Recently used

Problem Context

• The product has many tools, files, commands, apps, workspaces, forms, starter flows, reports, or task surfaces users may operate repeatedly.
• Use events are stronger than impressions or views because they indicate the user actually ran, selected, edited, inserted, launched, resumed, or completed work with the target.
• Recent-use history can reveal sensitive work, internal projects, customer records, financial files, health contexts, or shared-device behavior.
• Recently used targets can be renamed, moved, removed, restricted, archived, duplicated, superseded, synced across devices, or confused with favorites, pins, recommendations, and search history.

Selection Rules

• Choose recently used when a meaningful use event should create a temporary return shortcut for the current user.
• Use recently viewed when the list should record opened or inspected content, even if the user did not operate a tool or complete work with it.
• Use favorites when users deliberately mark a preferred item for durable saved access.
• Use pinned items when the item should remain in a stable prominent position or user-controlled order.
• Use recommendations when the system proposes next actions based on model, rule, popularity, or context rather than the user's own last use events.
• Use search history when the remembered object is a submitted query, not the target that was used after the query.
• Record only meaningful use events such as launch, insert, run, edit, export, submit, resume, or select; avoid counting hover, preview, impression, suggestion display, or accidental focus.
• Deduplicate by stable target ID, move reused targets to the top, cap visible count, and expire entries according to the task's memory window.
• Expose account, device, workspace, and shared-device scope when recently used entries sync or could appear outside the immediate session.
• Keep remove and clear actions explicitly scoped to recent-use history so users do not fear deleting the target or changing favorites, pins, or subscriptions.

Required States

• Empty or hidden state before any qualifying use event exists.
• Populated state with most-recent-first ordering and recognizable target identity.
• Just-used state that moves the reused target to the top instead of duplicating it.
• Remove-one and clear-all states that affect only recent-use history.
• Device-scoped, account-synced, workspace-scoped, private-mode, and managed-device states when those scopes exist.
• Unavailable, moved, renamed, archived, permission-lost, stale, and duplicate-name target states.
• Mobile or narrow-screen state where target identity, scope, and remove controls remain reachable.

Interaction Contract

• A qualifying use event writes or updates a recent-use entry for the current user and declared scope.
• Using the same target again updates recency and moves it to the top instead of creating duplicates.
• Opening a recently used entry resumes or launches that exact target, command, app, file, workspace, or task if still available.
• Removing an entry removes only the recent-use reference and leaves the target, favorite state, pin state, subscription state, and search history intact.
• Clearing recently used entries empties the visible recent-use history for the declared scope and does not clear recently viewed, favorites, pinned items, saved views, or saved searches.
• Unavailable or permission-lost entries remain explainable with remove, request-access, browse-again, or replace paths.
• The component is omitted or privacy-protected when recent-use history is disabled, private, signed out, or unsafe to show on shared screens.

Implementation Checklist

• Define the exact use events that write history for each target type, such as launched tool, inserted file, submitted command, opened app task, edited document, or selected workspace.
• Store stable target ID, target type, display name, location, scope, last-used time, use source, availability, and permissions rather than copied labels alone.
• Deduplicate entries by target ID, update the last-used timestamp, enforce visible count and lifetime limits, and handle least-recently-used removal when limits are reached.
• Label the list by scope, such as Recently used in this workspace, Recently used on this device, or Recently used in your account.
• Provide remove-one, clear-all, pause or disable history, and browse-all alternatives when the list is empty, stale, or privacy-sensitive.
• Refresh target metadata before rendering or navigating and mark moved, deleted, archived, renamed, or restricted targets clearly.
• Test keyboard operation, mobile wrapping, long names, duplicate names, clear scope, sync across devices, shared-device exposure, failed recency writes, and stale-target repair.

Common Generated-UI Mistakes

• Counting views, hovers, previews, suggestions, ads, or recommendations as use.
• Mixing recently used with recently viewed, favorites, pinned items, search history, saved views, subscriptions, or recommendations in one ambiguous list.
• Letting remove or clear delete the underlying file, app, command, workspace, or task.
• Showing sensitive recent-use history on shared, public, signed-out, or screen-shared surfaces without controls.
• Keeping an unlimited history until the list becomes an activity log rather than a return shortcut.
• Leaving stale recently used entries as dead links.

Critique Questions

• What exact action proves the user used this target instead of merely seeing or viewing it?
• Can users tell whether the entry is a file, command, app, workspace, task, or tool before reopening it?
• What scope controls where this recent-use history appears: device, account, workspace, browser, or managed profile?
• Can users remove or clear the shortcut without deleting the target or changing pins and favorites?
• How long should a recent-use shortcut remain useful before it expires?
• What recovery appears when the recently used target has moved, changed permission, or become unavailable?