There was a time when home page content had to appear “above the fold.” If a user wanted more info, he had to click into the site via a drop down menu. Thus home pages always seemed to have that “squeezed” look, the most obvious sign of which was the banner photo at the top.

But a funny thing happened on the way to smart phones and tablets; “below the fold” became obsolete as hand-held devices and touch screen technology began to take over our consciousness. Scrolling for further information became second nature to the point where it’s not uncommon to see people subconsciously dragging their fingers across their laptops or desktops these days to get things to move.

This is a great shift in usability for both clients and web designers, because it turns a relatively small area into something much bigger and potentially more robust, where each downward scroll can reveal new information.

In addition to our own site, we are beginning to design our clients’ websites to optimize scrolling. (See Pursuit Consulting.)