Myth of the fold in modern web design Oct 23rd '09

One of the most frequent requests we are asked when creating the initial design for a website is: “Can it all appear on one screen?” By this of course they mean they want all the content to be viewable without having the user to scroll down. The line at where the content stops and the user needs to begin scrolling is called the ‘fold’ and this post will explain how having all the content above the fold isn’t relevant today.

This post was inspired by a recent article on user eye testing with the fold. In summary this post uses eye tracking techniques to tell where people are looking when they arrive at a website. It is worth a read. The main conclusion from this study was that people actively look to the right for the scroll bar (see heatmap image to the right), it is assumed that they will need to scroll.

Don’t forget to…

1. Put your most important content above the fold
2. The site needs to be designed to encourage scrolling

From a design point of view, cramming all of your content into a fixed space can look really cluttered and confusing—not to mention it being almost impossible to find the information you need at a quick glance. Spacing the website elements out using white space can help the design breath and avoid the ‘busy’ sites that you often see; full of images, text and adverts.

Designing for a small monitor… no, wait, a large monitor

You also have the problem of deciding which monitor size to target. Fitting all of your Web sites content onto a single ‘screen’ may look fine on a larger monitor, however if a user visits your Web site with a smaller monitor then the content will stretch off the screen. Design for smaller monitors and the site can look lost and out-of-place on larger screens.

To conclude, your content should never be restricted by the fold. Whilst it may have made sense 10 years ago when we were all browsing the Web with tiny 15″ screens, the Internet has evolved and continues to evolve at an exceptional pace. Let your content breath and encourage the user to scroll to discover more of your content, after all they expect to!

Written by Oliver Culverhouse

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