Tables vs Cards for Warehouse Task Lists

Published 2026-01-10 by Faraz Rahimi

Desks like tables. Aisles like cards. If the same view has to serve both, default to the aisle and offer a denser toggle for leads.

Tables vs Cards for Warehouse Task Lists

Tags: UX, React, Operations, Internal Tools, unlisted

A 12-column table on a phone is a horizontal swipe punishment. I use cards with SKU, qty, bin, and one action. Leads at a monitor can switch to a table for bulk.

If I only ship the table, the floor will not use the app. If I only ship cards, cycle-count supervisors will hate me. The toggle is cheaper than an argument.

Sort in the language of work

Next bin, not created_at desc, unless created_at is the work. Default sort should match the walking path when I can.

Bulk actions need a confirm that lists the count

Select all plus delete without a number is a horror movie. The confirm says 38 bins. They can still be wrong. They cannot be surprised.

Original post: https://farazrahimi.com/posts/tables-vs-cards-for-warehouse-task-lists