How User Friendly? Clicks, Scrolls & Anchors

[martink]

From a user friendly stand point, what is the latest trend on having to click multiple pages to gain all info vs. scrolling on one long page?

Do users in general find anchor links helpful or annoying?

Any thoughts would be of great help. We just redesigned out website and are still tweaking. Thanks!

www.GoWithCEA.com

[tj]

that is a great question. I would love to read what others have to say.

[nullvariable]

My general thought on this is that the web is not like paper where you are limited to a certain paper size etc. The biggest reason for placing your content on multiple pages genereally is advertising. If I split my article/content up more I can create more page views and possibly more revenue since my visitors will see more ads. Personally I prefer to have all the content in one page. I would die if I didn't have a scroll mouse :D

NV

[EyeSize]

we'll here's my thought on this. I would personally have all the information about a topic in one page. Maybe some of you can remember the good old day's when you still needed to do tutorials :P You where just getting in to it and :'( you had to click the next page button you would have to wait for all the images to load and stuff. (at a slow connection this is really anoying) but then again when putting it all on one page you would proberly lose customers because of longer load times.

[Webnauts]

You always must decide, early in the design process, whether you create long pages that require extensive scrolling or shorter pages that will require users to move frequently from page to page.

This decision will be based on considerations of the primary users and the type of tasks being performed.
For example older users tend to scroll more slowly than younger users; therefore, long scrolling pages may slow them down considerably.

As another example, some tasks that require users to remember where information is located on a page may benefit from paging, while many reading tasks benefit from scrolling.

You should also ensure that users can move from page-to-page as efficiently as possible.

If you are unable to decide between paging and scrolling, it is usually better to provide several
shorter pages rather than one or two longer pages.

Another option would be performing usability testing which can help you confirm or negate that decision.

When scrolling is used, a website should be designed to allow the fastest possible scrolling. Users only should have to scroll through a few screenfuls, and not lengthy pages. And should never require users to scroll horizontally.

[MuNKyonline]

I use both styles for pages and I find as long as you seperate the information logically and use anchors then there should be no problem using scrolling.

However if you use seperate pages then it will be easier for visitors to bookmark and go staight back to a piece of information.

If you optimise your images properly then there should be very little difference in the download times =)

[JuniorOnline]

users tend to find long pages hard to read, as their concentration level is less in comparison with reading a book.

[Scott Adie]

I don't feel like this is an either/or question. I think it all depends on the content involved and determining the most effective way to navigate through it. It's kind of like the analog/digital thing. While an old salt who has always navigated by the sun, moon & stars might prefer to scroll, the contemporary sailor has a GPS with full color charts and point-and-click interface. In most instances, we probably need to try to make navigation easier for both because we get all different types to sites. For example, if I'm giving assembly directions everyone doesn't come to the table with the same level of expertise. The advanced user may want to click to the information that seems more necessary to them while the beginner may prefer to scroll to make sure nothing is missed. One of the keys to determining what combination of methods is best for you is to understand the chronology of your communications. There is a logical order to all of this that should be adhered to.