The fold is dead, long live the fold

This article from CX Partners demonstrates, based on the findings of user testing, why it is no longer vital to get all your content above the page fold.

However, how we design the area above the fold does effect the likely hood of somebody exploring further down the page. For example, having less above the fold actually encourages exploration as shown in the results of this eye tracking test for Bristol Airport.

Here are their three tips to encourage user to explore below the fold:

Less is more – don’t be tempted to cram everything above the fold. Good use of whitespace and imagery encourages exploration.

Stark, horizontal lines discourage scrolling - this doesn’t mean stop using horizontal full width elements. Have a small amount of content just visible, poking up above the fold to encourage scrolling.

Avoid the use of in-page scroll bars - the browser scrollbar is an indicator of the amount of content on the page. iFrames and other elements with scroll bars in the page can break this convention and may lead to content not being seen.

Read the full article here.