiles in a specific grid list.
Are placed in a consistent location within the tiles of a specific grid list, but that consistent location may vary between grid lists (at corners or edges). For example, all titles in one grid list could be located at the bottom left corner, while all tiles in another grid list might place titles in the top left corner.