- Infinite scrolling works well for entertainment products
like social media,
but doesn't work well in most other contexts.
Let's look at three alternative design solutions
for delivering content, products,
or other items in a listing page.
First, we could use a variation
on the infinite scrolling pattern,
which uses a load more button.
Second, we could use an infinite scroll
with integrated pagination,
and third, we could use a classic pagination.
Let's discuss why these alternatives
might be a good solution for our products.
First, adding a load more button to an infinite scroll
can solve some of the usability issues
created by basic infinite scrolling.
The load button pauses the constant flow of new content
and thereby enables users
to access the fuller section of a page.
Additionally, it avoids the illusion of completeness.
A load more button that is prominently placed
at the bottom of a page is a clear indication
that there's more content to discover.
Lastly, a load more button is beneficial
when we have users that are on unlimited data plans
or in areas with low bandwidth
because it lets users decide how much content
they would like to load.
One disadvantage of a load more button
compared to classic infinite scrolling
is that it increases interaction costs.
Even the small interaction of pressing a load more button
might make users consume less content
and trigger them to switch to other tasks.
The second alternative to basic infinite scrolling
is an infinite scroll with integrated pagination.
This is a new design approach
that displays a set of page indicators
and loads a new chunk of content
whenever a user reaches the end of a loaded segment.
This has the potential
to provide a better user experience for two reasons.
First, the page indicators are valuable landmarks
that can help users navigate the page
and refind content more easily,
as they might remember which page a certain item was on.
And second, it can improve the navigation of a page
because users can use the integrated pagination
to jump back and forth in between pages
and thereby efficiently skip over content as needed.
However, while integrated pagination might solve
some of the usability issues
caused by basic infinite scrolling,
it cannot solve all of that.
The inability to access the end of a page
remains to be a problem,
and because this design pattern is relatively new,
it could confuse users
until they become more familiar with it.
The third alternative to infinite scrolling
is classic pagination.
With classic pagination,
we break up our content into different pages,
which solves most of the usability issues
that internet scrolling causes.
You might ask, if it solves most of the usability issues,
why are we not always using it?
This is because pagination introduces more interruptions
which makes the experience less seamless.
This also slightly increases
the interaction costs of our website.
In the end, there is no solution
that will perfectly fit every website.
Your choice should depend on the specific circumstances
of your website and your users' goals.
To decide what is the best solution for your website,
consider the advantages and limitations
of each of the four options.