Recently, Google has launched the infinite scroll on the results page of its search engine in the mobile version in the United States.
Given this event, many are considering making use of this functional resource for the pages that yield results in their digital products.
Both infinite scroll and pagination have advantages and disadvantages. Both things must be taken into account to decide which functionality to implement, taking into account the experience they produce in the user.
Advantages and disadvantages of infinite scroll
Infinite Scroll allows users to not have to pay attention to the pagination task when they want to navigate to load more results.
Infinite Scroll is a feature that automatically loads content when the user scrolls down, thus eliminating the need to implement pagination.
The infinite scroll has advantages in digital products where the content hierarchy is practically flat. In these products, nothing stands out above the rest and all the content can be relevant to users. An example can be the TimeLine of Twitter or other social networks.
This type of functionality to load results is advantageous if the aim is to increase the time that users spend in the digital product.
On the contrary, it is a disadvantage, in products in which the user aims to search for something in particular. Forcing the user to find something specific among so many results that are displayed in the same way is not recommended or effective.
With infinitely long pages, people can feel paralyzed by the sheer volume of content or number of options and not click on anything. People can see but not act.
Advantages and disadvantages of pagination
Pagination as a navigation functionality for users is beneficial when they are aiming to find something specific.
Pagination offers a beginning and an end to the user and total and absolute control about the amount of content or results they are viewing.
Pagination is very useful for listing content pages, such as the product results that an Ecommerce can return after a search by a user or on a blog.
The user’s goal is not to browse the entire list but rather to find a particular item or product. In case the list can be prioritized, the user will be able to find what they are looking for at the top.
Among the possible options within the pagination to be given to the user, the following should be highlighted:
- Filter with different sort options (Sort Criteria).
- How many results do you want to see per page (View N Items).
- Scroll buttons between the different pages of results (Back and Next).
To measure Scroll in digital products, the best UX research technique is the use of .
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