Drag-and-drop is a type of “direct manipulation” used for “grouping, reordering, moving, or resizing objects”. Some advantages include that it makes the actions visible (promotes user gestural interaction) and improves usability. A disadvantage is that drag-and-drop “can be inefficient, imprecise, and physically challenging over long distances” on the user interface, thus resulting in errors like dropping an item in the wrong spot and having to start over. There are two types of visual signifiers that indicate an item’s grabbability: grab-handle icons (a target to click then drag and drop) and hover-state cursor changes (to indicate that clicking an item will allow the user to grab then drag and drop). Once an item is grabbed, feedback will either show the object was grabbed and/or preview what it will look like once the user drops it, which is to help prevent errors. Another way to minimize drag-and-drop errors is to include magnetism, which enlarges the drop zone and “snaps objects into place, even if the user hasn’t acquired the target” (Laubheimer).
Laubheimer, Page. “Drag–and–Drop: How to Design for Ease of Use.” Nielsen Norman Group, Nielson Norman Group, 23 Feb. 2020, www.nngroup.com/articles/drag-drop/.