It’s Easier To Scroll Than To Click

Here is a question that is often asked by clients and web designers alike: Should you try to avoid scroll whenever possible and make your web design fit on most computer screens? Or should you have longer web pages automatically depending on the native browser scroll? As a general rule don’t try to avoid scrolls. But on the other hand it is essential that you make your main design element fit within the page. Let me explain:

Scrolls are great! Statistics show that users are much more likely to scroll then to click! On an Ecommerce website for example, it is better to use a longer checkout page (with a scroll), rather than a short checkout page with clicks from step to step. In fact, many users start scrolling right away when they land on a page, and eventually come back to the top later on.

But don’t cut off your designs! While scrolls are great, the main design elements on a page shouldn’t be cut off on most computer screens – users shouldn’t have to scroll down to reveal the parts of the main design element that are cut out at the bottom. But you can definitely have more content below that is accessible to the users once they start scrolling.

If you have examples of great websites designed to best utilize the native browser scroll bar, let me know in the comments below!