Exploding the myth of the online 'page fold': Evidence from user testing.

Well, I stand corrected. CX Partners, an agency focused on creating good online user experiences, reported evidence that explodes a common myth about web page design. In The myth of the page fold: evidence from user testing, they explain that the online equivalent of the page fold is not an impenetrable barrier for users: "Over the last 6 years we’ve watched over 800 user testing sessions between us, and on only 3 occasions have we seen the page fold as a barrier to users getting to the content they want."

They go on to explain: "What is the fold? Above the fold is a graphic design term that refers to important content being on the upper half of the front page of a newspaper. It’s commonly used on the web to describe the area you see on a web page before you have to scroll down the page.... People tell us that they don’t mind scrolling and the behaviour we see in user testing backs that up. We see that people are more than comfortable scrolling long, long pages to find what they are looking for. A quick snoop around the web will show you successful brands that are not worrying about the fold either."

Comments

[Karl Gilis]

Whether users want to scroll or not, depends from situation to situation. Visitors will not always scroll.

It depends on the type of page and the type of website.

A nice article illustrating when users want to scroll (and when not) can be found at http://webusability-blog.com/page-fold-fact-or-fiction/. It also gives some good examples of good use of the area above the page fold.