Order of Elements in a Settings Menu

When creating a settings menu for a mobile app, how do you decide which order to put the various setting categories in? For instance, in the app I am working on, I have placed Language settings at the very top thinking that since this will impact all other experiences on the app that it is highly primary and so should be at or near the top.

ON THE OTHER HAND, it and a few other similar settings like time zone are usually only something you set once and never return to again so maybe they actually belong more towards the bottom? I have received some feedback questioning if language should be at the top. Alphabetical sorting doesn’t feel right but it’s certainly another option.

How does one best determine an order?

You can use tools like OptimalSort and create card sorting surveys to have a better understanding of the best possible order for your own specific app.

Treejack!

@ali_eslamifar and @hawk yes I use optimal workshop tools but they are not really optimized to test the ORDER of elements only the grouping/organization or logic

You make a fair point.

I posted this same question on the UX Design Community Slack channel and got this feedback:

Consider frequency of use as well as importance of finding it

  • Make setting the language part of the onboarding experience,
  • See if the app can guess the right language setting using the same one in place for the overall mobile device
  • Allow the user to reset the language guess made by the app if its wrong right during the onboarding - just in case
  • AND also put it in the settings menu where it can be placed rather low in the “stack” of options
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