[Sigia-l] Long scrolling pages and Usability

[Thomas.Donehower at eurorscg.com]

Hi, 

I'm trying to make a decision about long scrolling pages (equivalent of 3 
printed 8.5X11 pages or longer). My feeling is that they are OK and are in 
fact probably better than separate pages especially if the piece was meant 
to be read as a whole. However, I have no data to support my position. I 
am leaning toward long scrolling pages for individual article-type content 
pages for these reasons:

1. I don't have to introduce another form of navigation 
2. Easier for the user to print
3. I believe it's easier for the user to scan and read as a whole

If anyone has any thoughts on the pros and cons of long scrolling pages, 
please weigh in. Again, I am talking about "Article-type pages" not 
category or home pages. Imagine you're reading an article online and you 
see the text continue below the fold, you scroll (or maybe you dont?) and 
see the page continues for a couple more page lengths. Is this bad? Is 
there a better way that this content should be served up to you as a user? 


I did scan IAWIKI and the archives, but didn't find anything. 

-TD 


Manager, Information Architecture

EURO RSCG Life Interaction
200 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016
Web: ERLInteraction.com