How should "Settings" be used properly?

[PriscillaThen]

I'm building a very complicated web app and have a few questions:

1a. What's the difference between "Settings", "Configuration", and "System" (would it be appropriate to have all 3)?
1b. How should "Settings" be used?

2. Should Settings be displayed visually "apart" from the rest of the first-level navigation options, like how Shopify does it (putting all things in the left sidebar from the top, but the settings at the bottom)?

3. What do you think of companies that have multiple, tiered settings (like Zoom)? Do you think that they executed it well?

Would love to hear your thoughts, and any by your listeners!

[lukees]

I prefer a single home for "Settings", which would ideally contain anything users can set and forget. I think this is why it's generally separated from the rest of the top-level navigation, which you're presumably using a lot more often. Also when you think of any piece of software and what it does, you wouldn't say "configure settings". So the primary navigation items ideally represent what you do with that software.

[PriscillaThen]

Good food for thought, thanks Luke. (Curious to hear other people's opinions also!) :)

[brianlovin]

We discussed this in more depth during today's episode, in case it's helpful! https://designdetails.fm/episodes/VHJVnZEo

Design Details

364: How to Design Better Settings

This week, we deep dive into tips and strategies for building a better settings experience in your product. In The Sidebar, we discuss the efficacy of paginating onboarding screens.