Spend enough time in areas of the internet devoted to media design, and you’ll eventually hear about “the fold.” In particular, staying above it. A carryover from print media, the term refers to the place on a webpage where the content cuts off (like a folded-up newspaper). Content above the fold is visible when someone looks at a page without scrolling.
The theory – and it’s a solid one – is that you’re more likely to reach people with content they don’t have to do anything to see. Since users don’t need to scroll or click to reveal content that appears above the fold, there’s a low interaction cost to accessing the info that appears there.
Screen Sizes and User Behavior
So, staying above the fold has its benefits. But audiences today use a range of screens with varying amounts of space above the fold, making it difficult to standardize the amount of content that appears there. And, thanks to infinite-scrolling sites like Instagram, users are more likely to scroll than ever: “In 2010, 80% of the viewing time was spent above the fold. Today, that number is only 57%” (Scrolling and Attention, Nielsen Norman Group, 2018).
Information Scent and Headings
What should you do if you have a lot of content to fit on a page? Don’t worry about squishing it all above the fold. Studies have shown that users are perfectly happy to scroll when following a clear information scent. Information scent refers to a user’s evaluation of a piece of content’s relevance to their goal. For example, the way a link is worded could have a strong or weak information scent, with vague wording typically associated with a weak scent.
Instead of crowding content above the fold, think about giving your user a clear path through it. One way to guide your user through longer content is by using simple, accurate headings. Users can follow the strong information scent of the headings to find the desired information.
Further Reading
Not convinced? These sites show how the concept of the fold has become outdated:
