Should we get rid of pagination for infinite scrolling?
Know which to use when to make a wise decision.
The year 2020 has been a tough one for most of us and while it was possible to travel nearby, me and my cousins planned a weekend on a beach during early December. We had been looking for some funky clothes on an online shopping website called Powerlook which is when I encountered a rather annoying problem.
So I was describing this one particular shirt to my cousin over a call and he couldn’t find it there. Since I hadn’t wishlisted the said product, I had to search it over their website by scrolling down continually and keeping an eye for it so that I don’t miss it while I scroll down impatiently.
Every time he couldn’t find the product I was talking about I had to unearth it by scrolling down idiotically. Gosh! So annoying!
Had they paginated their content like Amazon or Flipkart have, I could have saved so much time and temper over locating a product by just remembering the page number.
In case you don’t know what pagination is, refer to the image below. Yes, that row of numbers present at the bottom of a page, linked to separate pages is called Pagination.
This event made me contemplate, as designers,
When should we use Pagination vs Infinite Scroll?
Well, if we’re being really honest, there’s no binary answer to this question. It depends. It depends on a lot of factors and primarily on what kind of content you are putting.
If we were to differentiate the two simply we need to know what our goal is while surfing the net: Searching or Browsing? Most people tend to use these terms interchangeably.
Searching is a goal-oriented finding task where you are looking for some specific item or compare options from an ocean of content. Think of online shopping on Amazon or reading articles in Vogue. Here, pagination fits aptly as it breaks down the content in easy-to-consume chunks.
Browsing on the other hand is for entertainment or inspiration where you need multiple answers. There’s no specific goal, just like spending time on Facebook or watching random videos on YouTube. These activities require an immense amount of options to choose from hence, infinite scroll is befitting.
Visual or Text?
Google is the best example for this. Google Search uses pagination while Google Images has an infinite scroll.
Makes sense, right? I mean who goes through all the articles in the Search Results except a first few or until we find the one we were looking for? Whereas, when we look for images we are really browsing and in need of more and more content.
But wait, it isn’t that simple.
When I said Google Search uses pagination I meant it does that for the Desktop version. Despite it being a ‘searching’ tool, Google Search uses infinite scroll for it’s Mobile version.
And why is that?
Scrolling works well for mobile devices
Part of the reason could be that gesture controls of mobile devices make scrolling intuitive by loading the results dynamically. But it could also be because mobile devices have little screen space compared to desktop. Hence not much content could be displayed at a time but that makes it for a clean display. So, it seems to be a wise choice.
This brings us to another benefit of Infinite Scrolling,
Scrolling boosts engagement
Just take apps like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter as examples. Infinite scroll is one reason for their massive success. When we use these apps we don’t have anything specific on our mind. We can discover new content with every scroll and that too without having to point the cursor over some number and clicking it! Pagination just adds to the interaction cost.
Scrolling is a continuation while clicking is a decision — Josh Porter
But that aside, if you are thinking that Infinite Scroll is the solution to your problem then hang on, this is what NN/g has to say about your dear solution,
Infinite scrolling may seem like an elegant replacement for pagination. However, it’s not the answer for most websites. Infinite scrolling is probably not for you if site visitors want to achieve goal-oriented activities, such as when they need to backtrack or find specific information quickly.
So, coming back to our main concern,
Is it wise to get rid of Pagination for Infinite Scrolling?
Maybe you should consider these following points before making any decision:
1. Scrolled and missed!
As mentioned at the very beginning locating items on an infinite scroll is quite vexing and makes for a bad user experience on some websites, if not all. With pagination even if you can’t remember the exact page number you have a general idea around which numbers it can be, this makes navigation less troublesome.
2. Paging leverages you
Now, this is psychological. There’s nothing blasphemous than to snatch away from us humans the power to control someone. I know that was a little too much but we love to have control over anything, don’t we?
Paging gives you that sense of control. It won’t present you with loads of content unless you choose to. And most importantly it won’t leave you guessing when the page ends.
3. Infinite Scroll breaks the scrollbar
The length of scrollbar should reflect the length of the page. However, with an infinite scroll once you think you’ve reached the end it breaks and the results are doubled. This plays a nasty trick on us users. We don’t like to be fooled like that, it’s galling after a some point and can cause page abandonment.
That’s everything you should consider when it comes to the dilemma of choosing between Pagination and Infinite Scrolling. Both have their pros and cons and they need to be weighed accordingly to select one. Let me know your thoughts on this matter.
